How To Get A Job In A Museum Or Art Gallery Part 3

The Chambers Dictionary defines 'curator' as 'the person who has the charge of anything; a superintendent, especially of a museum; a person appointed by law as a guardian of something'.

The word curator comes from the Latin 'curare', meaning 'to care for, 'have charge of' or 'to cure', and the term curate curate, which has a similar derivation, means 'a member of the clergy in the Church of England who a.s.sists a rector or vicar and has the "cure of souls"'.

The term 'cure' in this context is interesting: an archaic word that means 'healing'; a means of improving a situation; a course or method of preserving or arresting decomposition; a treatment by which a product is finished or made ready for use' and, of course, the term's extension to include 'the preservation of food, by drying, salting or finis.h.i.+ng by means of chemical change', which is relevant to our purposes here.

So, from this, it would seem that a curator is someone who: is appointed and given authority to look after something; then preserves it to the best of their ability to prevent further decay; can interpret, explain and permit appropriate access to whatever they are looking after in future.

Within the world of museums and galleries today, the responsibilities of curators.h.i.+p fall into two main areas: The care and research of a specific collection: understanding the collection and keeping up to date with new developments that might alter that understanding; writing about the collection; locating the whereabouts of new material that would augment the collection (or relate to its wider understanding); adding to the collection; preserving it for a new generation.

Its display and interpretation.

Both these responsibilities are fuelled by a strong understanding of the context the organisation being represented, its authority and reputation.

How this works in practice A curator forms the intellectual heart of a museum or gallery. In the 1970s there was much discussion about whether these inst.i.tutions should be run by professional administrators. The diaries of Sir. Roy Strong, former Director of the V&A, of that period hold this out as a long-term governmental ambition (and fear on his part), but today museums and galleries are still mostly run by curators. However, while management power tends to reside with those who can explain and interpret a collection, in the same way that pilots exercise power in the RAF, academics within universities and doctors within medicine, changes are afoot, more quickly in some organisations than others, and several examples can be highlighted where people who have followed a non-curatorial route are already part of the organisation's senior management team. There is a widening appreciation that the curatorial role is not all it used to be, and in the longer term, is not the only route to seniority.

In small organisations such as town museums, the curator may have sole responsibility for the acquisition and care of objects. It will be the curator who decides what to collect, looks after what is held, researches and writes about it and implements the policy about whether to lend it more widely. If the organisation is particularly small such as a local history society the curator may be the only paid member of staff, with one of their duties being the co-ordination of volunteer help.

Here is a job description for a curator's role within a smaller organisation, in this case a historic house.

The Museum and Heritage Service is looking for a committed and enthusiastic curator to lead on the day-to-day management and running of one of its historic houses. The post will be responsible for all aspects of service delivery including exhibitions, a wide range of activities and events working with partners and volunteers along with the active Friends group. You will also be part of the Museum and Heritage Team, helping to shape and develop services across the Borough.

Required skills: You will have the ability to work as part of a team and to communicate well with the whole community, particularly young people. You will have experience of running activities including cla.s.s visits. You will be required to work late nights, weekends and public holidays on a regular basis.

In larger organisations, the curator's role tends to evolve into that of subject specialist, who conducts research into what is held and provides guidance on what should be acquired or shared in future. Larger organisations have many curators, each specialising in a particular area, under the overall direction of a head curator. In such organisations, the actual physical care of the collection may be handled by conservators, while doc.u.mentation and administration is looked after by other specialists.

Here is a job advertis.e.m.e.nt for a curator within a major national art museum: As an experienced curator of modern international art, with particular experience in the period 19001965, you will contribute intellectual, art historical and curatorial expertise to the museum's programme. You will be responsible for researching, developing and curating large and medium scale exhibitions and projects, seeing them through from idea to realisation. This will encompa.s.s the entire process from initial concept and research for exhibitions and collection displays to managing substantial budgets, leading organisation-wide project teams, overseeing installation designs and acting as an advocate for the organisation. You will also contribute texts and editorial supervision to a range of publications in conjunction with the programme. You will have proven excellent research, scholarly and curatorial planning and project-management skills. While the emphasis is on curatorial work on the programme, you will also contribute your expertise to our acquisitions process.

The term curating originally meant the care of tangible things such as paintings, archaeological findings and machinery, but more recently new kinds of curating are evolving, such as the care of digital data objects, or biocurators (the accurate and comprehensive representation of biological knowledge). There is also a significant trend in that a curator may not necessarily look after a collection or objects at all, but rather engage with its cultural meaning and become an advocate for professional practice and the role of the creator Also under consideration is the value of the curator's objectivity. Traditionally, curators had specific expertise which enabled them to take discerning decisions; to use the funds at their disposal to preserve the best and then explain it on to visitors; they were people of enhanced judgement who had an eye on both history and the future.

'Curators must serve the past and the future as well as the present. And they must attempt to be fair to all comers and not succ.u.mb to prejudice or parti pris. They may wish to lead public taste but can only do so by selecting those artists who seem to bear the creative flame. Curators cannot simultaneously work in the public domain and collect privately, or work as artists: these roles could be fatal to the requirement that the curato aspires, like an independent critic, to objectivity, impartiality, and, in the end, justice.'

MARK HAWORTH-BOOTH, VICTORIA & ALBERT MUSEUM (V&A), LONDON1 Today there is discussion of the selection of objects as being in itself an art form with a 'curator-artist' at its centre.

'While the traditional curator maintains a collection of art, artifacts or curios by preserving, exhibiting and studying the objects therein, the contemporary curator need not work with a collection or objects at all, and instead engages with cultural meaning and production, often from a position of development that is shared with the artist.'

MELANIE O'BRIAN, ART SPEAKING: TOWARDS AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE LANGUAGE OF CURATING, BANFF, JULY 20052 'The role of curator has come to occupy a deliberately less academic stance, often embodying a more partic.i.p.atory or hands-on function. As such, curators are no longer limited to being critical observers but increasingly are understood as instigators, subjective partic.i.p.ants actively defining (or redefining) art and culture as-it-happens. ... The 'job' of curating becomes a sophisticated form of intellectual gameplay, which posits the curator in a position sometimes parallel to that of conceptual artist. The challenge is to continually negotiate a balance between the desire for critical and creative authors.h.i.+p, the needs of artists as a const.i.tuency, and the struggle to develop new avenues and audiences.'

IVAN JURAKIC, NAVIGATING THE CURATOR-AS-ARTIST DIVIDE, TORONTO, DECEMBER 20053 There is also the issue of representing the completeness of the collection by displaying different selections in turn, or pandering to the public appet.i.te by concentrating on the items that have popular appeal. In the process, the integrity of the whole may be compromised by the public's misunderstanding of an artist or work of art but that misunderstanding may be the key to getting people in. For example, do you include Van Gogh in an exhibition on the Impressionists, simply because so many of the public think he was part of this movement? Or do you include him because of this understanding and then seek to correct it perhaps by including a panel on 'Antecedents' or 'Why Van Gogh is not an Impressionist?'

In any case, today's consumer wants to interact and take part in decisions about purchasing and display rather than simply admire what has been selected for them to view. Stores such as IKEA and home makeover shows on television have raised the issue among the public of what to put on their walls at home and offer cheap solutions, so the public can vote with their feet, buying the images they prefer through posters and greetings cards rather than relying on gallery shops to sell them what scholarly opinion has decided is worth hanging on their walls. Along similar lines, should decisions on what should be bought for or displayed in public inst.i.tutions be made solely by those with public money to spend, or by those who want to come and see it? This is aptly ill.u.s.trated by the fact that there is still not a single painting by Jack Vettriano in a public collection in the UK, despite the huge popularity of his images (as shown through the sale of reproductions and related merchandise).

Becoming a curator If curating is your long-term career goal, you'll need academic pedigree (a really good university, an excellent degree), and for a post in a national museum or gallery, probably a PhD supervised by someone well connected and a track record of publication in academic journals. Your first job would usually be that of curatorial a.s.sistant.

People with such a profile are often scholarly and self-effacing, but if they are going to progress to running the inst.i.tution they are part of, they will need to have good communication and diplomatic skills, persuasiveness and to be well connected. The role of curator involves negotiating for funds, building links with those who control the purse strings and making a case for funding in compet.i.tion with other organisations, all the while keeping a weather eye on prevailing public opinion (which may not be on your side). Currently, for example, most funding in Britain is directed towards the 2012 Olympics, so cultural inst.i.tutions need to state the case for their own funding pragmatically, by emphasising the long-term benefits to the current population and the wider interests of society in future.

National museums and galleries in England are currently funded by the DCMS, so curators must know the government minister4, their priorities, build relations.h.i.+ps with them and have a sound grasp of finance. There are many different financial models for the running of inst.i.tutions and, increasingly, any public funding has to be matched by self-funding initiatives such as members.h.i.+p schemes and income from exhibitions. For example, the Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met) in New York is privately funded with a strong tradition of endowment and donations. The Royal Academy and Historic Royal Palaces in the UK receives no DCMS funding and therefore must raise revenue through events and entrance money and without the benefit of the prevailing US culture of donating to public collections. Curators with responsibility for these major inst.i.tutions may be experts in specific areas of their own interest, but must also become masters of more general management techniques.

At all times, curators have to look out for the collection's interests. They must work with the trustees and think carefully about whom to appoint in these roles (how well connected are they, do they bring any added value in terms of expertise or the support of particular groups?) and how to train them to best serve the organisation's interests. Once appointed, trustees have a term to serve, and spotting those who have a private agenda can be difficult as the MP Barbara Follett allegedly once commented: 'The more radical your ideas, the more conservatively you need to dress.'5 If you are running a local collection, you should be well grounded in local issues, with a knowledge of local history, and understand how what you have to preserve fits the wider environment how it can be promoted further afield to draw significance to it. There will be local partners who can work with you on this such as regional development boards, estate agents and business community, all of whom benefit but maintaining the collection's integrity and ensuring that its support survives changes of government, can be a difficult tightrope to walk.

Where to start your curatorial career in a gallery or museum or in a university?

If you are serious about wanting a major curatorial role within a significant collection, there are two princ.i.p.al routes: either by entering the museum and gallery world after acquiring an honours degree (perhaps having taken a course in museum studies first) or by taking the next stage in academic qualification, usually a PhD. Both routes would be considerably eased by taking unpaid work experience in appropriate organisations.

The advantages and disadvantages of going straight into the world of museums and galleries Advantages You show initial commitment to your chosen world and gain relevant experience that can go straight on to your CV. This arguably makes you more marketable in future.

You gain an appreciation of whether or not this world really is for you.

You acquire a representative role in the inst.i.tution you work for and, if you do your job well, you have the chance to exercise this at professional and training fora internationally.

You have the opportunity to build up patronage from those in charge of your own inst.i.tution, and to listen to and possibly meet people who are significant within this world as a whole.

You are well placed to hear about vacancies that arise within museums and galleries.

You can cultivate your expertise in a particular area, as jobs come up. Your skills as a generalist, as you emerge directly from an undergraduate or MA university course, are more malleable for presentation in support of a range of job applications and, ultimately, this can lead to a decision on what to make your special area of study.

Disadvantages You may be seeking closer proximity to objects, but not to people who decide on the allocation of the arts and leisure budget (and who do not think museums and galleries are a priority).

If you are serious about a career in curating, you will need to build up a publications profile through scholarly articles published and contributions to academic books and these publications will have to be produced largely in your own time. Many people have no idea how much time is taken up maintaining the public face of an inst.i.tution: answering queries from members of the public; giving talks to societies who ask for one; delivering lunchtime lectures and other contributions to the (increasingly monitored) 'outreach' of the organisation, and this means that you may have little time to concentrate on research and publication during the working day. Similarly, sustained time off to concentrate on this along the lines of the academic sabbatical is difficult. If you are the expert in a particular field, your inst.i.tution needs you to be available to answer questions and maintain its public position amid a swathe of political initiatives, funding opportunities and working parties that require partic.i.p.ation. A junior member of staff, even if well informed, would not have the same clout.

The advantages and disadvantages of studying for a PhD first Advantages Time. As an academic you will have more free time to work on your own research interests; your contract will be divided between teaching, research and administration. All academics complain about the increasing administrative burden, although it is not as great as that in galleries and museums and much more predictable (limited to your student body and wider professional contacts), whereas in a public inst.i.tution, you have to answer questions from anyone who may roll in off the street. You get long summer vacations and, once you are established, you may get the chance to take research leave through a sabbatical (it's relatively straightforward to get someone else to do your teaching and marking). As your inst.i.tution will benefit from the prestige of your publications, they will be actively supportive.

Remuneration. You may struggle financially when studying for a PhD although you can usually supplement your income with some teaching or part-time work. The pay for a starter academic position is generally better than for an ordinary starter job in a museum or gallery.

You may be able to form part of a university bidding for AHRC6 funding, and thus be able to earn money for your inst.i.tution by sharing information at the same time as doing your PhD. These days, universities place a high priority on the transfer of knowledge and there are substantial funding opportunities. A track record in such initiatives will also impress managers of galleries and museums they too are increasingly required to seek wider public funding rather than rely on central or local government support alone. funding, and thus be able to earn money for your inst.i.tution by sharing information at the same time as doing your PhD. These days, universities place a high priority on the transfer of knowledge and there are substantial funding opportunities. A track record in such initiatives will also impress managers of galleries and museums they too are increasingly required to seek wider public funding rather than rely on central or local government support alone.

Disadvantages You commit yourself to your specialist subject. If a job comes up in applied arts and crafts and you are just finis.h.i.+ng off a PhD on the work of Vermeer, it will be hard to explain your real drive for the job.

You are not building up hands-on experience in museum management, which is becoming an increasing priority for publicly funded inst.i.tutions that have to justify their share of the public purse through widening engagement and increasing access. Although you can take a stance on all these things, you will lack first-hand experience of managing them.

Ultimately, whichever route you choose, the number of applicants for jobs in this world far outstrips the number of positions available and often it's a question of being in the right place at the right time; of having the right bit of experience that convinces the interviewing panel on the right day. And of course there are so many variables. You cannot predict who will be on the panel, the chemistry (and tensions) between the different members, their unstated objectives, and what they will have just heard on the grapevine that shapes their understanding or appreciation of what you offer in comparison with other candidates.

Grasping the language and culture of curating Whether you opt for the museum or the academic route, one thing you will have to grasp quickly is the appropriate language and tone of voice, in order to be heard. Most professions have a particular way of talking to each other, and an accompanying set of initials and acronyms, and curating is no exception. As a generalisation, curators (as perhaps do academics in general) tend to talk in quiet and respectful tones, using long words, lots of clauses, and extended sentences. Art historians speak in a language that is uniquely complicated. My own theory (based on a degree that was half history, half history of art) is that as a relatively new subject, art history had to establish a complicated vocabulary in order to both distinguish itself and fully inhabit the new field it was staking out, and this has stuck; older disciplines such as history and English use a vocabulary that is far easier to understand. It is significant that the famous art historian Ernst Gombrich, who, in addition to his scholarly output of books and monographs, opened up this world by writing an accessible book on the subject, The Story of Art The Story of Art (16 editions during his lifetime, translated into 30 languages and millions sold) was viewed within art history circles as having rather let the side down by widening access. There was a similar feeling towards historian A. J. P. Taylor, whose television lectures in the 1960s reached vast numbers of people in their living rooms, but attracted unremitting negativity from his academic peers. Writer Alain de Botton wrote recently of the: (16 editions during his lifetime, translated into 30 languages and millions sold) was viewed within art history circles as having rather let the side down by widening access. There was a similar feeling towards historian A. J. P. Taylor, whose television lectures in the 1960s reached vast numbers of people in their living rooms, but attracted unremitting negativity from his academic peers. Writer Alain de Botton wrote recently of the: '...hostility to anyone attempting to communicate ideas to a broader public is a staple of academic life. You can either fight for academic status or you can address the world at large. But in the current British climate it's very difficult to succeed in both fields.'7 Perhaps this is changing. The elevation of Carol Ann Duffy to the role of Poet Laureate in May 2009 was accompanied by an appreciation that her work has both academic approval and popular appeal her inclusion on the GCSE syllabus has given many pupils the important experience of realising that they both like and can understand poetry; a tremendous endowment for their future.

It's an undeniable trend too that the world today is less influenced by scholarly detachment than by ready-made opinion, preferably expressed in everyday language. There is a search for the interpreter, the opinion-holder so we tune into chat show hosts who earn a fortune because they serve up an interesting cross section of current experience and ask the right questions on behalf of us all and think of the right retort straight away, rather than several hours later. Over his career, Richard Littlejohn has scuttled back and forth between the Sun Sun and the and the Daily Mail Daily Mail, and is one of the highest paid journalists, because the owners of the papers he writes for know that his opinion-packed columns are the only things some readers look at. Arts festivals have guest directors whose tastes match that of the audience (e.g. the Cheltenham Literature Festival has author and philosopher A. C. Grayling, and the Edinburgh International Festival Richard Hollo-way, former Bishop of the city), and in bookshops, we like to see the individual selections of authors put forward (at the time of writing, Nick Hornby's favourite books are laid out as a special section within Waterstone's). As a society, we look for strong opinions to adopt to save the trouble of thinking of our own.

So what is the role of the museum and, by default, its curatorial team in this new development? Should an inst.i.tution be reaching out into the local community and, in the same way as theatre companies, put on performances in shopping centres and parks? Should content be dictated by what people are familiar with or what they ought to know about? Should an inst.i.tution housing treasures that belong to all of us try to draw us in to understand the collection in more detail, using the familiar as an enticement, or should it just be the repository of all that is valuable, the collective spare room of the nation, with the long-term aim of keeping stuff safe to sell on in future because each time material is displayed it is further dilapidated?

In part, the answer is being given by politicians: inst.i.tutions in receipt of public funds must demonstrate that they are offering value and widening partic.i.p.ation. Today's government culture requires constant measurement of targets, proving that what has been set up is an effective use of resources. Journalists are fond of comparing the costs of a museum or gallery purchase with that of a new hospital or school.

As public inst.i.tutions, museums and galleries certainly need to demonstrate the value they are delivering, but rather than just responding to the criteria set by politicians, arguably they must play a part in trying to establish the measures by which their aspirations and effectiveness will be judged. This will involve communicating a vision, using language that others relate to, spreading enthusiasm, justifying it to popular opinion and hence influencing how it is perceived. For example, the local press was resoundingly negative about the installation of Antony Gormley's 'Angel of the North' sculpture, but the local council (Gateshead) and artist were undeterred. The aims of the various groups involved will have been different (artistic values/example of public art/civic pride) but they united to support and maintain a shared ambition and there is now a strong sense of regional satisfaction, with those who were initially hostile referring to the pride their children and grandchildren take in 'our angel'.

In any case, who are 'the public' that need to be considered and counted? Is the organisation appealing to those who walk past and appreciate the posters but never go in; those who use the cafe, shop or bathrooms, but seldom visit the accompanying exhibition; those who find it a romantic place to walk around but don't notice what they are seeing; those who drop in occasionally to find out if they have treasure in their their attics or those whose children go there on school trips which cost less than trips further afield because there is no entrance price to pay? The role of the cultural repository in breaking down cla.s.s and educational barriers is also significant, and curators will have to discuss how much of their attention should be directed at existing audiences, and how much at potential new ones and how much funding/fundraising should follow these decisions. attics or those whose children go there on school trips which cost less than trips further afield because there is no entrance price to pay? The role of the cultural repository in breaking down cla.s.s and educational barriers is also significant, and curators will have to discuss how much of their attention should be directed at existing audiences, and how much at potential new ones and how much funding/fundraising should follow these decisions.

'I view curating as something I do with and for others. It is in this spirit that I aim to create exhibitions and public programs that investigate the social aspects of cultural production in ways that encourage alternative modes of thinking, foster new relations.h.i.+ps, and inspire increased owners.h.i.+p in the development and articulation of culture. I believe strongly in the capacity for the arts to affect positive change by expanding perceptions of day-to-day experience, and I am enthusiastic about the role artists play in the building of sustainable and equitable communities.'

MILENA PLACENTILE, CURATOR8 All these are questions that the new generation of curators will have to deal with perhaps you will be one of them?

Case Studies: Curating as a Career Interview with Desmond Shawe-Taylor, Surveyor of The Queen's Pictures, The Royal Collection 'I read English at Oxford and then embarked on an MA in Fine Art at The Courtauld. I had no particular career plan in mind and while I was still doing my MA one of my lecturers suggested I apply to teach art history at Nottingham University, where they were recruiting. It would (quite properly) be impossible nowadays to secure a post like this without doing a PhD first, but I applied and was appointed.

'After many years teaching there I began to wonder about a change. I suppose if you have always been determined on a single career option you would probably decide to stay within the security of what you had striven to be part of, but given that my becoming an academic had been largely circ.u.mstantial, I decided to think where else my pa.s.sion for art might be useful.

'Neil MacGregor [then director of the National Gallery] has always been interested in people and their apt.i.tudes rather than their specific labels or experience. He suggested that I apply for the position of Head of Education at the National Gallery. This has always been an art historian's job, rather than an educator's one. Other museums and galleries employ educators in order to involve younger children. The National Gallery does this as well but has always waved the flag for art history in general; seeing its mission to inform all ages and create wider enthusiasm for art.

'Having been an academic (and thus teaching adults) I was qual-ified in the technical sense but, although a frequent visitor to museums and galleries, knew little about how they worked from the inside. So in preparation for my interview I embarked on extensive research, which included talking to those working there, observing what was going on and finding out more about the National Gallery in particular. The more I found out, the more I became engrossed. I did not get the job it went to the very able Kathy Adler, who has done it extremely well but on the interviewing panel was a trustee of Dulwich Picture Gallery. It just so happened that the then director of Dulwich, Giles Waterfield, was about to retire, and was active in the search for his successor. Having staked out my claim for wanting a job in this world, I was invited to apply and this time secured the role and spent nine very happy years there.

'Working with a really dedicated team, we oversaw the building of an extension, put on new exhibitions, grew the education programme, increased the number of the gallery's Friends9 and tried to reach out into our local and national communities. But Dulwich Picture Gallery receives no state funding, and so maintaining its income is a constant struggle. You would announce exhibitions with definite start dates, uncertain of whether you would have the funds to put them on, and were continually mindful of the opportunities to raise cash to support what you had begun. After nine years I was proud of what we had achieved together, but confess also exhausted by the process of constantly seeking funding, and began to think about one more job before I retired. and tried to reach out into our local and national communities. But Dulwich Picture Gallery receives no state funding, and so maintaining its income is a constant struggle. You would announce exhibitions with definite start dates, uncertain of whether you would have the funds to put them on, and were continually mindful of the opportunities to raise cash to support what you had begun. After nine years I was proud of what we had achieved together, but confess also exhausted by the process of constantly seeking funding, and began to think about one more job before I retired.

'The role of surveyor of the Queen's pictures became available and I applied. The job is to be chief curator of paintings in the Royal Collection, and there are colleagues with a similar role handling 'works of art' (our term for furniture, decorative arts and sculpture), and works on paper (drawings, prints and books). We all work under the director, who is also Surveyor of Works of Art. We manage the artwork in Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, Holyrood Palace and the Royal Collection (a gallery open to the public within Buckingham Palace) and this involves both putting on exhibitions and taking care of artworks that need restoration and further research. The funds from the opening of these buildings come back to The Royal Collection Trust, which is run as a business, with a board of trustees. This is a business that has grown steadily in recent years the summer season openings of Buckingham Palace (to help pay for Windsor's restoration after it was damaged by fire) began in 1993 and Windsor Castle was only reopened again in 1997. In financial terms our size is comparable to that of a national museum.

'We are curatorially led, without compromise. We look after the treasures in our care, learn more about them and ensure they are kept in excellent condition. I am pa.s.sionate about presentation and want to ensure all looks beautiful, taking particular care with hanging, lighting, visibility and access. High values in display and presentation matter hugely we are, after all, putting the work on show in royal palaces. We mount special exhibitions and encourage a climate of research and scholars.h.i.+p. We are very fortunate to work with a collection of such extraordinary range and depth as The Royal Collection.

'I work with a range of committed art historians and we encourage students to come in and get involved in research and administrative projects (if you would like to be considered, the best way is to write a letter of application requesting work experience, telling us of your particular research interests). We oversee and recommend applications for loans from the Royal Collection for other exhibitions and organisations all are approved by the Queen, who is the final decision-maker, and she is generous in making provision.

'It's true that many of those visiting the palaces often choose to visit as part of a tourist itinerary rather than as an art history fest, but once inside visitors are often struck by the excellent quality of the paintings, and how exciting it can be to see an image you are familiar with maybe from a book ill.u.s.tration or the media "in the flesh". An oil painting seen at first hand can be so much more compelling than any reproduction. I like to think that if we encourage more people to look at the artwork on display, we enrich their understanding of art in general, and that they go forth with more than they had bargained for.

'Above all, this job is a huge privilege. We look after a rich endowment of work that was begun by Charles I, added to by subsequent monarchs (George III was a great collector of drawings) and is now the private collection of their ancestor, the Queen, held in trust for the nation. My job is to increase public awareness of the treasures held, add to the sum of knowledge we have about them, and to put on exhibitions and loans that spread wider understanding both of what is in the Royal Collection and the value of art history in general.'

Interview with Peta Cook, Curator at Kingston Museum Peta and I were due to have lunch the day of this interview, but as a member of her staff had phoned in sick that morning, she was unable to leave the building. Writing up our discussions later that day, this became a useful metaphor; firstly for the significant responsibility she carries and secondly for her total commitment to her job. Her job t.i.tle is officially curator, but in reality her work is much more varied. That same day she was due to attend an important meeting at 4 p.m. and in between would have to organise the volunteers, put out the chairs and ensure the facilities were clean in preparation for the lecture she was giving that evening to the Friends of the Museum.

'My undergraduate degree was in archaeology, at Liverpool University. Whereas I had started out with the intention of becoming an archaeologist, I had always loved museums and in my last year I began investigating this as a career option. I sought advice from those already involved and did some work experience in Liverpool Museum (cla.s.sifying lithics or stone age tools). What followed was more work experience, two years in Liverpool and then a year in Newcastle, in order to qualify for the hugely compet.i.tive (just 24 places) MA in Museum Studies at Newcastle University. Work experience did not yield an income and had to be subsidised with part-time paid work in my case cleaning the students' union, working for Boots and in a call centre for BT. After graduating from my MA I did more volunteering in the hope that a paid position would eventually turn up, which is the most usual route; those who are working for nothing are first in line when paid opportunities occur. I eventually got some paid work as a museum interpreter for Norfolk Museums and Archaeological Service, which looked after a network of 11 regional museums and was funded by the local authority. All posts seem to be developmental in that the individual occupying them brings specific talents and interests and will develop the role in the way they are best able to serve the museum. The funding always arrives later, if at all.

'After working for a year as a museum interpreter for Norfolk Museums and Archaeological Service, I worked as curator of human history (social history and archaeology) at Peterborough (a job share role I held for three years), during which time I worked at Ipswich Museum as a volunteer on my days off, as well as a flower seller at the weekends. My next job was working full time for East of England Museums Libraries and Archives Council, as regional standards advisor for museums in the east of England. This role saw me training and advising museums on a range of issues but with particular responsibility for managing the accreditation scheme in this museum-packed region. After three years in the post, I decided to put my advice into practice and return to curatorial work at Kingston Museum, and I have now been here for three years.

'While I love what I do, and find it very satisfying, the role is also frustrating in that so many different job functions are fulfilled by me with insufficient time and resources to do any of them properly. For example, in addition to being curator, I have half the job of head of heritage services (when the previous inc.u.mbent left she was not replaced and her role was divided between me and another colleague). I am also manager of front of house, collections manager and exhibitions officer. This means that my job stretches from planning the different temporary exhibitions and overseeing their installation to ensuring that the electrical equipment has had its safety checks and that health and safety procedures get adhered to. Managing the volunteers takes a lot of time we have over 40, from a range of backgrounds (not everyone is seeking a career here). Some are provided by volunteering agencies, who are not looking for museum-specific work experience but rather experience of a workplace for the volunteers they send; others are looking to spend time in a museum, perhaps because they live locally and want to be more involved in their community; others want a job like mine.

'Funding is a headache. As provision of museum services is non-statutory, we are afforded no security, and always seem to be first in line when cuts loom. We are not seen as an essential service. We have to be political and both understand and connect with the agenda, strategy papers and higher (and sometimes unstated) objectives that are established, and which determine the allocation of resources. We are now part of the Library and Heritage Service but it concerns me that "museums" are no longer specifically mentioned in the organisational t.i.tle.

'Keeping our connectedness to the wider agenda is easier at some times than at others. It is important to measure who has been here and what use they have made of us, both in person and via our website, and this is fairly straightforward. Just recently, however, we put on an exhibition of sculpture for the blind where we displayed materials that visitors were invited to touch and hold. This had a substantial effect on all who got involved, from those preparing the exhibition and the facilities needed to support visitors, to the visually impaired who attended, their carers and companions. Once the exhibition is over it has to be explained and presented in a manner that enables us to meet the targets we have been set. We face a wider misunderstanding from society that museums deal with the past rather we feel we are working in the present to inform the future and change lives; we often have an immediate and lasting effect on those who visit. But the economic climate is particularly difficult at the moment, money is in short supply and there are major projects on the horizon needing substantial income most notably the 2012 Olympics which draw resources that could really benefit local initiatives such as our museum.

'At the same time as putting on displays and looking after our collection, we have to keep an eye out for collaborative ventures and funding opportunities. We are involved in a major international exhibition, which is in essence a retrospective of the work of pioneering moving image photographer Eadweard Muybridge. This means working with the museum developing the exhibition The Corcoran Gallery in Was.h.i.+ngton as well as one of the UK host museums, in this case Tate Britain. In order for us to put on something in Kingston that maximises the ma.s.sive potential offered to us via these partners.h.i.+ps and which links us to these major initiatives, we will need to apply for external funding from bodies such as the Heritage Lottery Fund or the Arts Council. These major initiatives aside, we find ourselves applying for funding or support for projects on an almost constant basis, be it for conservation, learning, advocacy, audience development or simply to fund our next exhibition, the sources for which are varied, but might be local, national or international grant-giving bodies, local individuals, sponsors.h.i.+p from local firms or through collaborative developments with Kingston University. Each application takes considerable time and effort to prepare, and the projects themselves take time to plan. The amounts we seek may be very small scale but vital to our delivery and, therefore, while the accompanying bureaucracy is always extensive, it is vital that we keep doing this.

'One of the best things about this world is its connectedness, or rather the culture of reciprocity that exists among museums and museum staff. For example, when we were threatened with closure, the MLA (Museums, Libraries and Archives a.s.sociation) or regional agencies could offer support. There are also many colleagues in the West London Museums Group or the London Museums Group, all of whom I am in touch with via regional meetings or e-mail. Then there are various networks to which I can submit queries for almost instant and engaged help, such as GEM, or to give it its full t.i.tle, Group for Education in Museums, or MANN (the Museums Advisor Network). Networks like these prove invaluable as museums are often breaking new ground and involved in areas of work for which they require the advice of those who have trod that path before or who know of people in other sectors who can share their skills. Owing to the multifaceted nature of museum roles today, staff themselves are facing new challenges every day, for which advice is often appreciated and, with everyone under ma.s.sive time/ resource pressures, the more we can avoid reinventing the wheel the better! I am on the committees of the Society of Museum Archaeologists and the London Museums Group, and am curatorial adviser to both the Wimbledon Windmill Museum and the British Airways Museum (private museums receiving no state funding).'

Interview with David Falkner, Director of the Stanley Picker Gallery, Kingston University 'My start in this world was not unusual as people tend to arrive via a variety of different paths. I trained as an artist, did my BA in Fine Arts at the Chelsea School of Art and then was determined to be a practising artist. I faced the dilemma common to many artists of how to support my practice while meeting the costs of living, and moved to Spain where life was cheaper although I always had to subsidise my practice with additional work mostly teaching and doing odd jobs. I wasn't selling much work, although by this point I had exhibited across Spain and Belgium. While in Spain I started organising exhibitions on an artist-led basis, sometimes promoting my own work, but always in combination with other artists, and sometimes for them alone. An artist friend pointed out that for an artist (usually necessarily more fixated on their own work than that of others) I was unusually good at engaging with and promoting the work of others, and I began to realise that I enjoyed all the other aspects of setting up these shows finding suitable locations, arranging the hanging/presentation, being in touch with people and asking them to attend.

'I started teaching art through a visiting lectures.h.i.+p at Winchester School of Art, which at the time had a base in Barcelona, and in this way became involved with university teaching. Looking back, I was also always drawn to the world of public rather than private galleries. I wanted to work on artist-projects, helping artists make their own work happen, and the shows I put on were never publicly or privately financed. I have often been told that my own training as an artist is a real help here, and that I tend to look at projects from the artist's point of view rather than as an administrator or theorist.

'Through teaching art I had to engage with the other aspects of being an artist, such as how the art world works, and how to work with the commercial sector. This made me realise that there was a gap in my grasp of the commercial and technical realities of arts management much of what I had been doing up to that point had been based on instinct.

'About this time, Arts Council England announced a pilot-project offering an administrative trainees.h.i.+p at Bury St Edmunds Art Gallery, with time off to do a postgraduate diploma in arts management. I got the trainees.h.i.+p and spent four days a week working in the gallery and a fifth studying all the practicalities of arts management that were missing from my CV. This was a marvellous opportunity and I spent four years there, rising to be a.s.sistant director. From there I moved on to the Pumphouse Gallery in Battersea Park, which is run by the local authority but gets additional project funding from Arts Council England.

'From my first experience I had always enjoyed working within a university and when I saw the new position of director of the Stanley Picker Gallery in Kingston I was immediately attracted. University galleries tend to have a slightly different culture from other inst.i.tutions and from each other. Each one is an individual model, often set up with funding from a specific bequest, thereby blending the founder's ethos with the university's wider aims: so places like the Margaret Harvey Gallery at the University of Hertfords.h.i.+re, the Reg Vardy Gallery at Sunderland University and the Norwich Gallery all have a slightly different feel and ethos.

'Stanley Picker was a Kingston businessman, collector and benefactor who died in 1982 having set up a trust in his name to support young arts pract.i.tioners. The university had been running since the 1970s, allowing nascent artists, and now also designers, to make new work and when the Kingston local planning authority approved the development of a light industrial site into student housing on condition that the site included a building offering access to the public, it was a logical move to make that building a public art gallery, something Stanley Picker had longed for in his lifetime. The then Head of Fine Arts, Professor Bruce Russell, set it up, with the Stanley Picker Trust paying for the building and a long-term commitment from the university to staff, run and develop it. We now administer two fellows.h.i.+ps a year, which usually run for about 18 months each. We put on a wide range of different shows and try to engage with the local community as much as possible our outreach programme with local primary schools is a particularly important part of this. We have a full-time staff of two (me and my a.s.sistant Jackie) and a team of students who offer to be involved during their time at Kingston, plus others who get in touch to make themselves available. A contemporary art gallery in the heart of Kingston, the vision of Stanley Picker, is becoming an increasingly valued reality.

'Our other main representational value is as part of the university. Universities are being encouraged to reach out into the community and play their part in widening partic.i.p.ation and I feel we fulfil an important role here. All communication to schools goes out under the name of the university. In addition to our involvement with schools, we run an art club on Sat.u.r.days and set up other events to celebrate what has been achieved and give the partic.i.p.ants' families, friends and carers a taste of our activities. We make considerable efforts to send formal invitations to both the children and their families and when these events take place I am always impressed by the commitment shown parents take time off work, want to try things themselves and there is a real spirit of engagement. The parents and carers go away having had an experiential visit, and one they will remember, and the young people will grow up having had the experience of taking part in art and seeing a gallery as somewhere they enjoy going and so in turn will hopefully take their own children. All this is an important part of making our presence felt within the community and building a relations.h.i.+p with our audience, both actual and potential. Building a const.i.tuency for art in the future is something that takes commitment and time but will reap long-term rewards.

'Looking back, I am in the satisfying position of loving what I do and feeling that my initial desire to help artists make their work a reality is something that is at the very core of what we do here in Kingston. The fellows.h.i.+ps are a particular satisfaction, and watching artists grow while feeling supported by a base both now and in the future is a source of pride. Having started out as an artist myself, I have always felt that having a supportive base matters very much. I am delighted to have one here myself, and to see Kingston foster the careers of other artists and potential art lovers.'

Chapter 5

Collections and collections management

'Collections' is a blanket term for thinking about what an organisation holds and what it is responsible for looking after. This includes many functions, such as keeping what is held in order so that things can be found, preventing further decay through conservation, adding to it in a planned way, loaning it and receiving loans to supplement understanding, and learning more about it.

Developing a collections policy Developing an a.s.sociated collections policy means deciding what should be in the collection and what are the gaps, and looking to fill them within the budget available or by encouraging donations. It also means deciding what not not to collect and how to dispose of items that are no longer needed. Under MLA Accreditation Standard, all museums must have an acquisition and disposal policy. to collect and how to dispose of items that are no longer needed. Under MLA Accreditation Standard, all museums must have an acquisition and disposal policy.

But collections management is not just about managing the items in the collection, or what you might add or decide to release, it is also about managing people, budgets, projects and so on. Helen Ward, collections manager for Kingston University Library commented: 'Collections management in libraries is very similar to that in museums and galleries. While the types of item we handle may be different, the skills required are much the same, and many of them are managerial rather than specific to the collection you are looking after. For example, it is essential that the Collections Manager can offer: team leaders.h.i.+p and supervision; project management; negotiation, for example with potential donors and suppliers; budget management.

'Thinking about my specific responsibilities as collections manager of a large university library, I am responsible for the acquisition and maintenance of our printed books and journals, audiovisual material, archival papers, electronic books and databases. This includes accessioning new items (e.g. dealing with the paperwork involved in legal transfer of owners.h.i.+p), creating and maintaining location records (cataloguing) and, of course, conservation. We need to be constantly aware of our own collections policy and of the university's teaching and research profile, to ensure that we are buying material that will get used. We also need to be alert to national initiatives which may present funding opportunities for new projects. The "digital revolution" has presented all sorts of interesting challenges to us in giving access to our collections in different ways downloading, streaming video, making digital copies of fragile material.

'This specific application to the library, with my wider managerial responsibilities, and involvement within the politics and development plans of the university as a whole, make it a far more varied and interesting role than may at first be apparent to those from outside.'

Case Study: Collections as a Career Interview with Malcolm Chapman, Head of Collections at the Manchester Museum 'The Manchester Museum is divided into three areas: Collections Development; Access, Learning and Interpretation; and Operations.

'To deal with the last two areas first, Access, Learning and Interpretation puts on exhibitions, encourages people to come and see them and tries to widen the profile of those who do so. Operations handles all the day-to-day administrative functions that any organisation needs (although HR and some other functions are handled by the university we are part of), as well as those specifically involved in seeking to engage the general public (e.g. front of house, security and fundraising). So that leaves Collections Development.

'The collections policy of the Manchester Museum is based on three key criteria: Can the material be used in research (within the museum and the university)?

Can it be used in teaching (for all ages, from schoolchildren and university students to the retired)?

What is its role in audience development (will it broaden the range of visitors and what they get out of the experience)?

'We review our holdings according to strengths and general interest, changes in funding and the overall direction of the museum, so whereas we used to have keepers responsible for Vertebrate Zoology, Invertebrate Zoology and Entomology (insects), we now have just Zoology and Entomology. Conversely, the museum has two departments of Cla.s.sical Archaeology and General Archaeology and Ethnology, and we now have three curators of Archaeology, Egyptology and Living Cultures.

'Sometimes the issues involved in collections management lead to conflicting requirements. For example, rather than having a 'handling collection' of copied, second-rate or spare items that visiting schoolchildren are allowed to touch, we now make real objects available to them. Obviously the mechanisms have had to be adapted so, for some Greek vases, special Perspex packaging has been developed that allows the children to have really close access (without touch), but each time an item is exposed to close public view some element of physical decline is likely. It is a question of a.s.sessing and balancing the risk with the desire to get the object out and used. At other times we have to make compromises, perhaps trading a wider spread of information with reduced access to the original item. An example here is the very rare 'Manchester Moth' of which only two other examples are in existence (one in London and one in Australia). We can't put this item of key local interest and pride on display because it is now too fragile, but we can make it accessible via video and film; in this case by filming the curator and conservator in discussion, and their conversation is now on show in the gallery and downloadable on YouTube. In this way we are able to explore issues such as provenance (how did the moth get here?), habitat (in what conditions did it survive and why?), social history (how does this tie in with trade routes and exporting patterns from the time when it was found?) and contemporary relevance (what is arriving with our bananas from distant places today, and is this affecting the indigenous wildlife?).

'Working in a regional partners.h.i.+p, we are also involved in a variety of representational activities to do with good practice in museums and grant-awarding. We try to award money on the basis of both need and access; so establis.h.i.+ng what is needed for conservation, restoration and display in return for the provision of public access. A good example is the stone xylophone from Kendal Museum that we helped preserve, and which is now being taken out of the museum and played in various locations which was of course its original function. In the process new audiences are engaged and more people come to appreciate what is held in public collections on behalf of us all.'

Acquisitions 'Deciding what to add to a collection needs similar detailed thought. Some organisations just collect everything offered, so as to supplement strengths of what is already held and fill in the weaknesses, but ultimately the availability of storage is an issue, as well as whether what you are collecting will ever get either found or used again holding things 'in perpetuity' is a long-term and expensive option. There was a prevailing view a few years ago that a collection which does not get added to is a dead collection, but some collections cannot be added to, either through the provisions of the gift (e.g. The Wallace Collection) or because they chart the changing taste of the original collector, which is itself interesting. A more satisfying definition of a dead collection is one in which no research or public activity is taking place.

'In general, an acquisitions policy is likely to be based on the content of the proposed addition, and how it is likely to be used. It may also be based on the collections of other related organisations, particularly within a specific region, so that centres of specific expertise and owners.h.i.+p are built up. For example, the Manchester Museum does not collect fine or decorative arts, or social and industrial history (as these are the preserve of other local museums) and they have a self-imposed boundary of no archaeological findings after 1650.

'The acquisitions budget may be small and a casualty when public expenditure cuts loom but the collection can still be increased by encouraging donations, or long-term loans (which may eventually turn into donations), launching a fundraising campaign to purchase a particular item, and competing for items funded by art charities [see examples of job advertis.e.m.e.nts by Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museums in Chapter 14 Chapter 14]. Donations are not the one-way street you might imagine, as having an item preserved and admired in future may offer the current owner both enhanced prestige and reduced worry, especially if the item in question is valuable and different family members are making a strong case for future owners.h.i.+p. For an artist or maker, being asked to donate an item to a local collection can be a source of pride, particularly if the item is then displayed alongside key items by better known protagonists of a specific form.

Case Study: Collection and acquisition for a botanic garden Interview with Dr David Rae, Director of Horticulture, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh 'There about 2,500 botanic gardens in the world and, perhaps contrary to popular belief, they are far from being Victorian relics, with more botanic gardens being created now than in any other time in history. They each have their own history and reason for existence but most have an underlying scientific basis for their plant collections and include one or more of the following activities in their policy statements: research, education, amenity, plant display, conservation and horticulture.

'They range in size and complexity hugely with the smallest having just a small plot of land on which to cultivate plants, tended by one or two staff, while the largest have hundreds of staff and an array of facilities in addition to their gardens, including gla.s.shouses, laboratories, herbaria, libraries, cafes, shops, galleries, exhibition halls and museums. Owners.h.i.+p and funding is also diverse and includes governments, munic.i.p.alities, universities, foundations and societies.