An over-and-inter-view with The Virginia G. Schroeder Curator of Art
The Virginia G. Schroeder Curator of Art, Tory Schendel Cox, in her element.
An over-and-inter-view with The Virginia G. Schroeder Curator of Art
By Tory Schendel Cox
Overview
Amid the current pandemic, educators have worked relentlessly to offer virtual opportunities that support academic curriculum and provide students with meaningful experiences. Specifically, in the museum studies, archaeology/anthropology, and art history programs, I have participated in numerous web-based interviews working with teachers and students to answer questions regarding my position and work conducted at the Evansville Museum as The Virginia G. Schroeder Curator of Art. After reflecting on my last interview, I decided to create a blog of the most commonly asked questions. The purpose is to digitize the questions and responses to increase information accessibility. Nonetheless, if an educator would like to set up an interview to discuss the role of an art curator, please send an email at info@emuseum.org.
A Snapshot of the Museum Sector
As of 2019, there are 850 million annual visitors to American museums, which contributes $50 billion into the economy each year. There are 37,500 museum jobs in America and roughly 4,500 jobs are available per year. (https://tinyurl.com/y4gmdmrw)
Education
While a bachelor's degree is the minimum requirement for some museum jobs, most require a master’s degree. Regarding a P.h.D, a smaller percentage of positions require a subject-matter expert.
Relative Master’s Degrees
Since a master’s degree is generally required for museum work, below is a breakdown of some master’s degrees that correlate to museum employment. Note the numbers beside the degrees. Since national surveys are extremely expensive, the corresponding numbers are the total awarded degrees in 2017. This is important because if one adds up all the awarded degrees, 6,229 total degrees, minus the annual projected jobs per year, 4,500 available jobs per year, one will learn there is an annual 1,729 job placement deficit per year for graduates. Challenge yourself, what will you do differently to not be one of the 1,729? Or, if you are, what can you do to become one of the 4,500? (https://datausa.io/)
Museum Studies: 724
Art History, Criticism, and Conservation: 828
History: 3,467
Public History: 88
Archaeology: 41
Anthropology: 1081
Interview
What is a curator?
“Curator” comes from the Latin word “curatis” which means, to take care of. With this in mind, our primary duty is to take care of the museum’s permanent collection. The purpose of preservation is to ensure that the next generation of museum-goers can learn, reflect on, and experience objects from past cultures and societies. In essence, museums are giant repositories of tangible human experiences. While stewardship is our primary responsibility, we research our collection objects to create exhibitions and disseminate knowledge about the collection to the general public.
What educational requirements are needed to obtain a job like yours?
This is a complex question because there is no black-and-white answer. Statistically speaking, one will need a master’s degree and approximately five years of relative experience. If you are one who is in the “to P.h.D or not to P.h.D” debate, think about the institutions you’d like to work at before committing the time, money, and resources. It is imperative to have this reflection because a museum is a business. If you are unsuccessful at landing a subject-specific curatorial role at a, generally speaking, large institution, mid-sized to small museums have little use for a narrow research perspective. We need one to sell experiences through programs and exhibitions to our general public. Furthermore, we need one to bring inclusionary practices to the museum and foster community relationships. Theoretical knowledge is excellent but practical application is how you will be evaluated in a job like mine.
What skills are needed to do your job?
While research and organizational skills are important, the most critical is your people and networking skills. Every candidate has the degrees, internship experiences (multiple, one or two are rarely enough), and extracurriculars. There are more graduates with credentials than jobs available in America. With this in mind, it is up to the applicant to show more diverse skillsets and prove to their potential employer that they can do more than research and be organized. I emphasize people and networking because as the “general” curator is on the rise (https://tinyurl.com/yymq5x5d), very little of my work week is dedicated to object research. Most of my 9:00-5:00 pm is spent emailing, attending meetings, working with community leaders on ideas for programming and potential exhibitions, balancing budgets, and strategizing how I am going to finance my department’s endeavors. Realistically, only 20% of my time is dedicated to “art history.” Furthermore, you must continually work on your presentation skills. You will be expected to talk to museum patrons and the media.
How often do you work directly with the collection?
Not as much as one would think. In most cases, when I speak with students or museum patrons, the general perception is that I am in collections storage or my office looking at objects all day. As stated above, approximately 20% of my job is “art history.” Most of my time is spent being a liaison between the community and the museum. While I do research the collection, this does not require consistent direct contact with the physical object. If one is interested in working directly with the physical object, it is well worth considering a career as a collections manager. With that in mind, the collections manager’s primary duty is inventory and database entry.
Why do museums have more objects than what they can display?
Statistically speaking, less than 5% of a museum’s overall permanent collection is ever on display. (https://tinyurl.com/y5kgmxbu) The reason: every tangible object has an expiration date. To elaborate, whenever a museum exhibits an object, the museum is taking time away from the object’s shelf life. Have you ever left a receipt, photograph, or a three-dimensional painted object out in your living space? Have you ever noticed how the ink dissipates or how the paint fades over time? While museums generally have safer and less harsh lights in our exhibition spaces, the effects are the same; light permanently damages all of our exhibition objects. Therefore, we create collection management and curatorial policies that not only outlines how our museum collects objects but denotes how often we rotate exhibition spaces.
If less than 5% of the collection is on display, why can’t visitors gain access to permanent collection storage facilities?
The purpose of the storage facility is to create a controlled environment in which there is minimal disruption in the room’s temperature and light pollution. Did you know your body naturally radiates heat? Imagine continually bringing groups of people into the storage facility. Your natural heat is enough to further damage some objects in our permanent collection that are in critical condition. Also, the purpose of taking objects off display is to the extend the expiration date of the piece, therefore, by turning the lights on multiple times defeats the preservation purpose. Even as we research the objects in our collection, curators generally work from digital images and only pull the physical object out when necessary.
You mentioned the role of collections management, are there any other roles that work with the object?
Absolutely. In museums, we call the department that works with the permanent collection “curatorial.” A curatorial department generally consists of a curator, collections manager, registrar, and art preparator. A curator focuses on stewardship, research, and exhibition development, a collections manager focuses on inventory and data entry for the museum’s permanent collection database, the registrar focuses on all the paperwork, such as loan agreements and deed of gifts, regarding the physical object, and the art preparator assists the other three positions when needed and works on exhibition installations. At larger institutions, some museums might have something called an exhibition department that is separate from a traditional curatorial department. The members of the exhibition team focus more on the physical development of an exhibition and work with the curators more so for object content only.
What advice do you have for prospective curators?
Take time to evaluate if you want to be a curator or love the idea of being a curator. Remember, you will spend more time behind a computer than actually performing “art history.” Research other positions in the curatorial or exhibition department. One might discover that the tasks and responsibilities of other positions are more what the perspective person is interested in. Once one has looked into the different roles, look up museum professionals and politely ask them for an informal interview. This can help one decide if the desired position is truly something worthwhile for the perspective person. Furthermore, visit the American Alliance of Museums website and look up the blind salary report. The report is a document comprised of museum positions with the current salary. The blind salary report will provide one with the most realistic understanding of what one will make in this field. It will also help you understand if one can truly afford the degrees on the projected salary. Always think about debt to income ratios and how you will sustain your livelihood.