How to Become a Museum Curator

Museum curators acquire, organize and oversee collections of art and valuable historical items. The competition for jobs in this field is tremendous, as there are more experienced applicants with master's degrees than there are job openings.

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• College Catalogs
• Museum Magazines
• Computers
• Online Career Search

1. Become familiar with the field by downloading the American Association of Museums Web site (aam-us.org). You'll find career information, education requirements and colleges offering related programs.

2. Work in a museum as an intern while you're in college. You'll gain invaluable experience and contacts. Be aware that internships are highly competitive, even those that are unpaid.

3. Obtain a bachelor's degree in art history and a master's degree in your area of specialization. Ideally, your master's will be in the specialty of the museum in which you hope to work.

4. Work toward receiving a Ph.D. if you want to be a curator in any natural history or science museum.

5. Consider getting two master's degrees, one in museum studies, the other in a specialty, to really stand out above most of the competition.

6. Be prepared to work your way up the curatorial ladder after you have your master's degree. If you are fortunate enough to get a job in this competitive field, you may have to begin as an assistant curator or associate curator and do mostly administrative work.

Tips & Warnings

• Make certain your overall writing skills are superb.
• Become proficient in the use of computer databases. You will need to catalogue your museum's collections.
• Take a course in grant writing. You will be required to participate in fundraising for the museum.
• Be prepared to travel if you work as a curator for a large museum. You will always be on the lookout for new additions to your museum's collections.

[hilaris72]

on 9/10/2009 "The competition for jobs in this field is tremendous, as there are more experienced applicants with master's degrees than there are job openings."

Well said, this is so true.

[AmyRay]

on 4/27/2007 To bjmichelson, Think about the departments of a museum. In addition to the curatorial staff that acquires and maintains the collections–—and the everso important building staff that maintains and secures the facility–—many museums have staff members in the areas of exhibition planning and design, adult and children's education, publications, retail development and sales, development and conservation.

[bjmichelson]

on 1/11/2007 i was wondering if u happened to know what sort of specializations you can go into in the museum.