Curators

What Does a Curators Do?

Administer collections, such as artwork, collectibles, historic items, or scientific specimens of museums or other institutions. May conduct instructional, research, or public service activities of institution.

Day-to-Day Responsibilities

• 1Plan and organize the acquisition, storage, and exhibition of collections and related materials, including the selection of exhibition themes and designs, and develop or install exhibit materials.
• 2Develop and maintain an institution's registration, cataloging, and basic record-keeping systems, using computer databases.
• 3Plan and conduct special research projects in area of interest or expertise.
• 4Provide information from the institution's holdings to other curators and to the public.
• 5Negotiate and authorize purchase, sale, exchange, or loan of collections.
• 6Study, examine, and test acquisitions to authenticate their origin, composition, history, and to assess their current value.
• 7Inspect premises to assess the need for repairs and to ensure that climate and pest control issues are addressed.
• 8Write and review grant proposals, journal articles, institutional reports, and publicity materials.

Required Skills

• Reading Comprehension
• Speaking
• Active Listening
• Writing
• Critical Thinking
• Active Learning
• Adobe Acrobat
• Adobe Creative Cloud software
• Adobe FreeHand MX
• Adobe Illustrator
• Adobe InDesign
• Adobe Photoshop
• Apple macOS
• Artsystems Collections
• Autodesk AutoCAD
• Corel WordPerfect Office Suite

Curators Salary