What Does a Curator do in a Museum?
Hey Friends!
Today is a great day to get inspired! We have a special subject we are going to talk about today--Curators! Curators work at art museums, including right here at the AMA. They have a special job. They look at all the art that they can get their eyes on and help choose what kind of art a museum will show. They are really good at understanding the artwork and the artist who made it. They can help you or anyone else look at the art in a different way. You may see something you didn't see before!
Curate: To select, organize, and present in a collection or exhibition by using professional or expert knowledge.
Let's watch this video of Gary. He thinks he may want to be an art curator. Is this a job you would want when you are all grown up?
Today is a great day to get inspired! We have a special subject we are going to talk about today--Curators! Curators work at art museums, including right here at the AMA. They have a special job. They look at all the art that they can get their eyes on and help choose what kind of art a museum will show. They are really good at understanding the artwork and the artist who made it. They can help you or anyone else look at the art in a different way. You may see something you didn't see before!
Curate: To select, organize, and present in a collection or exhibition by using professional or expert knowledge.
Let's watch this video of Gary. He thinks he may want to be an art curator. Is this a job you would want when you are all grown up?
- Curators Around Us! -
Meet Thelma Golden
Photo by: Patrick T. Fallon
She is the curator at the golden studio in Harlem. She also became the first black curator of the Whitley Museum of American Art in 1988. She specializes in African-American art and is known for the exhibitions she has put together. She is very well known by the Harlem community. Their museum has artwork that has been collected over the past two centuries.
That's 200 years!
That's 200 years!
Meet Didi Dunphy
 In the picture here to the left, you can see Dunphy working with artist Lee Coffey to place artwork on the wall of the AMA's West Gallery for the Viberations of Pasaquan exhibition. In the picture on the right, she and artist Samuel Stabler are doing the same thing in our East Gallery for an exhibition featuring work by Brian Willmont. | Here at the Albany Museum of Art, we have our very own curator named Didi Dunphy! Shes works with us to find art and build the exhibitions that you see when you visit the museum. When artists send their work to be shown at different art museums, they usually send them with very serious instructions on how to display the art. She works very closely with the artist to make sure they share the same vision for the exhibition.  |
Do you want to be a Curator?
If you think this job seems exciting, then you can become an art curator when you grow up! That may be a little while away, but there are some ways for you to start practicing right now. one of the first things you need to know as a curator is how to spot cool and interesting artwork. You can even practice right at home!
It's simple. All you have to do is go around your house and find five really creative family pictures that you would like to show to the rest of your family. With the help of a parent or guardian, use an index card to write down some information about each object. Give each one a name and write down something you find interesting about it.
Now, that those pictures and display them on a table or shelf along with your cards. That way, when someone sees each photograph, they will get an idea of what it means.
Now you are the curator who has turned your home into a small gallery!
If you think this job seems exciting, then you can become an art curator when you grow up! That may be a little while away, but there are some ways for you to start practicing right now. one of the first things you need to know as a curator is how to spot cool and interesting artwork. You can even practice right at home!
It's simple. All you have to do is go around your house and find five really creative family pictures that you would like to show to the rest of your family. With the help of a parent or guardian, use an index card to write down some information about each object. Give each one a name and write down something you find interesting about it.
Now, that those pictures and display them on a table or shelf along with your cards. That way, when someone sees each photograph, they will get an idea of what it means.
Now you are the curator who has turned your home into a small gallery!
