ART HS 5593: Museum Management and Curatorial Practice

Course Description

Museum Management and Curatorial Practice is designed to give students overlapping theoretical and practical experience that will be useful after entry into the museum profession. While exhibitions are at the core of the museum mission, it takes a broad range of skills from different team members to bring shows to fruition. The course provides students with grounded knowledge on how to curate an exhibition for their museum and understand all the elements that serve the mission-driven goals for that institution, and the obligation to uphold best practices as established by the American Alliance of Museums [AAM] and the Association of Art Museum Directors [AAMD] that provide guidance for the field. Students will become familiar with the different types of roles and functions that make museums run (although staffing levels will vary based on the size and budget of the organization), including: executive management, advancement, marketing, curatorial, collections management, education, and others (e.g., archivist, librarian, security, maintenance, groundskeeping, restaurant staff, parking).