Curator: What is the cost of hiring?

Why hire a curator?

A curator is in charge of selecting collections of art or artifacts for a museum or art gallery. When a curator picks popular pieces, they can bring more visitors into the facility.

Contributions of a great curator:

• Ability to pick out unique collections of work
• Can negotiate with the artist or owner of the collection to show their work
• Will display pieces of work or artifacts in eye-catching ways

What are the different types of curators?

Curators work mainly in museums and art galleries. Some might work for small independent galleries specializing in a particular form of art, while others will work in large galleries or museums with many different pieces of work. The curator must know how to display the work in an eye-catching manner and be able to negotiate with the owners of the collections to get permission to show the work. The following is a list of different types of curators.

• Museum curator: Work in museums, deciding on what types of artifacts to display and how.
• Art gallery curator: Work in art galleries, deciding what art pieces to display.
• Library curator: Work with rare books and first editions of famous pieces of literature.
• Monument curator: Will curate historical monuments.
• Archives curator: Will curate historical documents that are kept as a matter of public record.

Where to find a curator

To find the right curator for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

• Professional associations: Curators can belong to different professional associations depending on their type of curation and their location. There are both local and international curator associations that can help you find experienced candidates when you are looking to hire a curator.
• Art schools: Curators at art galleries will often have a degree in fine arts. When looking to find a curator, you can look at local art schools that would have access to new graduates who might be looking to be hired by a gallery.
• College and Universities with museum programs: Some universities and colleges teach museum studies where students will learn about curating and taking care of artifacts. These would be a great place to find curators or students who would like to become curators.
• Events at museums or art galleries: Events at art galleries and museums will attract people who are in the business. By attending such an event, you might be able to find a curator who would be the right candidate for your position.

Post your job online: Try posting your curator job on Indeed to find and attract quality curator candidates.

Skills to look for in a great curator

A great curator candidate will have the following skills and attributes as well as work experience that reflects:

• knowledge of art or archeology/history/anthropology
• communication skills, both written and oral
• ability to negotiate
• ability to work as part of a team
• excellent project management and organizational skills
• good eye for design

Writing a curator job description

A thoughtful description is important for finding qualified curator candidates. A curator job description includes a compelling summary of the role, a detailed list of duties and responsibilities, and the required and preferred skills for the position.

When writing your curator job description, consider including some or all of the following keywords to improve the visibility of your job posting. These are the most popular search terms leading to clicks on curator jobs, according to Indeed data:

• curator
• museum curator
• art gallery
• gallery assistant
• art
• museum
• artist

Interviewing curator candidates

Strong candidates for curator positions will be confident answering questions regarding:

• Experience working with artists or other museum curators
• Experience with setting up eye-catching displays
• Able to maintain records and catalogue artifacts/artwork
• Experience with preserving artifacts/artwork
• Experience with marketing exhibits

Need help coming up with interview questions? See our list of interview questions for examples (with sample answers).