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Museum Curator Career Interview
Graham Boettcher has been the curator of American art at the Birmingham Museum of Art in Alabama for the past four years. He earned his PhD from Yale and has always had a love for artwork.
Museum Curator Career Path
Although Graham started off along a medical path, he quickly found that he had a calling for art history instead.
“I definitely wanted to pursue the investigation that medicine has,” he explains, “but some of the science courses were not really in my skill set. I preferred the humanities aspect of it.”
“I took an art history class, and one class led to another. It became clear to me that I wanted art history as my major.”
While earning his PhD at Yale, Graham started working at the Yale University Art Gallery.
“I found that I wanted to be around the objects and work with them in an everyday capacity instead of just studying them in an academic area,” he continues. “This first-hand experience made it apparent that I wanted to be a curator.”
Museum Curator Experiences
Graham earned his bachelor’s degree in German studies at Yale, after which he taught in Dresden, Germany, where he also audited art history courses. He attended the University of Washington for his master’s degree in German romantic paintings and American Hudson River School art. From there, Graham earned his PhD from Yale over the course of six years.
During his second stint at Yale, Graham worked as a curatorial research fellow in the art museum for five years.
“It was a great experience,” he says. “When I was finished, I could start right away as a curator in a museum.”
After receiving offers from museums, Graham accepted the position of curator of American art at the Birmingham Museum of Art in Alabama.
Museum Curator Degree Programs
You typically need at least a master’s degree to get started, and a PhD is ideal for a museum curator position.
“Five out of the six curators at my museum have PhDs,” Graham explains, “although some senior members elsewhere got into the field before you even needed a master’s degree.”
Curators typically have their degree in art history or American studies. More recently, some schools have started to offer museum studies or curatorial studies degrees.
Graham continues, “”However, there are two different tracks to get into the field. If you plan on being a curator with an emphasis on a historic field, such as European art, a PhD is necessary. On the other hand, there are fewer curators of contemporary art that have PhDs. In that field, it is important to know who is important and who isn’t in that field. You need to be in the trenches by doing instead of the studying that is necessary for the other focuses.”
Museum Curator Job Description
Graham is the curator of American art at the Birmingham Museum of Art, a position that puts him in charge of many different pieces from sculptures to paintings.
“I conduct research on our permanent collection, which means figuring out exactly what it is we’ve got,” he explains. “I have to figure out the history and importance of each piece. Some objects have a lot of research already done and some have very little.”
“I help decide further acquisitions and how to best build our collection,” Graham says. “This isn’t always easy at every institution – many places don’t always have the money to acquire art.”
Graham is also responsible for cultivating public interest in the museum, including the community, collectors, and patrons.
“We have re-established the Friends of American Art, which is a support group for building interest,” he continues. “We organize trips around the country and private visits to the museum. With this group, patrons have close access to the artwork. About half of the museums in the country have this kind of group. It requires a lot of work, but it’s fun.”
Museum Curator Daily Routine
Graham and the other curators at his museum govern their own use of time typically, although this isn’t always the case. It depends on the flexibility of the museum.
“I work from home in the morning, responding to the numerous correspondences that I receive,” he says. “I work on research and exhibition proposals, have meetings in-house or with other patron supporters, and give tours to patrons and their families. Curators have to be very flexible with their time and be willing to go out into the field to work with the community.”
Museum Curator: Steps to Success
“You have to be willing to interact with people,” Graham advises. “It is very difficult to be an introvert in this profession. Maybe it was easier before, when curators were just locked away in the archives doing research. Now you have to interact with the patrons and the general public as museum director. Friends of mine had to teach themselves to be extroverts because of this.”
He continues, “Also, you have to have strong research abilities. Know how to find the information. Rarely do you have the luxury to spend very much time on any one object – you have several thousand objects under your care.”
Museum curators need to be able to work with many different people in different departments, including public relations, education, development, and security.
Museum Curator Job Opportunities
Depending on the area of curatorial work, the job market can be very selective.
“There seems to be more opportunities in American art than in contemporary art,” says Graham. “The field is competitive, but not as competitive as teaching art history. For that field, you have to wait until someone either retires or dies. There are a lot more opportunities in museum curating than teaching.”
Museum Curator Career Favorite Aspect
“Dealing with the objects directly,” Graham explains. “I love getting first-hand access to the works of art. I can take a painting off the wall and look at it closely. Visitors don’t get to do that.”
“I also enjoy sharing what I know and what I’ve learned with other people,” he continues. “Knowledge for its own sake is boring – it doesn’t do anyone else any good.”
Museum Curator’s Future Ambitions
Although he’d miss the daily interaction with the objects, Graham hopes to become a museum director in the future.
“I also hope that people will come to understand what the curator actually does,” he says. “The term ‘curator’ is overused and misconstrued – people need to realize the different between being a curator and a skilled merchandiser.”
Advice for Prospective Museum Curators
“As soon as you have the idea that you want to be a curator, find an internship, be it paid or unpaid,” Graham advises. “Nearly every museum has some type of internship program, and that is the best way to get a sense of whether or not you have a taste for the museum atmosphere.”
Museum curators should understand just how much work it takes to pursue this career – you need to learn at least one foreign language and can spend between six to eight years earning your PhD.
“Look carefully at the types of programs that you are applying to,” Graham continues. “When I earned my master’s degree, it took three years, even though at most institutions, it only takes 1-2 years. I had to learn another language in addition to the German that I already knew.”
He adds, “This is a career where once they get their feet wet, very few people leave it. Once you discover that you are an object person, you are always an object person. It is linked to a passion and a psychological drive to understand and collect objects. Most curators that I know are collectors of objects outside of their work, too.”
