What's a Curator? | The Art Assignment | PBS Digital Studios

[hollytaylor]

I never knew a curator did so much outside of the "arranging the collection in a room" part! Sounds like an awesome job

[davidshi]

Perhaps a curator is like a conductor of an orchestra -- you may not have written the music, but you are in charge of the expression of that music. And then the audience charges the stage and starts making wildly improvisational jazz/techtronic sound-art on stolen instruments, playing to an empty theatre, but the street outside is full of onlookers.   :)

[bludelight]

I never questioned your title as curator. I always thought you were doing the bulk of the work finding artist and presenting their work. Also I figured that you were curating the work that the audience contributed. Basically all of my ideas of what you do for the Art Assignment matched my ideas of what a curator does making the title remain accurate to me.

[rcpl]

So guys, we did it, we reached a quarter of a million subscribers, 250, 000 subscribers and still growing the fact that we've reached this number in such a short amount of time is just phenomenal, I'm-I'm just amazed. Thank you all so much for supporting this channel and helping it grow. I-I love you guys... You guys are just awesome.

[Xenolilly]

A curator to me is someone who looks after art on a large scale. It doesn't have to be too large but large enough to be noticeable. This series would count for sure. As well as someone who has at least a room full of art to care for.
Also, cute haircut Sarah. :)

[fomoriii]

i like what john berger said about curation and museums, that everyone should have their own 'museum' of objects and images that mean something to them, democratising curation and taste

[masonpm]

As an artist I had no idea of the scope that the curator title stood for. Thank you very much!

[jaymillymills]

Thank you, for the longest time I saw this job as "underwater basketweaving" but now I see it's much more

[nicolecastro]

I like how she said that being a curator is similar to being the "middle man" in between the artist and their audience. It certainly puts in perspective what a curator, independent or not, actually does and how much work goes into how they present the art to the audience. That is what a curator is to me, someone who has knowledge about the work or pieces enough to talk about it and explain it to an outside person.

[lisayee]

I am studying Art History and Museum Studies, and have my first opportunity beginning this week to learn to curate a very specific collection. I am fortunate to have OJT during the summer and fall this year. I am so thrilled to be learning in this unconventional, organic way.

[karencrisler]

I loved this podcast! I never knew so much thought and intentionality was behind curating. I appreciate all the museums and galleries I have been to so much more now!

[TheTessitura]

I absolutely love this video series! I didn't really think about the legitimacy - even the plausibility - of art being made now by real live people before this series, and it's been really amazing. I've learned so much!!

[penrynsdreams]

Sarah, you are so great.

I definitely feel like curation is the bridge between expert and audience. The curator is the person who is deeply in whatever but is also thinking about how to engage other people with that whatever. I mean, it's not just that, because that doesn't include the collection aspect, but it's an important piece.

[magicknight]

I am an art history major and want to go on to become an assistant curator and then eventually a curator but I am a little (okay, very) nervous by all the responsibilities and tasks! this made me excited and also a little more nervous. thank you for posting these videos and for sharing your insight to the world

[Qualario]

I'm a music teacher - the first thing that came to mind for me was a conductor - they have to know their repertoire inside and out, they select what repertoire to present to an audience, they (often) help educate their audience about the works and why they deserve your attention and they are an active participant in the process of interpreting the score and helping the musicians to recreate that work for an audience.

[JohnWilsonComicsGuy]

If I can call myself an artist when I produce art for no one but myself these days, then you, with all your skills, are certainly a curator...and an educator. 

[ar]

Hi, Sarah! I found this channel about a year ago and have loved following along. I came back to re-watch this particular post and, because of fairly recent changes in my life, I had new and different thoughts about your definition of "curator."

I recently finished my MA in Art Museum Education and was lucky enough to be hired full-time as a museum educator several months ago. It is a fantastic job, and I love that I am tasked with finding ways to facilitate connections between my museum and the community it serves. Before I worked in an institution alongside curators, I thought that the role of the curator was very different than that of the educator, and so I saw some of what was said in this video as an encroachment on what I perceived as "my territory." What I appreciate now that I work in this space is that my job as an educator dovetails so wonderfully with the job of the curator. We each bring different layers of expertise to the table so that our visitors have every opportunity to make real connections with the art and with one another.

It is interesting to me that so many museums (mine included) maintain separate "curatorial" and "education" departments despite the fact that our jobs and goals almost demand that we work symbiotically. I've seen a growing number of museums turn to "interpretation" departments instead, combining the two, to reflect that similarity.

I know this is an old video, but I wanted to comment nonetheless because I find this topic, and finding a place for my role as an educator within the museum world, to be so relevant to me right now.

Love from Texas!

[Kram]

so the initial meaning of curator basically was nerd? And given the more active meaning of "caring about" in this case, it's closer to being a nerdfighter rather than being "just" nerd.
So essentially, your job is to be art-nerdfighter. :)

[Hhannahdicksonn]

I think that this is a great definition/explanation of what a curator is. Next time I get a blank look after saying that I'm going to school to be a curator, I'll show them this!

[JoseBYOB]

Probably the best explanation out there. I hate when I go to a museum and get to a piece that doesn't have any information about it on the wall. I think a LOT of art needs some soft of background information so that the audience can try figure out what the piece is about.