Consider, too, what kind of role you would like to have. There are certain functions that every organisation must try to cover, so think about which ones appeal to you.
The functions that every museum or gallery must fulfil: collection ident.i.ty what is being held and what should be added or borrowed to supplement it; further research into the holding to improve understanding; collection care and management ensuring the collection remains in good condition; financial management and fundraising ensuring that agreed funding arrangements are complied with; negotiating to find new sources of money; fundraising through a variety of different mechanisms; education and learning teaching people of all ages (education is not confined to the young) who visit the collection, whether in person or online, about what is held; marketing and audience development ensuring information on the collection reaches new audiences as well as established ones, and that they use the information or visit the collection (this may be a condition of certain types of funding); establishing methods of counting traffic and thus demonstrating effective management of resources; general management and human resources (HR) all the tasks that are common in any organisation: hiring and ensuring good working practice; keeping the building in good condition; people and health management; pay and pensions.
How these roles are allocated will obviously depend on the size and budget of the organisation. When recruiting, a large organisation will seek staff who have the relevant qualifications and/or experience for each role so someone applying for a retail position will need selling experience, marketers a marketing background, and those responsible for building maintenance will have the appropriate professional qualifications. Within a smaller organisation, these functions will usually be amalgamated (so the person who orders stock for the shop may also be responsible for marketing). As each role will have to be covered by somebody, staff must be flexible and not inclined to stick to strict demarcation zones of involvement, which means att.i.tude can be as important as experience.
Next, consider whether you would like to be a generalist, utilising a broad range of knowledge and skills, or if you would prefer your career to progress in a linear fashion, along a specific path of expertise. Having said that, if you plan to progress in this world you will need a working knowledge of all aspects of running a museum or gallery.
General staffing issues in museums and galleries There is a general shortage of staff with science or technology qualifications for related collections. It is possible to do an MA in curatorship and technical preservation, and for this a science background would be required, with a strong interest in chemistry.
Museums and galleries are inundated with applications from people who want to work in curating or interpreting a collection, but have much greater difficulty attracting staff with a broader range of skills, such as experience of IT and finance in part at least because rates of pay tend to be low. So if you are seeking work experience and a first job, any provable experience of being good at managing money and doing accounts, database care and having an understanding of data protection would help improve your chances of success.
The compet.i.tion for entry at starter job level may be intense, but this puts a ceiling on the number of future colleagues you"ll have, so compet.i.tion for the second job or midlife role can be much less stringent (which is why senior staff are sometimes recruited from allied professions with relevant expertise, such as academia or specialist publishing).
As you explore the various roles and accompanying issues you will begin to appreciate that there are both conflicting and equally valid priorities within museums and galleries. For example, if an organisation has a shop (which may trade as a separate company for tax reasons), then its mission will be to enrich and develop the brand, but at the same time make money because most, if not all, of its profits will go back to the host organisation. The retail staff will be looking to charge for special items and services that enhance the experience of visiting and probably do this through a shop, restaurant or cafe, merchandise specific to particular exhibitions, such as catalogues and posters, and other selling opportunities. In some cases this may be helped by their initial charter (for example, the V&A, as a museum of commercial design, has a brief to improve industrial practice and so sells things closely linked to this), but in other organisations the s.p.a.ce allocated to a visitor restaurant or sales racks may be resented by staff mounting exhibitions for taking up too much s.p.a.ce, while staff on the reception desk who are trying to give visitors instructions on how to find what they need may find it diffi-cult to keep an eye on the stock of pencils and postcards at the same time.
While retail staff try to make money, their colleagues in Learning and Interpretation promote free free access at as many levels as possible and try to encourage footfall through the inst.i.tution, in particular to new groups and individuals who have not previously visited. The curatorial team, meanwhile, have specific knowledge about particular parts of the collection and may find both the money-making and the learning activities a distraction and a risk to the environment they seek to protect. access at as many levels as possible and try to encourage footfall through the inst.i.tution, in particular to new groups and individuals who have not previously visited. The curatorial team, meanwhile, have specific knowledge about particular parts of the collection and may find both the money-making and the learning activities a distraction and a risk to the environment they seek to protect.
The logistics team, responsible for maintenance of the building, installing bathrooms, dealing with visitor movements, and so on, may want to improve signage or flow of movement around the building and find themselves thwarted by regulations and patterns of usage that seem illogical. It can be really hard to explain the rationale of why things are (or more commonly are not) possible, and this can lead to frustration. Hence, what the in-house team considers obvious, and takes for granted, is often overlooked or insufficiently explained to outside contractors, until late in the process. For them, it may seem obvious that signage must fit the style of the building rather than being "airport style" and visible from 100 metres; their external partners, without the background or explanation, may find this surprising (and odd that they were not warned earlier).
There may be similar restrictions arising from the conditions under which donations were made, and there needs to be discussion about whether these can be lifted or worked around. Planning takes a long time; you can"t just do do things. And you need to think clearly about whether you are a good fit for this environment; whether you are struck by its charm or just its frustrations. things. And you need to think clearly about whether you are a good fit for this environment; whether you are struck by its charm or just its frustrations.
In general, you will find that museums and galleries are poorly resourced and funded, the work is seldom well paid and is not (as is often imagined) particularly relaxing. People who want to work in this world often imagine it"s a gentle place where you can do the job you are accustomed to, but at 75 per cent of your capacity so "marketing light"1 but this is not true. but this is not true.
There are of course many compensations. Working in a museum or gallery is pleasant because you tend to be surrounded by interesting people and objects. Museums and galleries tend to attract an engaging and eclectic mix of people, all sharing a common purpose of supporting something that matters. At an annual party of a large inst.i.tution you might find yourself talking to a variety of people an expert on something highly specific, one of the guards and the person who runs the shop. This is a civilised place to work in the true meaning of the term. You are part of an environment that is bigger than you are, with a lovely ambience, doing something for the good of society and leaving a lasting legacy. It is the ant.i.thesis to corporate, where the need to remunerate the shareholders can seem rather hollow by comparison.
What is the difference between museums and galleries?
It"s difficult to come up with a precise definition of the current role of each inst.i.tution that highlights the differences between the two as, in practice, there are many working departures from the original stated principles. To complicate matters further, the terms "museum" and "gallery" are regionally specific, so in the US most art galleries are called museums.
The Chambers Dictionary describes a museum museum as "a place of study; a resort of the learned; an inst.i.tution or repository for the collection, exhibition and study of objects of artistic, scientific, historic or educational interest; a collection of curiosity." The International Council of Museums (ICOM) defines a museum as a "non profit-making, permanent inst.i.tution in the service of society and its development, and open to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits, for purposes of study, education and enjoyment, material evidence of people and their environment." as "a place of study; a resort of the learned; an inst.i.tution or repository for the collection, exhibition and study of objects of artistic, scientific, historic or educational interest; a collection of curiosity." The International Council of Museums (ICOM) defines a museum as a "non profit-making, permanent inst.i.tution in the service of society and its development, and open to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits, for purposes of study, education and enjoyment, material evidence of people and their environment."2 Generally, museums are involved in equipping visitors with information. The type of information can vary immensely it could be anything from social history to machine making but the emphasis is on the "how" and "why" of what is displayed in the museum.
The word gallery gallery comes from the Italian comes from the Italian galleria galleria, and originally meant a covered walk, long balcony, upper or long, covered room and from this came the meaning of a room or building for the exhibition of works of art.
In the main, galleries are more concerned with the whole experience of what is displayed and how items relate to each other within the s.p.a.ce. Although information on what is on display and how it came to be there may be available (either in printed form, on wall panels, or through guides standing by) an important part of the gallery experience is allowing people to make up their own minds about what they have seen and in the process to grasp their own appreciation of how items relate to each other. This general impression was rather neatly summed up by a 13-year-old boy, who recently visited a 20th century arts centre/gallery: "When I arrived, the entrance hall was quite dull and I was not sure where to go. There wasn"t much on the walls to tell you what to do. Once we got into the gallery the explanations next to the pictures did not really explain what we were looking at, for example tell us the story. It only told us the size and the media used."
ELLIOT LAMBLE In a more contemporary context, "museum" is often a.s.sociated with a permanent collection and the ident.i.ty and care of the same, whereas "gallery" is more usually a venue focusing on temporary exhibitions, where the items exhibited may be for sale. The lines between the two types of inst.i.tution are increasingly blurred. Today, many museums also house a gallery with a changing exhibition and items for sale, and galleries describe themselves as museums in order to attract a more serious engagement e.g. the Design Museum in London ( which hosts a collection of temporary exhibitions. And both types of organisations are on the lookout for unusual or innovative events that might attract a new kind of attendee (and their families and friends).
The different types of inst.i.tution There are many different organisations that fall under the umbrella of museums and galleries, but what follows is a general guide. In reality the situation is more of a Venn diagram, with lots of different organisations and roles overlapping. Trying to stick to an original donor"s wishes or the original founding ethos of an inst.i.tution in the light of new technological solutions or changed patterns of access can cause specific problems, which have to be reinterpreted as time goes on.
1. Big national collections Big national collections Examples include the British Museum in London (www.britishmuseum.org/) and the National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh (www.nationalgalleries.org). These tend to have a wide variety of patrons and, although they receive some state funding from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), they are required to raise funds to bridge the gap between what they are given and what they need to keep going, and seek big sponsors to cover this, such as (at the time of writing) BP and UPS3. Many items have been given, either outright or to avoid death duties and if you wander around these collections you will see just how varied the source of gifts is (they are usually listed on the accompanying panel or in the showcase).
2. Private collections Private collections There are collections that are the result of substantial donations, but which also rely on endowments and other private sources of finance. Some may come about through the gift of just one patron, as in the case of Glasgow"s Burrell Collection (www.glasgowmuseums.com), and there may be a.s.sociated conditions of display. Similarly, Dulwich Picture Gallery (www.dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk/), England"s first public art gallery, was founded by the terms of the will of Sir Francis Bourgeois who died in 1811. The collection was first put together by Bourgeois and his fellow art dealer Noel Desenfans from 179095, and was originally intended to form the core of a national collection for Poland. But the collection receives no public funding and must raise its own resources.
The Museum of Brands, Packaging and Advertising in London (www.museumofbrands.com), which depicts the history of consumer culture, displays a small percentage of the fascinating range of product packaging and advertising memorabilia from the personal collection of Robert Opie, author of books on British consumerism.
Gyles Brandreth ama.s.sed a unique collection of teddy bears such as Paddington Bear and bears donated by celebrities in the Teddy Bear Museum, which was open to the public in Stratford-upon-Avon for many years and has now relocated to the Polka Theatre in Wimbledon, south London (www.polkatheatre.com).
Glover House in Aberdeen was the former home of Thomas Blake Glover, "The Scottish Samurai", who was one of the founders of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd in Nagasaki, j.a.pan in the 1880s. The house was gifted by Mitsubishi to the Grampian j.a.pan Trust in 1997.
3. Regionally funded museums Regionally funded museums Most cities and many towns have their own museum, sometimes with a gallery attached. Kingston upon Thames has the Kingston Museum (www.kingston.gov.uk/museum); Stoke-on-Trent has The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery (www.stoke.gov.uk/ccm/navigation/leisure/museums/potteries-museum---art-gallery/) and Aberdeen has a range of inst.i.tutions, which include the Aberdeen Art Gallery, the Maritime Museum and Provost Skene"s House (see www.aagm.co.uk for further information). for further information).
These are largely funded by local authorities, but as there is no statutory duty to provide museums and galleries, they are often first in the line of fire when cuts are contemplated, which can lead to funding problems. On the positive side, the staff are slightly better paid than their counterparts elsewhere because their wages are tied to fixed employment status bands, although when financial difficul-ties arise, staff who leave tend not to be replaced and roles are amalgamated.
4. Galleries that sell work Galleries that sell work Again, the variety here is enormous. There are big commercial galleries, such those in London"s Cork Street, which is famous in the British art world, and others with a reputation for specialising in contemporary art such as Victoria Miro (www.victoria-miro.com) and Haunch of Venison (www.haunchofvenison.com). Some specialise in regional art such as the Eakin Gallery in Belfast (www.eakingallery.co.uk), which sells only Irish art, and the Torrance Gallery in Dundas Street, Edinburgh (www.torrancegallery.co.uk), which sells Scottish contemporary art. As well as having a physical presence, most galleries now sell through their websites, and there is a small band of galleries that only sell work online (see www.newbloodart.com) and through temporary exhibitions and venues that are available over the short term.
You may think of these organisations as purely commercial ventures, but in addition to cultivating a list of clients who visit and make purchases at regular intervals, many have education programmes and see their role very much in terms of nurturing artists.
5. University museums University museums In general, these are government funded but the funding comes via a different route from local authority and national museums. University museums also tend to have a slightly different culture from other organisations, with a strong cultural affinity to the university they are part of and incorporating the intentions of the princ.i.p.al founder (and often bearing their name). They were usually the brainchild of an enthusiastic member of staff, who obtained basic funding and then developed something which they persuaded the university they could not manage without. For example, the university museum at St Andrews (www.st-andrews.ac.uk/museum) charts the history of Scotland"s oldest university and is closely linked both to the courses taught within the art history department and the more recent MA in Curating.
The University of Oxford Botanic Garden (www.botanic-garden.ox.ac.uk) has museum status4 and its "Horti Praefectus" (the t.i.tle given to the head gardener), Timothy Walker, runs tutorials for university students of botany as well as a wider range of educational initiatives (for anyone from age 4 to 104). Multi-tasking within smaller museums is obligatory and Timothy Walker listed his recent achievements as acting as on-site photographer (no problem because he is a keen amateur photographer) and installing a new pump in the garden"s fountain (having taken a crash course in plumbing by consulting various reference books). and its "Horti Praefectus" (the t.i.tle given to the head gardener), Timothy Walker, runs tutorials for university students of botany as well as a wider range of educational initiatives (for anyone from age 4 to 104). Multi-tasking within smaller museums is obligatory and Timothy Walker listed his recent achievements as acting as on-site photographer (no problem because he is a keen amateur photographer) and installing a new pump in the garden"s fountain (having taken a crash course in plumbing by consulting various reference books).
6. Artist-run galleries Artist-run galleries This is a growing area of initiative as artists find it increasingly diffi-cult to get their work accepted by galleries. Some artist-run galleries feature a range of work, for example, The Emba.s.sy Gallery in Edinburgh (www.emba.s.sygallery.org) encourages artists to pay an annual subscription which ent.i.tles them to use the s.p.a.ce to display artworks. The gallery works closely with the Edinburgh College of Art.
The Devon Guild of Craftsmen (www.devonguildofcraftsmen.co.uk) offers membership to local craftspeople, who then have the opportunity to display and sell their work in its crafts shop and online shop.
Recently, artists have become much more proactive in setting up displays in empty shops, buildings and other s.p.a.ce that is temporarily available. For example, The Centre of Attention, curated by Pierre Coinde and Gary O"Dwyer, offers an experimental approach stemming from an ongoing enquiry into the phenomenon of art production, presentation, consumption and heritage-isation (see www.thecentreofattention.org). See also Dan Thompson"s description of "pop up" galleries (www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/516692).
7. Studios Studios Some artists allow visitors into their place of work, and artists working in a collective environment may employ someone to do occasional escorted walks around their premises and explain what is going on. Some studio s.p.a.ce is available at preferential rates to artists at an early stage in their careers, and open weekends and open days may be a useful way of promoting their work directly to potential customers.
For example, c.o.c.kpit Arts (www.c.o.c.kpitarts.com) is described as a "creative-business incubator" for designer-makers, where 165 resident designer-makers can grow their businesses, and hundreds more benefit from a programme of a.s.sociated professional development through courses and workshops.
Ceramicist and potter Tim Andrews (www.timandrewsceramics.co.uk) is a member of the Devon Guild of Craftsmen and he also runs open days at his studio which offer an opportunity to both explain and display his work and to build longer-term relationships with clients.
8. Charitable foundations Charitable foundations Many properties and inst.i.tutions have been bequeathed to heritage a.s.sociations such as the National Trust and English Heritage, sometimes to avoid death duties and sometimes to ensure a building or piece of land remains intact. Heritage a.s.sociations are offered far more properties and inst.i.tutions than they accept, and it is often a condition that money is also given to support the maintenance. In some cases these organisations preserve an expertise or specific skill that might otherwise be lost, as in the case of Patterson"s Spade Mill, Templepatrick, County Antrim and The Dolaucothi Gold Mines in Camarthenshire, both of which are owned by the National Trust.
9. Places of study Places of study There is growing interest in professionally run courses, on everything from practical skills such as pottery and watercolours to art history and conservation, and organisations that run them may hold regular exhibitions to display what is produced in the process. For example, West Dean, The Edward James Foundation near Chichester (www.westdean.org.uk) runs a wide variety of courses and offers both temporary displays of students" work and a permanent display of the benefactor"s rich art collection. Dartington College (www.dartington.org) also runs a range of courses, in particular a summer school offering a very wide variety of activities, and this has an a.s.sociated exhibition.
Related employment options 1. Providing relevant support services for museums and galleries Providing relevant support services for museums and galleries There is a range of support services that museums and galleries will need to use from time to time and some may ultimately become a permanent requirement. So, supplying a relevant service on an ad hoc basis could eventually lead to a full-time role that becomes an integral part of the inst.i.tution. An obvious example of this is museum website creation, which began as an after-hours freelance activity funded on a very fragmentary basis and is now a full-time function at the very core of how such organisations deliver their mission. Other examples of support services might include the digital photography of objects (for online dissemination), copywriters who can prepare effective messages (and experience in writing bids for funding or proposals for collaboration would be particularly useful) and designers who understand the organisational brand and can produce appropriate promotional materials.
2. Working in "heritage" Working in "heritage"
"Heritage" is a growing sector offering a number of (mostly) publicly funded jobs that are designed to promote engagement with different audiences and encourage wider partic.i.p.ation amongst the public. This may be through conservation and preservation of historic buildings and parks, but the scope for involvement is much wider. There may be the opportunity to create awareness of more modern or unorthodox examples of buildings, landscape and activities which need to be cherished, recorded and maintained or else forever lost. Some of these roles are in the public sector, but there are also a lot of self employed options: as interpretation/heritage consultants, interpretative designers and script writers as well as a body of design agencies that focus on heritage interpretation, and public bodies that buy in these skills and services when needed.
Along similar lines, working for a heritage charity can be an attractive option, offering a variety of roles such as administrative, fundraising, publicity and so on. Possible outlets include The Art Fund, The National Trust, English Heritage or NADFAS (National a.s.sociation of Decorative & Fine Arts Societies). See Appendix for contact details.
3. Academic involvement in your specific subject area Academic involvement in your specific subject area This is a common route for people considering a curatorial role in the longer term. For more details, see Chapter 4 Chapter 4 on "Curating". on "Curating".
4. Working in heritage or art publishing Working in heritage or art publishing If you enjoy books, this can be a rewarding option, particularly if you are producing works about artists you admire. It requires close liaison with museums and galleries, the exhibitions they put on and an awareness of the retail opportunities for selling merchandise. You can gain particular satisfaction from selling a product that represents an organisation or artist, but at a fraction of the price of the artwork on sale and therefore accessible to a wider market. (See the interview with Andrew Hansen, Managing Director of Prestel Publishing Ltd, on page 141.) 5. Working for an interpretation consultancy Working for an interpretation consultancy Museums and organisations who want to display their archives, but don"t know how to go about it, may use an interpretation consultancy to design and put together a display or exhibition. The interview with Dr Lorna Ewan, Head of Interpretation for Historic Scotland, on page 51, gives an insight into what might be involved in such a role.
6. Becoming a live-in warden at a historic house Becoming a live-in warden at a historic house You may see advertis.e.m.e.nts in the local press or on the websites of relevant heritage/management organisations; duties will probably include upkeep, maintenance and cleaning as well as researching and maintaining the collection.
7. In-house heritage manager for an organisation In-house heritage manager for an organisation In this role you can become the (sometimes unofficial) custodian of interesting information about a collection and the organisation it belongs to. An unusual example of this is the librarian on board the liner Queen Mary 2 who has, largely through her own interest and initiative, become the on-board repository of information about the history of liners and their heritage. Other such roles often start off within libraries and resource centres and grow from there and there is much discussion now about how to capture the information that individuals hold and ensure it is recorded for the organisation to use in future.5 8. Working in a.s.sociated professional a.s.sociations Working in a.s.sociated professional a.s.sociations Examples include the Museums a.s.sociation, the Museums, Libraries and Archives (MLA) or any other organisation listed in the Appendix. Most now offer training and consultancy to their members.
The perfect employee We have already discussed the issues that must excite you in order to pursue a career in museums and galleries. Here is an ideal person specification for someone who wants to work in this world. Obviously, some of these skills and personal qualities will be more relevant than others, depending on the job you are applying for.
About you personally. Are you: Intellectually and emotionally satisfied by close proximity to objects?
Determined and resilient? You will need to take yourself suffi-ciently seriously to keep going in your search for a job. And, when you find it, you will have to defend both your specialist area of work and your profession in general to others who are less convinced of its value.
Satisfied by creative, often open-ended processes? This requires a combination of patience with systems that must be worked through (the a.s.sociated bureaucracy can be agonisingly slow) and long-term determination to get there in the end.
Curious? It"s essential to be able to get involved both emotionally and intellectually with the contents of the collection/exhibition/ project you are working on, whatever it might be, and to be well informed about its relevance to the local region and population as well as to wider trends in society Enthusiastic about pa.s.sing this information on? Interpretation and communication are becoming increasingly linked to public funding.
A good communicator? You will need to be able to translate your understanding, or that of your colleagues, to other markets and maintain their attention as you do so. For example you may be called on to explain "Hoch Kunst"6 to those who haven"t a clue, and be a mediator for all levels of interpretation in between. And it helps enormously if you can find satisfaction in enabling these disparate groups to communicate with each other rather than seeing it as a necessary ch.o.r.e. to those who haven"t a clue, and be a mediator for all levels of interpretation in between. And it helps enormously if you can find satisfaction in enabling these disparate groups to communicate with each other rather than seeing it as a necessary ch.o.r.e.
Your method of working and organising yourself. Do you have: A logical mind for data collation, review and synopsis?
An ability to express yourself clearly, on paper and in meetings?
Good organisational skills? Co-operation, teamwork and effective time management are essential. It helps if you are a lateral thinker it"s a valuable a.s.set for problem-solving.
Flexibility, resourcefulness and a willingness to muck in? There is no team of worker bees to help out behind the scenes.
An ability to be multi-focal? You will need to be able to keep your eye on the long-term goal (e.g. staging and funding a new exhibition on a much-neglected artist) as well as manage the minutiae of detail (e.g. what effect will closing the museum shop on a Sunday to allow for the press call have on overall profitability?).
Specific skills to acquire and demonstrate. Can you become: Aware of opportunities for publicity and hence able to turn areas of your organisation"s involvement into stories the media will like?
Well informed about the local area in which your organisation is located so you can spot useful opportunities for networking and bringing new audiences in-house (e.g. by making links with a local festival or society that could hold meetings in your museum and thus widen understanding of where you are and what you do)?
Patient with a long fuse so you can deal with all the irritating questions you will be asked, from people who insult the exhibition you have devoted the last two years of your life to installing, to those who a.s.sume that because they need the loo, you have to provide one?
An effective communicator on behalf of your profession to stick up for it and be clear about what you can and can"t do? You can advise on the provenance of the pot just brought in for examination, but, no, you can"t say what the local antiques dealer should reasonably pay them for it.
Where can you go for more information?
See Appendix for a list of useful addresses.
Case Studies: Two non-linear careers Interview with Dr Lorna Ewan, Head of Interpretation, Historic Scotland "I am neither an art historian nor a curator. Nor am I a conservator, arts administrator or museologist. In truth I have never found it easy to label myself professionally and there is never an appropriate entry on those dreadful drop-down menus supplied by insurance companies and the like. In my current guise my t.i.tle is Head of Interpretation for Historic Scotland (HS) which, for most people working in the arts, is probably of little value in explaining what I do or how I might have got here. For some, the role won"t even recognisably fall into that broad "arts" category even although the in-house Interpretation Unit at HS produces over 500 performance days a year; works with our own Collections Team and other museum curators and conservators to display and interpret our objects and commissions 3D and graphic design, ill.u.s.trations and, of course, the written word on a daily basis. I do think of myself as an interpreter, although I have been working in the sector since almost before the term was invented and certainly since before it had any common currency.
"How did I get here? As a teenager I had a summer job in a visitor centre at the Loch of the Lowes in Perthshire. Even then I was producing interpretative material, though I certainly would not have recognised the term. I was managing the volunteer rota, serving in the shop and talking to visitors. Though wholly unaware, I was already laying the groundwork for the wide range of skills I would need in the future. A few years later I wrote a PhD thesis. Having the degree is not the point, having done it is. It gave me the research and thinking skills which have supported my professional career since. Whilst finishing the thesis, I had to support myself, which led to a small historical research consultancy that included writing and producing audiovisual programmes for museums. Then came the day that I sprained my ankle playing squash, so was back home early. In consequence I answered a phone call from one of Scotland"s first, commercially successful interpreters. He had seen one of my audiovisuals and, to cut a very long story short, over 150 projects on and ten years later I had gained the remarkable experience of helping build up and manage an interpretative design agency for which accuracy, quality and commerciality were bywords. The team designed and built museums, many visitor centres and even interpreted and displayed Scotland"s crown jewels and I knew more about design for exhibitions, budget and project management, scenic joinery and display lighting than I could ever have antic.i.p.ated. Bolting that knowledge and those skills on to the research and content development experience, which ran through every project, gave me the quite unintentional, and certainly unplanned, skillbase to move on to a slightly different platform based in York.
"Working, at first, as a freelance project manager for interpretation-led permanent (a minimum of ten-year lifespan) exhibitions I was now involved in projects in Malta, Austria, and the Middle East as well as across England and Wales. The learning curve working with multiple currencies and appreciating the differing expectations of other cultures in an interpretative context was steep. Dealing with construction project managers who had neither awareness of nor interest in the "interpretative content" was challenging; but there are now a few out there who build in the content development time at the beginning of their projects before before the design work commences a quiet triumph for those of us who believe function should inspire form. Fairly soon I was running the design and build team of the agency and latterly also the multimedia group. the design work commences a quiet triumph for those of us who believe function should inspire form. Fairly soon I was running the design and build team of the agency and latterly also the multimedia group.
"And then an opportunity presented itself to come back to working on Scotland"s built heritage. The subject matter is "home" for me but, after a quarter of a century in the private sector, moving to the Civil Service was a slightly daunting prospect. But, in truth, although there are more acronyms there is no less commitment or pa.s.sion and the drivers are largely the same accuracy, quality and commerciality with another layer comprising community, partnership and value for money and, I am thoroughly enjoying myself.
"Looking back, my career has been moulded around me by myself and others. My skillset is broad but not deep and not one which could emerge directly from any tertiary education or management course on offer either then or even now. Where can you set out to develop skills in interpretative messaging, design awareness and palaeography alongside budget management and construction site certification? Like so many people, my personal amalgam of knowledge, experience and, one hopes, some ability has brought me to where I am now. And the fantastic part is next week I might be helping guide the interpretation of cutting-edge research, critiquing our signage strategy, drafting material which may make its way into government thinking or advising on the colour of claws for a lion costume. Is any of it art? I have no idea, but if it encourages people to appreciate, value and enjoy the built heritage I think it is something of worth.
"Throughout my career I have taken many complex subjects from aluminium smelting to the history of belief in Ireland and found ways of drawing out the essence for portrayal in exhibitions, in museums, visitor centres, historical properties and more. Most people use interpretation fairly regularly but few could tell you what it means. For those still wondering, interpretation in my current role can be defined as "the public explanation or discussion of a cultural heritage site, encompa.s.sing its full significance, multiple meanings and values" while what we produce, the interpretative infrastructure, comprises "all physical installations, publications (guidebooks, digital applications, etc.) and communications media devised for the purposes of interpretation, as well as the personnel a.s.signed to the task (costumed interpreters and stewards)"."
Interview with Jayne Knight, Arts Development Manager, Suffolk County Council "I was brought up just outside London and we went to the theatre as a family for treats. I remember w.i.l.l.y Russell"s John, Paul Ringo and Bert John, Paul Ringo and Bert, G.o.dspell G.o.dspell, Danny la Rue and A Chorus Line A Chorus Line and wondering why my sister and I were often the only children in the audience. And then came art my mediocre comprehensive school took us to the Tate (now Tate Britain) and Simon Williams took us on a tour. It was a light bulb moment for me. Living close to London, I regularly took myself into town and cruised the galleries and museums mostly alone. By my mid teens I loved the arts, but chose to study a science degree. No one pushed me or advised me, it was my decision and I learnt some useful skills. I learnt that I could argue (often better than anyone else), that I could present ideas and that I was good at maths. Naturally my next love became politics! So when the Greater London Council (GLC), led by "Red Ken" in Thatcher"s 80s, advertised for graduate recruits I realised that my two loves could work together and I got a job. and wondering why my sister and I were often the only children in the audience. And then came art my mediocre comprehensive school took us to the Tate (now Tate Britain) and Simon Williams took us on a tour. It was a light bulb moment for me. Living close to London, I regularly took myself into town and cruised the galleries and museums mostly alone. By my mid teens I loved the arts, but chose to study a science degree. No one pushed me or advised me, it was my decision and I learnt some useful skills. I learnt that I could argue (often better than anyone else), that I could present ideas and that I was good at maths. Naturally my next love became politics! So when the Greater London Council (GLC), led by "Red Ken" in Thatcher"s 80s, advertised for graduate recruits I realised that my two loves could work together and I got a job.
"I was a graduate trainee at the GLC. I learnt about arts funding and about local government and I loved every mad minute of it.
"I worked at the GLC until it was abolished and then I became a freelance arts administrator. I did the books, I worked on Amstrad computers, I dabbled with film production and learnt the ropes. I worked with Four Corners film Workshop, Circles Film Distribution and c.o.c.kpit Arts. I saw the front line of arts delivery and knew that the arts were important to lots of people these were my evangelist years.
"During this time the Arts Council realised it needed more advocates in local government and it successfully persuaded local authorities to create specialist arts officers, people who knew about the arts, with responsibility for the arts. These were great jobs. They were new; and most officers wrote their own job descriptions, worked with limited funds but had a lot of freedom. I worked my way through these jobs, and a career path emerged.
"I quickly realised that there was more to arts funding than meets the eye and was hungry for some a.n.a.lytical thinking, so I did an MA in Arts Management at City University. This was excellent, relevant, inspiring learning; it taught me that loving my job wasn"t enough. I needed to be strategic, to be critical and to deliver change.
What gives you particular satisfaction?
"I dragged my regional arts council into funding professional development for artists before it was a national priority this led to Making art work Making art work, a county-based project focused on the needs of visual artists striving to make a living. We persuaded our regional d6e7362-64txvernment office that artists were valuable small businesses and that they deserved support.
"We got the investment we needed and used it to support artists with training, equipment, mentoring, commissioning, exhibitions and networking. We built an excellent team including Susan Jones, Michael Pinsky, Eddie Chambers and Isabella Oulton and we supported over 300 artists. This project had a profound impact on individuals and on the network of artists in the county [Suffolk] this continues to resonate today.
"One of the pleasures of working in the arts in local government is the range of responsibilities we work across art forms and across audiences, so there are always new challenges and issues.
"One of the issues we needed to address was young people how could we get more young people involved in the arts. It"s a constant question and the more we talked about it, the more we realised that young people were pa.s.sionately involved in the arts they were involved in rock and pop music not because their parents encouraged it and paid for it but because they loved it.
"We decided to look at how young people, in a big rural county, get to explore and develop their pa.s.sion for rock and pop and we built a project. We battled for funding. We recruited tutors who were gigging "rock and poppers" with a desire to support young people. We skilled them up to teach and mentor, we identified s.p.a.ces for people to meet and make a noise, we bought loads of decks, drum kits and guitars and we launched Amplifer Amplifer7.
"Now in its fifth year, Amplifier Amplifier has produced numerous CDs, held hundreds of gigs and launched some fantastic bands. It is delivered by four community interest companies run by those same tutors, who have given up the "day job" and now work full time on music. has produced numerous CDs, held hundreds of gigs and launched some fantastic bands. It is delivered by four community interest companies run by those same tutors, who have given up the "day job" and now work full time on music.
"Amplifier has added to the experience of growing up in Suffolk for a lot of young people and has created work for musicians. That"s the great thing about working in the arts in local government we get to do things for people, we get to plug into the creativity of individuals and communities great work if you can get it! has added to the experience of growing up in Suffolk for a lot of young people and has created work for musicians. That"s the great thing about working in the arts in local government we get to do things for people, we get to plug into the creativity of individuals and communities great work if you can get it!
"And then there"s the paperwork, the funding applications, the committee reports, the policies and activity plans. It doesn"t have to be boring and badly written that is up to you. There is a template for everything but if you enjoy writing, the paperwork isn"t a burden it"s an opportunity to tell a story, to campaign for investment and to a.s.sert the value of the arts. Data collection and evaluation is also really important. If we don"t collect data and evaluate, we don"t have the evidence and we will lose the argument so statistics are an important part of my day!
"I love working with creative people, being the interface between local politics and investment in the arts, shaping an argument, playing a role in social change, knowing that politics is important and does make a difference, being involved in projects that play a part in transforming individuals" lives, going into battle and sometimes winning!
And the frustrations?
"Politics, endless meetings, telling good people with good projects that their funding has been reduced or cut and knowing it was you that lost the argument.
"Looking further ahead, social change is long term; projects like Amplifier Amplifier and and Making art work Making art work don"t happen overnight and they defi-nitely have their bad days! So it"s critical for local government arts managers to be able to a.s.sert what is needed for the arts sector and not to get sidetracked by the latest government or arts council "fashion". don"t happen overnight and they defi-nitely have their bad days! So it"s critical for local government arts managers to be able to a.s.sert what is needed for the arts sector and not to get sidetracked by the latest government or arts council "fashion".
"Some people working in the arts in local government feel isolated and marginalised, so it"s important to keep your own networks lively and fresh. There"s a National a.s.sociation of Local Government Arts Officers (Nalgao) a terrific professional network and there are plenty of arts organisations that want good board members, so no need to feel alone.
"All local authority arts services are managed in different ways, with different resources, but the nuts and bolts of what we do is generally the same we all invest in the arts sector by awarding grants and we all develop and deliver projects and activities. Some authorities also directly manage arts venues.
There are plenty of opportunities for personal development. I could go up the local government ladder if I was prepared to get more involved in local government and less involved in the arts. I could work for a bigger authority with a bigger budget. I could run an arts organisation that was involved in broad arts development. I could teach on one of the many arts management courses. I could work in the voluntary and community sector and other things too. With a range of transferable skills mostly suited to public sector work there are lots of opportunities."
Chapter 4
Curating
The role of the curator is at the heart of the museum or gallery, so let"s look at this role in some detail and what it involves.
What does "curating" mean?