Career Post - Q1

In order to understand what occupations in the art industry may look like, I gathered information on the position of Curatorial Assistant for the VMFA’s East Asian art collection and for exhibitions. Responsibilities for a Curatorial Assistant include doing research, writing up labels for artworks, acquisitions, write-ups, as well as interacting with other job positions in the museum. This person would be responsible for working with educational positions for visitor tours, working on hosting training sessions, working with conservation positions, and helping to rotate the galleries, and making sure that items on display in an exhibition are presentable. The position of Curatorial Assistant certainly requires a large range of skills and responsibilities. The position, depending on the area of artwork the curatorial assistant manages, may require a certain specialty in education. It was necessary for this particular position to have studied East Asian artwork. And while this may be a requirement, it is also extremely important to have skills that allow the person in this occupation to be able to learn more about the area they curate while working on the job. For education, it may also be important to have a degree in art museum studies programs, particularly at a masters level. Overall this looks to be a very interesting occupation, and I am glad I looked at it because I always wanted to know about what museum jobs may look like.