Part 3 (2/2)

MILENA PLACENTILE, CURATOR8 All these are questions that the new generation of curators will have to deal with perhaps you will be one of them?

Case Studies: Curating as a Career Interview with Desmond Shawe-Taylor, Surveyor of The Queen's Pictures, The Royal Collection 'I read English at Oxford and then embarked on an MA in Fine Art at The Courtauld. I had no particular career plan in mind and while I was still doing my MA one of my lecturers suggested I apply to teach art history at Nottingham University, where they were recruiting. It would (quite properly) be impossible nowadays to secure a post like this without doing a PhD first, but I applied and was appointed.

'After many years teaching there I began to wonder about a change. I suppose if you have always been determined on a single career option you would probably decide to stay within the security of what you had striven to be part of, but given that my becoming an academic had been largely circ.u.mstantial, I decided to think where else my pa.s.sion for art might be useful.

'Neil MacGregor [then director of the National Gallery] has always been interested in people and their apt.i.tudes rather than their specific labels or experience. He suggested that I apply for the position of Head of Education at the National Gallery. This has always been an art historian's job, rather than an educator's one. Other museums and galleries employ educators in order to involve younger children. The National Gallery does this as well but has always waved the flag for art history in general; seeing its mission to inform all ages and create wider enthusiasm for art.

'Having been an academic (and thus teaching adults) I was qual-ified in the technical sense but, although a frequent visitor to museums and galleries, knew little about how they worked from the inside. So in preparation for my interview I embarked on extensive research, which included talking to those working there, observing what was going on and finding out more about the National Gallery in particular. The more I found out, the more I became engrossed. I did not get the job it went to the very able Kathy Adler, who has done it extremely well but on the interviewing panel was a trustee of Dulwich Picture Gallery. It just so happened that the then director of Dulwich, Giles Waterfield, was about to retire, and was active in the search for his successor. Having staked out my claim for wanting a job in this world, I was invited to apply and this time secured the role and spent nine very happy years there.

'Working with a really dedicated team, we oversaw the building of an extension, put on new exhibitions, grew the education programme, increased the number of the gallery's Friends9 and tried to reach out into our local and national communities. But Dulwich Picture Gallery receives no state funding, and so maintaining its income is a constant struggle. You would announce exhibitions with definite start dates, uncertain of whether you would have the funds to put them on, and were continually mindful of the opportunities to raise cash to support what you had begun. After nine years I was proud of what we had achieved together, but confess also exhausted by the process of constantly seeking funding, and began to think about one more job before I retired. and tried to reach out into our local and national communities. But Dulwich Picture Gallery receives no state funding, and so maintaining its income is a constant struggle. You would announce exhibitions with definite start dates, uncertain of whether you would have the funds to put them on, and were continually mindful of the opportunities to raise cash to support what you had begun. After nine years I was proud of what we had achieved together, but confess also exhausted by the process of constantly seeking funding, and began to think about one more job before I retired.

'The role of surveyor of the Queen's pictures became available and I applied. The job is to be chief curator of paintings in the Royal Collection, and there are colleagues with a similar role handling 'works of art' (our term for furniture, decorative arts and sculpture), and works on paper (drawings, prints and books). We all work under the director, who is also Surveyor of Works of Art. We manage the artwork in Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, Holyrood Palace and the Royal Collection (a gallery open to the public within Buckingham Palace) and this involves both putting on exhibitions and taking care of artworks that need restoration and further research. The funds from the opening of these buildings come back to The Royal Collection Trust, which is run as a business, with a board of trustees. This is a business that has grown steadily in recent years the summer season openings of Buckingham Palace (to help pay for Windsor's restoration after it was damaged by fire) began in 1993 and Windsor Castle was only reopened again in 1997. In financial terms our size is comparable to that of a national museum.

'We are curatorially led, without compromise. We look after the treasures in our care, learn more about them and ensure they are kept in excellent condition. I am pa.s.sionate about presentation and want to ensure all looks beautiful, taking particular care with hanging, lighting, visibility and access. High values in display and presentation matter hugely we are, after all, putting the work on show in royal palaces. We mount special exhibitions and encourage a climate of research and scholars.h.i.+p. We are very fortunate to work with a collection of such extraordinary range and depth as The Royal Collection.

'I work with a range of committed art historians and we encourage students to come in and get involved in research and administrative projects (if you would like to be considered, the best way is to write a letter of application requesting work experience, telling us of your particular research interests). We oversee and recommend applications for loans from the Royal Collection for other exhibitions and organisations all are approved by the Queen, who is the final decision-maker, and she is generous in making provision.

'It's true that many of those visiting the palaces often choose to visit as part of a tourist itinerary rather than as an art history fest, but once inside visitors are often struck by the excellent quality of the paintings, and how exciting it can be to see an image you are familiar with maybe from a book ill.u.s.tration or the media ”in the flesh”. An oil painting seen at first hand can be so much more compelling than any reproduction. I like to think that if we encourage more people to look at the artwork on display, we enrich their understanding of art in general, and that they go forth with more than they had bargained for.

'Above all, this job is a huge privilege. We look after a rich endowment of work that was begun by Charles I, added to by subsequent monarchs (George III was a great collector of drawings) and is now the private collection of their ancestor, the Queen, held in trust for the nation. My job is to increase public awareness of the treasures held, add to the sum of knowledge we have about them, and to put on exhibitions and loans that spread wider understanding both of what is in the Royal Collection and the value of art history in general.'

Interview with Peta Cook, Curator at Kingston Museum Peta and I were due to have lunch the day of this interview, but as a member of her staff had phoned in sick that morning, she was unable to leave the building. Writing up our discussions later that day, this became a useful metaphor; firstly for the significant responsibility she carries and secondly for her total commitment to her job. Her job t.i.tle is officially curator, but in reality her work is much more varied. That same day she was due to attend an important meeting at 4 p.m. and in between would have to organise the volunteers, put out the chairs and ensure the facilities were clean in preparation for the lecture she was giving that evening to the Friends of the Museum.

'My undergraduate degree was in archaeology, at Liverpool University. Whereas I had started out with the intention of becoming an archaeologist, I had always loved museums and in my last year I began investigating this as a career option. I sought advice from those already involved and did some work experience in Liverpool Museum (cla.s.sifying lithics or stone age tools). What followed was more work experience, two years in Liverpool and then a year in Newcastle, in order to qualify for the hugely compet.i.tive (just 24 places) MA in Museum Studies at Newcastle University. Work experience did not yield an income and had to be subsidised with part-time paid work in my case cleaning the students' union, working for Boots and in a call centre for BT. After graduating from my MA I did more volunteering in the hope that a paid position would eventually turn up, which is the most usual route; those who are working for nothing are first in line when paid opportunities occur. I eventually got some paid work as a museum interpreter for Norfolk Museums and Archaeological Service, which looked after a network of 11 regional museums and was funded by the local authority. All posts seem to be developmental in that the individual occupying them brings specific talents and interests and will develop the role in the way they are best able to serve the museum. The funding always arrives later, if at all.

'After working for a year as a museum interpreter for Norfolk Museums and Archaeological Service, I worked as curator of human history (social history and archaeology) at Peterborough (a job share role I held for three years), during which time I worked at Ipswich Museum as a volunteer on my days off, as well as a flower seller at the weekends. My next job was working full time for East of England Museums Libraries and Archives Council, as regional standards advisor for museums in the east of England. This role saw me training and advising museums on a range of issues but with particular responsibility for managing the accreditation scheme in this museum-packed region. After three years in the post, I decided to put my advice into practice and return to curatorial work at Kingston Museum, and I have now been here for three years.

'While I love what I do, and find it very satisfying, the role is also frustrating in that so many different job functions are fulfilled by me with insufficient time and resources to do any of them properly. For example, in addition to being curator, I have half the job of head of heritage services (when the previous inc.u.mbent left she was not replaced and her role was divided between me and another colleague). I am also manager of front of house, collections manager and exhibitions officer. This means that my job stretches from planning the different temporary exhibitions and overseeing their installation to ensuring that the electrical equipment has had its safety checks and that health and safety procedures get adhered to. Managing the volunteers takes a lot of time we have over 40, from a range of backgrounds (not everyone is seeking a career here). Some are provided by volunteering agencies, who are not looking for museum-specific work experience but rather experience of a workplace for the volunteers they send; others are looking to spend time in a museum, perhaps because they live locally and want to be more involved in their community; others want a job like mine.

'Funding is a headache. As provision of museum services is non-statutory, we are afforded no security, and always seem to be first in line when cuts loom. We are not seen as an essential service. We have to be political and both understand and connect with the agenda, strategy papers and higher (and sometimes unstated) objectives that are established, and which determine the allocation of resources. We are now part of the Library and Heritage Service but it concerns me that ”museums” are no longer specifically mentioned in the organisational t.i.tle.

'Keeping our connectedness to the wider agenda is easier at some times than at others. It is important to measure who has been here and what use they have made of us, both in person and via our website, and this is fairly straightforward. Just recently, however, we put on an exhibition of sculpture for the blind where we displayed materials that visitors were invited to touch and hold. This had a substantial effect on all who got involved, from those preparing the exhibition and the facilities needed to support visitors, to the visually impaired who attended, their carers and companions. Once the exhibition is over it has to be explained and presented in a manner that enables us to meet the targets we have been set. We face a wider misunderstanding from society that museums deal with the past rather we feel we are working in the present to inform the future and change lives; we often have an immediate and lasting effect on those who visit. But the economic climate is particularly difficult at the moment, money is in short supply and there are major projects on the horizon needing substantial income most notably the 2012 Olympics which draw resources that could really benefit local initiatives such as our museum.

'At the same time as putting on displays and looking after our collection, we have to keep an eye out for collaborative ventures and funding opportunities. We are involved in a major international exhibition, which is in essence a retrospective of the work of pioneering moving image photographer Eadweard Muybridge. This means working with the museum developing the exhibition The Corcoran Gallery in Was.h.i.+ngton as well as one of the UK host museums, in this case Tate Britain. In order for us to put on something in Kingston that maximises the ma.s.sive potential offered to us via these partners.h.i.+ps and which links us to these major initiatives, we will need to apply for external funding from bodies such as the Heritage Lottery Fund or the Arts Council. These major initiatives aside, we find ourselves applying for funding or support for projects on an almost constant basis, be it for conservation, learning, advocacy, audience development or simply to fund our next exhibition, the sources for which are varied, but might be local, national or international grant-giving bodies, local individuals, sponsors.h.i.+p from local firms or through collaborative developments with Kingston University. Each application takes considerable time and effort to prepare, and the projects themselves take time to plan. The amounts we seek may be very small scale but vital to our delivery and, therefore, while the accompanying bureaucracy is always extensive, it is vital that we keep doing this.

'One of the best things about this world is its connectedness, or rather the culture of reciprocity that exists among museums and museum staff. For example, when we were threatened with closure, the MLA (Museums, Libraries and Archives a.s.sociation) or regional agencies could offer support. There are also many colleagues in the West London Museums Group or the London Museums Group, all of whom I am in touch with via regional meetings or e-mail. Then there are various networks to which I can submit queries for almost instant and engaged help, such as GEM, or to give it its full t.i.tle, Group for Education in Museums, or MANN (the Museums Advisor Network). Networks like these prove invaluable as museums are often breaking new ground and involved in areas of work for which they require the advice of those who have trod that path before or who know of people in other sectors who can share their skills. Owing to the multifaceted nature of museum roles today, staff themselves are facing new challenges every day, for which advice is often appreciated and, with everyone under ma.s.sive time/ resource pressures, the more we can avoid reinventing the wheel the better! I am on the committees of the Society of Museum Archaeologists and the London Museums Group, and am curatorial adviser to both the Wimbledon Windmill Museum and the British Airways Museum (private museums receiving no state funding).'

Interview with David Falkner, Director of the Stanley Picker Gallery, Kingston University 'My start in this world was not unusual as people tend to arrive via a variety of different paths. I trained as an artist, did my BA in Fine Arts at the Chelsea School of Art and then was determined to be a practising artist. I faced the dilemma common to many artists of how to support my practice while meeting the costs of living, and moved to Spain where life was cheaper although I always had to subsidise my practice with additional work mostly teaching and doing odd jobs. I wasn't selling much work, although by this point I had exhibited across Spain and Belgium. While in Spain I started organising exhibitions on an artist-led basis, sometimes promoting my own work, but always in combination with other artists, and sometimes for them alone. An artist friend pointed out that for an artist (usually necessarily more fixated on their own work than that of others) I was unusually good at engaging with and promoting the work of others, and I began to realise that I enjoyed all the other aspects of setting up these shows finding suitable locations, arranging the hanging/presentation, being in touch with people and asking them to attend.

'I started teaching art through a visiting lectures.h.i.+p at Winchester School of Art, which at the time had a base in Barcelona, and in this way became involved with university teaching. Looking back, I was also always drawn to the world of public rather than private galleries. I wanted to work on artist-projects, helping artists make their own work happen, and the shows I put on were never publicly or privately financed. I have often been told that my own training as an artist is a real help here, and that I tend to look at projects from the artist's point of view rather than as an administrator or theorist.

'Through teaching art I had to engage with the other aspects of being an artist, such as how the art world works, and how to work with the commercial sector. This made me realise that there was a gap in my grasp of the commercial and technical realities of arts management much of what I had been doing up to that point had been based on instinct.

'About this time, Arts Council England announced a pilot-project offering an administrative trainees.h.i.+p at Bury St Edmunds Art Gallery, with time off to do a postgraduate diploma in arts management. I got the trainees.h.i.+p and spent four days a week working in the gallery and a fifth studying all the practicalities of arts management that were missing from my CV. This was a marvellous opportunity and I spent four years there, rising to be a.s.sistant director. From there I moved on to the Pumphouse Gallery in Battersea Park, which is run by the local authority but gets additional project funding from Arts Council England.

'From my first experience I had always enjoyed working within a university and when I saw the new position of director of the Stanley Picker Gallery in Kingston I was immediately attracted. University galleries tend to have a slightly different culture from other inst.i.tutions and from each other. Each one is an individual model, often set up with funding from a specific bequest, thereby blending the founder's ethos with the university's wider aims: so places like the Margaret Harvey Gallery at the University of Hertfords.h.i.+re, the Reg Vardy Gallery at Sunderland University and the Norwich Gallery all have a slightly different feel and ethos.

'Stanley Picker was a Kingston businessman, collector and benefactor who died in 1982 having set up a trust in his name to support young arts pract.i.tioners. The university had been running since the 1970s, allowing nascent artists, and now also designers, to make new work and when the Kingston local planning authority approved the development of a light industrial site into student housing on condition that the site included a building offering access to the public, it was a logical move to make that building a public art gallery, something Stanley Picker had longed for in his lifetime. The then Head of Fine Arts, Professor Bruce Russell, set it up, with the Stanley Picker Trust paying for the building and a long-term commitment from the university to staff, run and develop it. We now administer two fellows.h.i.+ps a year, which usually run for about 18 months each. We put on a wide range of different shows and try to engage with the local community as much as possible our outreach programme with local primary schools is a particularly important part of this. We have a full-time staff of two (me and my a.s.sistant Jackie) and a team of students who offer to be involved during their time at Kingston, plus others who get in touch to make themselves available. A contemporary art gallery in the heart of Kingston, the vision of Stanley Picker, is becoming an increasingly valued reality.

'Our other main representational value is as part of the university. Universities are being encouraged to reach out into the community and play their part in widening partic.i.p.ation and I feel we fulfil an important role here. All communication to schools goes out under the name of the university. In addition to our involvement with schools, we run an art club on Sat.u.r.days and set up other events to celebrate what has been achieved and give the partic.i.p.ants' families, friends and carers a taste of our activities. We make considerable efforts to send formal invitations to both the children and their families and when these events take place I am always impressed by the commitment shown parents take time off work, want to try things themselves and there is a real spirit of engagement. The parents and carers go away having had an experiential visit, and one they will remember, and the young people will grow up having had the experience of taking part in art and seeing a gallery as somewhere they enjoy going and so in turn will hopefully take their own children. All this is an important part of making our presence felt within the community and building a relations.h.i.+p with our audience, both actual and potential. Building a const.i.tuency for art in the future is something that takes commitment and time but will reap long-term rewards.

'Looking back, I am in the satisfying position of loving what I do and feeling that my initial desire to help artists make their work a reality is something that is at the very core of what we do here in Kingston. The fellows.h.i.+ps are a particular satisfaction, and watching artists grow while feeling supported by a base both now and in the future is a source of pride. Having started out as an artist myself, I have always felt that having a supportive base matters very much. I am delighted to have one here myself, and to see Kingston foster the careers of other artists and potential art lovers.'

Chapter 5

Collections and collections management

'Collections' is a blanket term for thinking about what an organisation holds and what it is responsible for looking after. This includes many functions, such as keeping what is held in order so that things can be found, preventing further decay through conservation, adding to it in a planned way, loaning it and receiving loans to supplement understanding, and learning more about it.

Developing a collections policy Developing an a.s.sociated collections policy means deciding what should be in the collection and what are the gaps, and looking to fill them within the budget available or by encouraging donations. It also means deciding what not not to collect and how to dispose of items that are no longer needed. Under MLA Accreditation Standard, all museums must have an acquisition and disposal policy. to collect and how to dispose of items that are no longer needed. Under MLA Accreditation Standard, all museums must have an acquisition and disposal policy.

But collections management is not just about managing the items in the collection, or what you might add or decide to release, it is also about managing people, budgets, projects and so on. Helen Ward, collections manager for Kingston University Library commented: 'Collections management in libraries is very similar to that in museums and galleries. While the types of item we handle may be different, the skills required are much the same, and many of them are managerial rather than specific to the collection you are looking after. For example, it is essential that the Collections Manager can offer: team leaders.h.i.+p and supervision; project management; negotiation, for example with potential donors and suppliers; budget management.

'Thinking about my specific responsibilities as collections manager of a large university library, I am responsible for the acquisition and maintenance of our printed books and journals, audiovisual material, archival papers, electronic books and databases. This includes accessioning new items (e.g. dealing with the paperwork involved in legal transfer of owners.h.i.+p), creating and maintaining location records (cataloguing) and, of course, conservation. We need to be constantly aware of our own collections policy and of the university's teaching and research profile, to ensure that we are buying material that will get used. We also need to be alert to national initiatives which may present funding opportunities for new projects. The ”digital revolution” has presented all sorts of interesting challenges to us in giving access to our collections in different ways downloading, streaming video, making digital copies of fragile material.

'This specific application to the library, with my wider managerial responsibilities, and involvement within the politics and development plans of the university as a whole, make it a far more varied and interesting role than may at first be apparent to those from outside.'

Case Study: Collections as a Career Interview with Malcolm Chapman, Head of Collections at the Manchester Museum 'The Manchester Museum is divided into three areas: Collections Development; Access, Learning and Interpretation; and Operations.

'To deal with the last two areas first, Access, Learning and Interpretation puts on exhibitions, encourages people to come and see them and tries to widen the profile of those who do so. Operations handles all the day-to-day administrative functions that any organisation needs (although HR and some other functions are handled by the university we are part of), as well as those specifically involved in seeking to engage the general public (e.g. front of house, security and fundraising). So that leaves Collections Development.

'The collections policy of the Manchester Museum is based on three key criteria: Can the material be used in research (within the museum and the university)?

Can it be used in teaching (for all ages, from schoolchildren and university students to the retired)?

What is its role in audience development (will it broaden the range of visitors and what they get out of the experience)?

'We review our holdings according to strengths and general interest, changes in funding and the overall direction of the museum, so whereas we used to have keepers responsible for Vertebrate Zoology, Invertebrate Zoology and Entomology (insects), we now have just Zoology and Entomology. Conversely, the museum has two departments of Cla.s.sical Archaeology and General Archaeology and Ethnology, and we now have three curators of Archaeology, Egyptology and Living Cultures.

'Sometimes the issues involved in collections management lead to conflicting requirements. For example, rather than having a 'handling collection' of copied, second-rate or spare items that visiting schoolchildren are allowed to touch, we now make real objects available to them. Obviously the mechanisms have had to be adapted so, for some Greek vases, special Perspex packaging has been developed that allows the children to have really close access (without touch), but each time an item is exposed to close public view some element of physical decline is likely. It is a question of a.s.sessing and balancing the risk with the desire to get the object out and used. At other times we have to make compromises, perhaps trading a wider spread of information with reduced access to the original item. An example here is the very rare 'Manchester Moth' of which only two other examples are in existence (one in London and one in Australia). We can't put this item of key local interest and pride on display because it is now too fragile, but we can make it accessible via video and film; in this case by filming the curator and conservator in discussion, and their conversation is now on show in the gallery and downloadable on YouTube. In this way we are able to explore issues such as provenance (how did the moth get here?), habitat (in what conditions did it survive and why?), social history (how does this tie in with trade routes and exporting patterns from the time when it was found?) and contemporary relevance (what is arriving with our bananas from distant places today, and is this affecting the indigenous wildlife?).

'Working in a regional partners.h.i.+p, we are also involved in a variety of representational activities to do with good practice in museums and grant-awarding. We try to award money on the basis of both need and access; so establis.h.i.+ng what is needed for conservation, restoration and display in return for the provision of public access. A good example is the stone xylophone from Kendal Museum that we helped preserve, and which is now being taken out of the museum and played in various locations which was of course its original function. In the process new audiences are engaged and more people come to appreciate what is held in public collections on behalf of us all.'

Acquisitions 'Deciding what to add to a collection needs similar detailed thought. Some organisations just collect everything offered, so as to supplement strengths of what is already held and fill in the weaknesses, but ultimately the availability of storage is an issue, as well as whether what you are collecting will ever get either found or used again holding things 'in perpetuity' is a long-term and expensive option. There was a prevailing view a few years ago that a collection which does not get added to is a dead collection, but some collections cannot be added to, either through the provisions of the gift (e.g. The Wallace Collection) or because they chart the changing taste of the original collector, which is itself interesting. A more satisfying definition of a dead collection is one in which no research or public activity is taking place.

'In general, an acquisitions policy is likely to be based on the content of the proposed addition, and how it is likely to be used. It may also be based on the collections of other related organisations, particularly within a specific region, so that centres of specific expertise and owners.h.i.+p are built up. For example, the Manchester Museum does not collect fine or decorative arts, or social and industrial history (as these are the preserve of other local museums) and they have a self-imposed boundary of no archaeological findings after 1650.

'The acquisitions budget may be small and a casualty when public expenditure cuts loom but the collection can still be increased by encouraging donations, or long-term loans (which may eventually turn into donations), launching a fundraising campaign to purchase a particular item, and competing for items funded by art charities [see examples of job advertis.e.m.e.nts by Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museums in Chapter 14 Chapter 14]. Donations are not the one-way street you might imagine, as having an item preserved and admired in future may offer the current owner both enhanced prestige and reduced worry, especially if the item in question is valuable and different family members are making a strong case for future owners.h.i.+p. For an artist or maker, being asked to donate an item to a local collection can be a source of pride, particularly if the item is then displayed alongside key items by better known protagonists of a specific form.

Case Study: Collection and acquisition for a botanic garden Interview with Dr David Rae, Director of Horticulture, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh 'There about 2,500 botanic gardens in the world and, perhaps contrary to popular belief, they are far from being Victorian relics, with more botanic gardens being created now than in any other time in history. They each have their own history and reason for existence but most have an underlying scientific basis for their plant collections and include one or more of the following activities in their policy statements: research, education, amenity, plant display, conservation and horticulture.

'They range in size and complexity hugely with the smallest having just a small plot of land on which to cultivate plants, tended by one or two staff, while the largest have hundreds of staff and an array of facilities in addition to their gardens, including gla.s.shouses, laboratories, herbaria, libraries, cafes, shops, galleries, exhibition halls and museums. Owners.h.i.+p and funding is also diverse and includes governments, munic.i.p.alities, universities, foundations and societies.

<script>