Hi all, I have an interview tomorrow for a curatorial and programming assistant position. I have a BFA and an MFA. I have experience teaching and can create programs; I'm just a bit concerned about the curatorial assistant part. I have some experience, being that I'm an artist, but would love some advice on how to approach this with regard to this specific role. I have experience working in museums as a volunteer and in galleries as a gallery assistant. How can I best prepare for this role, and what questions can I expect? I really want a full-time museum role.

As the title indicates, I’m considering continuing education opportunities. I have an MA in Art History and about four years experience working as a preparator/art handler and in collections (registrar, lots of database management). At my new job (still in the arts), there is a lot of down time and basically no room for advancement. I am considering taking some courses/workshops in Historic Preservation.

I live in Philly. Rutgers-Camden has a Historic preservation certificate program that seems interesting but is it worth my time? Would love to hear from someone who’s gone through it.

The hands on work is my favorite part of work. I also love exhibit design but feel a little late to the game on learning software to make that a reality.

Open to suggestions and whatnot!

We would like to thank everyone who's made The Academy of Natural Sciences great.

So there are some people, a goat and a cow with a bright light falling on its face. If I remember it correctly, the theme of the painting is something connected to war. It is located in Western European hall of the museum. So I hope that’s enough, please help me if you can.

Reposting here—need advice!

An Open Call for Submissions❗

What goes unnoticed? What gets left out? What refuses to make sense? We are constantly surrounded by information, images, stories, opinions and records. But what reaches us is never the whole picture.

Ephemeral Architectures is about to host an exhibition- OF F THE RECORD and is putting together a publication exploring invisibility and incoherence - what remains unseen, unheard or unrecorded, and what happens when the things we encounter refuse to form a coherent whole. It could also be a personal anecdote — a memory, an untold history, an overlooked experience — a story you wish more people knew about. Perhaps there are people, places, communities or experiences you feel are misrepresented or underrepresented, or missing from the stories we collectively tell.

We're open to anything: essays, photographs, illustrations, comics, poems, personal writings, found texts, excerpts, screenshots, documents, collages, visual experiments, or things that don't fit into any of these categories.

See your work in print! We promise you an exciting publication:)

https://forms.gle/9ARSYb9XdmKWnCo3A

The deadline for these submissions is 19 October 2026.

For any queries contact me,

Sakshi Patil

[sakshi.ubd23305@cept.ac.in](mailto:sakshi.ubd23305@cept.ac.in)

Note I did come across an older post asking a similar question,, I believe OP was asking how to transition from being in luxury fashion PR to landing a position in a museum, and what roles could be a possibility without having to go back to school, get a MA etc.

To make this short, I've had fashion design experience at a very amateur level, but went to FIT to study the generic fashion business management, and international trade and marketing, but I also had a minor in Art History. All my life art and fashion history has been a side interest of mine, simply reading books, doing my own research and writing up my own theories just for the hell of it. I've been in product development in the fashion industry for about 6 years now, but I just know that this is something I don't want to continue doing. It's stable, but I've always had that "what if" at the back of my mind. I even applied for FIT's MA program in fashion and textiles studies, but it's become a more competitive program to get into as of late, needless to say that I did not get accepted. Volunteering also seems to be a long shot, as priorities are for students looking for internships, basically anyone with an actual background, academic &/or professional in this world.

Is there any route I can take, having a product development background and experience, to potentially switch gears? Or simply finding a place where I could volunteer. I want to make my interest useful, and there's only so much self learning I could do.

and yes, I am in the NYC area. Thanks so much in advance for any advice or suggestions, I am open to all.

The AllPaper Seminar now returns to the Benton Museum of Art at Pomona College for a fourth year. This program is designed to introduce emerging museum professionals from diverse backgrounds to the rich and rewarding field of works on paper. Originally created under the auspices of the Getty Foundation Paper Project Initiative, the AllPaper Seminar at the Benton continues with new support from the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation.

This year’s seminar will focus on the study, care, and interpretation of photography. We are now welcoming applications to the seminar from advanced undergraduates, recent graduates, and early graduate students from the southwestern region of the United States. The application deadline is October 30, 2026.

The Benton’s AllPaper Seminar starts with a two-day orientation for the twelve program participants on March 11 and 12, 2027. The group will reconvene for a weeklong residency at the Benton from June 6 to 12, 2027. This intensive residency will include hands-on sessions that treat the material properties of photographs, the history of photography as a technology and an art form, practices of interpretation, and trips to visit private and institutional collections as well as artists’ studios in the Los Angeles area. Over the course of several years of operation, the AllPaper Seminar cohorts remain involved with the life of the Benton, which continues to extend mentoring and networking opportunities for all participants.
 
All expenses will be paid, and all travel and logistical arrangements will be made by the Benton. Additionally, participants will receive a $1,750 honorarium.

hey museum pros! I am writing to see if anyone around the world might be interested in collaborating on some future projects!

earlier this year i did a project in my home city in bc canada called "the museum of personal failure", and it got some news attention. this has led to an invitation to curate another project following the same model (public submissions based on the prompt "artifacts of personal failure") in Portugal. the experience has peaked my curiousity about the possibilities of looking anthropologically at what constitutes a "failure" as exemplified by different people in different places around the world!

anyone interested in working together on such a project were you live, hit me up! I'm finding it very interesting to look at and think about failure in varying social contexts.

thanks for reading and hope you all are having a nice day!

We have a set of stairs that people keep fully falling down on because they are not paying attention, specifically because they are taking photos. There are now multiple signs saying “no photos on the stairs” with a no photos symbol, but people keep eating it.
There’s honestly too many signs now so I think people ignore them partly for that reason. But we started with one and more just kept getting added 😭
Anyone keeping a little secret on how to get people to read signs?

I'm not sure that this title makes sense, but I'm wondering if anyone else has had experience trying to maintain positivity and motivation when working with colleagues who vocally dislike their jobs.

Basically, I've been working in visitor services at a children's museum for a couple of months now. I absolutely LOVE it. This is my first 'real' job post-grad, and I am so happy to be in an environment where I feel like I'm learning every single day. It is very customer-facing which can be frustrating, but making a direct positive impact on young visitors feels so worth it.

That being said, my team is also paid abysmally and overlooked by other departments in the museum-- as an example, 'all staff meetings' are scheduled for the one day we don't work. Most of my coworkers are young, educated, and trying to get a foot in the door in the museum world, which leads to a lot of frustration and burnout.

There are a couple of folks who are really outspoken about feeling 'above' our job and wishing for better things which is totally fair, but I am feeling stuck on how to affirm their frustration without letting it make me feel cynical toward my own work. I don't want to be toxically positive, but I also want to avoid absorbing negative habits (checking out, being on my phone all day, shit-talking other employees, etc)

Has anyone else navigated this?

Hi everyone!! I am 18 years old in my first semester of college. I am currently getting my AA and I'm planning on transferring to a university to get a degree in marketing. However, it has always been my dream to work in the GLAMs field. I am very passionate about museums and libraries more specifically. I've always been on the English/History/Art side of education. I was just wondering if anyone here has done or is doing marketing for these places? And if so, what is it like? Is there any advice you could give me? Thank you so much!! Sorry if I'm posting this is the wrong sub, I will remove my post if needed! Thank you so much again!!!

Hello, I hope everyone is having a good day/evening ^^. I would like to ask if you have any advice for me given that:

- I've just recently graduated from Materials Engineering in my home country (I am based in Asia), and

- Because I was under government scholarship during my undergrad, I am contractually obligated to work/provide return-of-service for 4 years (meaning I cannot move/work abroad).

In my program, we were taught a wide range of materials characterization and failure analysis techniques that I think (from my limited research) can be applicable to field archaeology/museum conservation. My program had courses in general, analytical, and organic chemistry as well.

I first got interested in museum work when a professor offhandedly mentioned an alumni who characterizes foreign debris in artifacts found at archaeological sites. Several of my professors also worked as consultants for heritage building and/or art paintings conservation programs. Right now however I find myself more interested in conservation of display objects i.e., ceramics, metals, textiles. (Edit: I have briefly also entertained as well a career in paleontology, but I feel that's a different ballpark entirely..!)

I've read through several posts in this subreddit and it seems to be a consensus that graduate studies are necessary. Because of my return-of-service contract, I am considering pursuing a diploma of archaeology while I work in my country (which may transition into an MA if I choose). Only my home university offers this. Another university offers an MA in cultural heritage studies, but I have not done enough research yet to fully consider it. I could also earn a diploma in archaeology and take an MA abroad instead after my 4 years are done.

There is also the matter of work itself. Entry-level positions are more lucrative in tech/industry at the moment, but I've read here as well that work/volunteer experience at museums are very important. I am sure that opportunities for the latter exist, but not enough to provide for my day-to-day. If I do end up working in a field emtirely unrelated to conservation, I would like to know as well what skills I should cultivate on the side/transfer over to into conservation in the future.

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TL;DR i'm a slightly overwhelmed Materials Engineerimg graduate who would like to know if:

(1) a non-US/EU diploma in archaeology would be a good first step to a career in museums object conservation, and

(2) what skills should I focus on growing within 4 years of (possibly) working in the tech/manufacturing industry?

Hi everyone,

I'm Dari, a painter based in Brooklyn. I'm in the early stages of planning a solo exhibition and hoping to connect with an independent curator who might be interested in collaborating.

My work is primarily abstract painting, and I'd love to have someone involved who enjoys spending time with the work, asking questions, and helping shape how it comes together as an exhibition.

I'm open to working with someone at any stage of their curatorial career. Mostly just hoping to find someone who's genuinely interested in the work and seeing where a conversation might lead.

If anyone has recommendations or knows someone I should reach out to, I'd really appreciate it.

You can find my work at ohdarij on Instagram.

Thanks,
Dari

Hello everyone! Looking for a little advice on what to set my hourly rate at. I’m a preparator being contracted by an institution (separate from the one I’m currently employed at) to install an exhibition in the coming months and I was asked what my hourly rate is. I’ve always been in a salaried position at this job so I’m not sure if I should just calculate my hourly rate based on my current salary or if there’s another formula I should follow. Would love to get a few suggestions on how to proceed. Thanks in advance for your input!

Museum docents and or security guards should be allowed to sit down during their shifts. I’ve been to several institutions as of late that require their front facing staff to stand all day. I think this is just ridiculous. Standing for that long does a number on the back and joints. Seeing older staff members standing for so long is just inhumane. Why not give employees chairs?

worked in a couple mid-size museums and the same problem keeps showing up. we spend months on content and object layout, then the visitor walks through, reads three labels, takes a photo, and leaves with almost nothing stuck in their head.

the places that actually get remembered usually treat the whole visit like a designed experience instead of just a collection of displays. lighting, pacing, sound, transitions between rooms, even how people move through the space… all of it matters more than another text panel.

saw some of the cultural and museum projects BRC Web has done and the difference is obvious. they build the visit around emotion and narrative instead of just information delivery. visitors come out talking about how the place felt, not just what they saw.

most of us don’t have that kind of budget, but even small changes in flow and atmosphere can shift a visit from “informative” to something people actually tell their friends about. the ones that get this right stop competing on collection size and start competing on experience.

Hi everyone!

I'm planning to buy the Museums-PASS-Musées and noticed that there's currently a referral offer with a 15% discount.

Does anyone here have an active or previous pass and would be willing to share a referral code with me?

I'd really appreciate it. Thanks in advance! 😊

Yet another "wanting to transition out of the museum industry" post (sorry all!).

I manage tour programs for a small-ish to mid-size non-profit art museum. As I'm sure everyone can relate to: I love the impact of what I do, and there are things I love about it, but I'm just so exhausted and I can't keep doing this feeling like I have no financial future. I haven't even been getting a raise to keep up with inflation, let alone an actual proper raise. I make significantly less than the cost of living in my area.

Even more significant, I'm doing the work of an entire team as a single person: I am the only person who handles all the scheduling of trips, scheduling of teachers & docents, on-site coordination, greeting, etc. I also manage and coordinate our offsite/outreach programs, professional development programs, etc. I am also involved with planning and prepping weekly docent training.

I love seeing kids experience art, especially for groups that have never been to a museum before. I love greeting all different age groups and demographics, and seeing how people light up when they learn about art. But I still spend way more time stressing than I do getting to enjoy the good parts of my work, and for my own sanity, I need to make a career transition.

I'm not sure exactly what I can transition into, though. My degree is actually a BFA in Game Design (an industry that is even less stable than the one I'm in now!), and I feel like every field I have any amount of skills in is too oversaturated to find any work. I don't have enough tech skills and am too out of practice with game design, I don't have the education required for teaching, I don't have sales or business experience...

If anyone has any thoughts about what industries have similar skills, or just want to share their experience working in tour programs, I'd appreciate it!

I’m currently a sophomore in my undergrad at SAIC in the art history program. I’m going to finish out the year, as I’ve already taken out loans for it. I get a decent scholarship- but it’s still considerably expensive. It doesn’t see plausible to spend this much on undergrad when I anticipate having to do a masters. I also am not completely sold on the program, and want to find something more academically focused. Are there any schools that are both affordable and more academically rigorous? Ideally I would also like to be in or close to an urban area with access to art, museums, galleries etc. Am I asking for the impossible here?