Dear Oliver:

There are three ways of looking at this.  One is that the curator will be
performing a work for hire, and will be a contractor.  In that case, you
could define the scope of work and tasks to be performed, and calculate a
time period for the work.  A mini-exhibition could be accomplished in two or
three weeks, but a major exhibition requiring substantive research might
take months. Hourly rates vary from $20 to $35 per hour, depending on the
scholarship that you need; however, for someone famous who has published
extensively on the subject, the rate might go higher. Using this method, the
average curator at $25 per hour, who would be expected to work on the
project for six weeks, would come to $6,000.

Another way of looking at a fee for a guest curator is to treat it as an
honorarium.  For someone who has very specific knowledge in the area of your
exhibition, the curatorial work might be quite minimal, and the writing a
matter of putting together information that they already know or have at
their fingertips.  In that case, an honorarium of $1000 to $5000 might be
acceptable.

Finally, you could treat the work the same way that publishers contract for
an article with pictures: $1 to $2 per word.  How long does the exhibit
text/catalog text need to be, and how many artifacts are needed to
"illustrate" it?

I hope that this information is useful to you.  Best wishes,

Mary Henderson


>From: Oliver V Hirsch <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: Museum discussion list <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Project Remuneration for Curator
>Date: Tue, 29 May 2001 17:25:24 -0400
>
>Dear List,
>
>My client is hiring a Curator for a project with a beginning, middle, and
>end.  The Curator will be asked to specify items from the collection for
>an exhibition, write a script for the show, write copy for signage and
>labels, and write an article to be included in the exhibition catalogue.
>In other words, the Curator will be responsible for the scholarship for
>the exhibition, but none of the logistics or production.
>
>How does one calculate remuneration for such a project?  Is there an
>industry standard for Guest Curators?  We can't, at this point, calculate
>based on the project budget, becauase this will be a key figure in
>determining it.  Any thoughts/guidance, on- or off-list, would be greatly
>appreciated.
>
>Oliver Hirsch
>Hirsch & Associates Fine Art Services, Inc.
>New York
>
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