Dear Rebecca,

If you are interested in becoming an art curator at a medium to large sized
museum, you will need a Ph.D. and the very specialized knowledge and
research skills involved in the completion of that degree.  On the other
hand, if you are not certain about the art museum field, and may also be
interested in the gallery or auction businesses, you may want to start with
a terminal MA program.  Working in a gallery or as a specialist in the
auction business would not require a Ph.D..

Both the Williams MA program and Chicago's art history department have great
reputations.  I would say that if you are interested in museum work, you
should definitely enter the Ph.D. program.  You can always leave with a
Master's degree if you decide a Ph.D. and museum curator work are not for
you.

Good luck!

Kathleen Mrachek
Sotheby's, Inc.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Rebecca Elliot [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Monday, April 02, 2001 11:22 AM
> To:   [log in to unmask]
> Subject:      graduate preparation for art museum work
>
> Dear museum list members,
> I have enjoyed seeing your posts to Lisa Troy's query about getting one's
> foot in the door in museums and I am hoping that some of you might have
> some
> advice for me regarding my own dilemma.
> I am interested in becoming a curator at an art museum, and am trying to
> decide which of two grad programs will best prepare me to do this. I've
> been
> accepted to both, have visited both, and now have about 10 days to decide
> where to go. One is the two-year, terminal MA in art history at Williams
> College/Clark Art Institute; the other is the MA/PhD program in art
> history
> at the University of Chicago. They have a terminal MA, but I applied for
> the
> PhD track and have been offered funding that would allow me to stay for
> the
> PhD. I am not sure right now whether I would stay for the PhD or leave at
> some point to pursue museum work.
>
> My areas of interest are medieval art, and 18th-19th century British and
> French art, but I am wondering how specialized my preparation needs to be
> in
> one of those areas. I received my BA in art history from Smith College in
> 1999. Since then, like so many others, I've been unable to get my foot in
> the
> door at any museums. Instead I have tried to gain useful experience in
> other
> ways, such as volunteering at a cultural arts center, auditing a college
> course on gallery management, and working full-time at a frame shop.
> Still,
> it annoys me that I do not have any museum experience yet, and this is an
> important consideration in choosing a graduate program.
>
> I expect that Chicago would offer lots of options for working in museums
> or
> galleries, and I know that grad students work or volunteer in the Smart
> Museum at the University of Chicago. Also, some of the professors with
> whom I
> am interested in studying have curated exhibits at the Smart as part of
> their
> art history classes, so students can get involved in that way, too. On the
>
> other hand, I wonder if the Williams program would offer more individual
> attention or better museum opportunities since museum work-study is built
> into the program rather than me having to seek it out and add it on top of
> an
> already intense academic courseload. Also, I wonder if Williams has better
>
> connections or a better reputation when it comes to finding jobs or
> internships in museums after graduation. However, I can tell that the
> faculty
> in medieval art at Chicago are stronger than at Williams and that is
> exciting
> to me academically. Both programs would offer strong preparation in
> 18th/19th
> c. art and a broader background in other areas of art history.
>
> I have tried to sum up some of my considerations and I am hoping that some
> of
> you on this list will be familiar with either of these programs and would
> be
> able to comment on the question of how best to prepare for work as an art
> museum curator, and help me answer some of the questions I have voiced
> above.
> Thank you so much in advance for your advice.
>
> Sincerely,
> Rebecca Elliot


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