At 06:58 PM 1/19/97 -0500, you wrote:
>Hi my name is Lisa and I am using my friend's access to this list to ask
>you a question.  I have been assigned to "curate" a collection (A very
>large one) of videos and sculptures generated by a single artist.  My
>understanding of curating is that I am to collect these things together
>from the various places they have ended up and arrange restoration of the
>pieces and films that need it in preparation for a permanent museum (I
>have to start that up too) that will display this work.  I have only
>archival and storage experience with textiles and paintings, not active
>display.  I am kind of freaking out and no one I know has the time to help
>me with some advice.  When you are a curator, presented with a large body
>of work to prepare for display, what exactly do you do?  I am to submit a
>budget soon and this is what I will have it consist of: Costs for
>shipping, amount charged for restoration, rents of possible sites for
>display.  What other things do I need to consider costs of?  Any help
>comments and advice will be appreciated.  I was thrown into this and I
>would really like to make it work.  THANK YOU



One of the jobs of the curator is JUDGEMENT:  certainly you cannot be
expected to be exhibiting all of this material all of the time, so you need
to decide which pieces are worth exhibiting when, how, and why.  You need to
arrange the exhibitions (both at your home museum site and touring) to be a
sensible mix of what the artist has and what can be borrowed from other
people that own the work; plus you need to be collecting and organizing any
and all documentation of that artist's work from bills for materials to
personal correspondence to sale invoices to just about anything from his/her
entire career.

Also you will need to budget in the costs of designing and printing
catalogues, brochures, and other educational materials that will explain the
artists' work; photographing and otherwise documenting the work; purchasing
or renting the equipment to show the videos; building display pedestals
and/or casework for the sculpture; not to mention the actual building of the
"museum" with its specialized lighting, storage, and climate control needs.
And not least of all, you need to budget in what you will be paid for
singlehandedly organizing all of this.

I admire your dedication and wish you luck.  It's an exciting position to be
in but overwhelming as well.  I suggest making a two-year plan for what you
can realistically accomplish and assigning costs to it:  and don't forget to
include where the money will come from!

Julia Muney Moore
Director of Exhibitions and Artist Services
Indianapolis Art Center