I am delighted to share with you the Association of Art Museum Curators Foundation's Professional Practices for Art Curators in Nonprofits.
https://www.artcurators.org/page/ProfPractices
Over the past decade-plus since we last published such a handbook, the arts sector has shifted in dramatic ways and we have listened to our constituency in their appeal for a guide that would address these changes. As such, in August 2019, the AAMC Foundation moved forward, with support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, to produce an entirely new publication. Unlike the past edition, which was developed in print and provided as a benefit of AAMC membership, the updated publication is available digitally and freely to all audiences. It will be a valuable resource for art curators and colleagues around the globe.
The guide includes sections addressing digital technologies; paths to a curatorial career; engagement and collaboration with the public; meaningful momentum toward diversity, equity, inclusion, and access; recognition of bias and linear narratives; heightened movement in provenance, including conditions of transfer; and shifts in how the for-profit and nonprofit sector work together. Throughout the guide, the Foundation has highlighted that curators benefit from internal and external cooperation, communication, transparency, and engagement, and that these principles should be upheld at all art organizations. In addition, the guide advocates that in every aspect of curatorial endeavors place inclusivity and accessibility at the lea
The guidebooks is by no means an exhaustive review of a curator's work, nor can it possibly encompass every possible scenario that might be encountered. However, it is our intention to create a foundational resource for curators to help guide their work and to support them at key junctures as they advance in the field.
After nearly a year of developing this guide, being able to share it with you is a culminating moment. I hope you find it an important reference tool, and that you'll help share it with our larger arts community: https://www.artcurators.org/page/ProfPractices
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The AAMC Foundation is grateful to The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for their support of this project.
We express our gratitude to all those that participated in the creation of this document and the 2007 edition. In particular, we are grateful to those that developed and spearheaded the project through all its stages: Christa Clarke, Independent Curator and Affiliate, Hutchins Center for African & African American Research, Harvard University, President, AAMC & AAMC Foundation Board of Trustees; Helen C. Evans, Mary And Michael Jaharis Curator of Byzantine Art, Department Of Medieval Art and The Cloisters, The Metropolitan Museum Of Art, Past President, Trustee Emerita, AAMC & AAMC Foundation; Judith Pineiro, Executive Director, AAMC & AAMC Foundation; Alexandra Schwartz, Independent Curator; and Monica Valenzuela, Program Manager, AAMC & AAMC Foundation.
Writers and editors
Alexandra Schwartz, Independent Curator
Judith Pineiro, Executive Director, AAMC & AAMC Foundation
Writers and contributors
Rocío Aranda-Alvarado, Program Officer, Creativity and Free Expression, Ford Foundation
Christine Begley, Senior Vice President, Grenzebach Glier and Associates
Christa Clarke, Independent Curator and Affiliate, Hutchins Center for African & African American Research, Harvard University; President, AAMC & AAMC Foundation Board of Trustees
Jens Daehner, Associate Curator of Antiquities, The J. Paul Getty Museum
Janet Dees, Steven and Lisa Munster Tananbaum Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, The Block Museum of Art; Affiliate, Center for Native American and Indigenous Research, Northwestern University
Helen C. Evans, Mary and Michael Jaharis Curator of Byzantine Art, Department of Medieval Art and The Cloisters, The Metropolitan Museum Of Art; Past President, Trustee Emerita, AAMC & AAMC Foundation
Madhuvanti Ghose, Alsdorf Associate Curator of Indian, Southeast Asian, Himalayan and Islamic Art, Department of Asian Art, Art Institute of Chicago; Vice President, AAMC & AAMC Foundation Governance & Nominating Committee
Lauren Haynes, Curator, Contemporary Art, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art
Paul Ha, Director, MIT List Visual Arts Center
Emily Rafferty, President Emerita, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Carmen Ramos, Deputy Chief Curator and Curator of Latino Art, Smithsonian American Art Museum; AAMC & AAMC Foundation Board of Trustees
Monica Valenzuela, Program Manager, AAMC & AAMC Foundation
Additional reviewers and contributors
Christine Anagnos, Executive Director, Association of Art Museum Directors
Kathleen Ash-Milby, Curator of Native American Art, The Portland Art Museum
Kristen Becker, Director of Museum Engagement, Marianne Boesky Gallery
Sheila Brennan, Senior Program Officer, Office of Digital Humanities, National Endowment for the Humanities
Shervone Neckles-Ortiz, Programs Manager, Professional Development Joan Mitchell Foundation
Tanya Odom, Consultant and Leadership Coach, Global Diversity and Inclusion and Education Consultant and Executive Coach
Adriana Proser, John H. Foster Senior Curator of Traditional Asian Art, Asia Society Museum
John Ravenal, Director, deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum
Carolyn Royston, Chief Experience Officer, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
Mark Scala, Chief Curator, Frist Art Museum
Haema Sivanesan, Curator, Art Gallery of Greater Victoria
Elizabeth Smith, Executive Director, Helen Frankenthaler Foundation; AAMC & AAMC Foundation Board of Trustees
Susana Smith Bautista, Museum Consultant; AAM Board of Directors, 2018–2021
Auntaneshia Staveloz, Supervisory Program Manager, Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture
Karol B. Wight, President and Executive Director, Corning Museum of Glass; AAM Board of Directors, 2018–2021
Katherine Wilson-Milne, Partner, Schindler Cohen & Hochman
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Monica Valenzuela
Program Manager
programs@artcurators.orgAssociation of Art Museum Curators
New York NY
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