Assistant Museum Curator
As an assistant museum curator you will be very busy organising upcoming exhibitions, sourcing objects for the collection and keeping up to date on important artists.
What the job looks like
Salary expectation
starts at $41,000 up to $50,000
The good
- Working with beautiful and interesting objects
- Speaking with artists and craftspeople
- Combining a love of history with work
The not so good
- The relentless administrative tasks
As part of your role you will visit auctions and gallery openings. Sometimes you will also liaise with photographers, organise events, talk to designers and draft labels for exhibits.
You will need excellent spelling and English skills to communicate with artists and designers by email and over the phone. If you are writing labels for the artwork your spelling and editing will need to be correct with no mistakes.
Good maths skills will also help when selecting artwork around floor space. You will need to know how much art you will be able to fit into a certain space. Most of the time you will be working to budget restrictions so will need to keep track of spending. Time management will be a big part of your role as well, so you will need to organise exhibits in the calendar and work to deadlines.
If you are creative and have an interest in history and art, then a career as an assistant museum curator could be for you.
You’re a caretaker of the past... You’re looking after objects that reflect the way people once lived.
Pathways to this career
Subject suggestions for the HSC
Choosing your HSC subjects from this list could really help with your career. Think carefully about what you want to study after school as you might need to choose specific HSC subjects for that course and to count towards your ATAR (Australian Tertiary Admission Rank). An ATAR is your academic rank in relation to other HSC students and helps with University admission.
HSC subjects
Some subjects will count towards your ATAR, others will not. Check with your career advisor before making subject selections.
- English (Advanced or higher)
- Mathematics (General 2 or higher)
- Visual Art
- Ancient and/or Modern Histroy
What can I do after I have finished school?
University degrees
Studying one of these degrees can help with your career.
- Bachelor of Fine Art
Suggestions
Checkout Museum of Contemporary Art for more information
- Visit museums you would like to work at and check their websites regularly for jobs or volunteer work
- Check out the latest magazines, exhibitions and even visit some auctions to stay up to date with what is around
- Go to career expos and events like university Open Days for information about what you will study
