Curators Committee (CurCom)
The mission of the Curators Committee (CurCom) is to support the work of curators through programs, activities and advocacy. CurCom, since 1989, advocates for curators at the national level, sponsors annual professional recognition and competition awards, provides fellowship opportunities for curators and promotes the development of curatorial program sessions for the Alliance's Annual Meeting in the areas of acquisition, research, interpretation, exhibition, collection care and ethics.
Today the words curate and curator are being widely used and hotly debated. Are we all curators? What does it mean to curate a collection, an exhibition, or a website? Beyond collection work, today’s curator engages the community by fostering civic, social and cultural dialogue of ideas and creativity through public examination, interaction, research, interpretation and exhibition of arts, sciences and humanities collections.
CurCom seeks to advance and expand this dialogue by demonstrating through our programs and initiatives that the traditional definition of curator as collector and researcher falls short of capturing the breadth of today's dynamic field. We seek the input and energy of curators who are ready to embrace audience research, investigate new technology, expand access to collections, champion universal design, and consider new approaches to collecting that challenge traditional notions of ownership, care-taking, and access. We hope you'll join us as we seek to re-imagine the role of museum curator in the 21st century.
Curious about what CurCom is doing? Want to learn more about what's going on with other curators in your neck of the woods? Need guidance with a thorny curatorial problem? Then check out CurCom Update, our triannual newsletter that offers information on exhibitions, funding opportunities, upcoming meetings, conferences and articles about new products. Current Issues are for Members Only.
If you would like to submit an article or item to CurCom Update please contact the CurCom Editor.
CurCom 40th Anniversary Call for YouTube Videos!
CurCom is collecting short videos of the curatorial work you do. Subject matter can range from showing off a favorite object in your collection to telling us why your office is equipped the way it is or even highlights of a typical day. It’s your chance to show off and get creative. For more info, please contact Allison Cywin.