Tate Alumni Create Free, Expense-Paid Curation Course For Low-Income Backgrounds
By Mikelle Leow, 28 Nov 2022
Even though art is becoming more attainable to the masses, it is still viewed as a privilege for the elite. And little wonder—today, curatorial jobs, at least for some of the more notable cultural institutions, require masters degrees. This means aspiring individuals from lower socio-economic backgrounds are automatically locked out from those roles.
To put things in perspective, the annual tuition for the Art History & Modern Art: Critical and Curatorial Studies program in Columbia University is around US$54,360. And as per The Art Newspaper, the Curating Contemporary Art MA course at the Royal College of Art will set British students back £14,175 (US$17,080), and international students, a lofty £33,600 (US$40,490).
A new, year-long program set up by three Tate veterans is primed to be a game-changer. The New Curators training course will shatter the glass ceiling for art enthusiasts who normally would not be able to afford curatorial education or consider art as a sustainable career for their backgrounds. It will be free to attend for low-income applicants from around the world with a bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience.
The New Curators course was formed by Mark Godfrey, who previously worked at Tate Modern as senior curator of international art but resigned from the post after the museum decided to postpone a retrospective on Canadian American painter Philip Guston; along with Kerry Greenberg, formerly the museum’s head of international collection exhibitions; and Rudi Minto de Wijs, who served as its co-chair of its Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) network.
Godfrey tells the publication that there are many who dream of being art specialists, but the costs to enable that are “prohibitively expensive.”
In addition to being free, the course will cover living wages in London for up to 12 students per year, paying for their rent and other expenses.
“We know that training to become a curator is expensive and entering the profession can be difficult. Little wonder our industry is often seen as elitist and characterized by a lack of diversity,” explains the website. “We want to help make the art world more accessible and equitable because we believe this will make it richer and more relevant.”
“By offering an intensive 12-month curatorial training and London living wage to 12 people from lower socio-economic backgrounds globally we will help diversify the curatorial profession.”
As part of their curriculum, students will visit museums, galleries, and studios in the UK and abroad, as well as meet curators and artists to expand their network for future opportunities.
Understandably, running the program, opening exhibitions, and footing expenses demand a considerable budget. To fund the course, its directors have garnered the support of donors associated with London’s Tate and the Courtauld Gallery, as well as the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Art Gallery of Ontario, among others.
The founders already have a 10-year fundraising plan involving interested individual donors, philanthropists, and corporations outlined.
“This is not a cheap program to run, but we feel confident that we will find the money,” Greenberg acknowledges.
The goal of the initiative is to train 100 new curators in the next 10 years, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to not just handle large exhibitions but also smaller, more personal projects in artist-run venues.
It spells more hopeful news for the curatorial scene, following a new nationwide study in the US concluding that art institutions are becoming more inclusive and hiring more people of color.
During their stint, students will learn just about everything there is to know about being a curator—from organizing an event to crafting curatorial descriptions and budget proposals.
Importantly, the course will also address challenges participants might face in the real world, such as dealing with controversial projects, and issues that might affect their mental health, like working with difficult artists and the prospect of rejection.
Given its inclusive nature, the New Curators program will make application accessible to candidates who have difficulty expressing themselves in words. Instead of writing an essay, interested applicants will be asked to record audio of themselves describing a “cultural object or event” they deeply resonate with.
The key is that potential students are able to demonstrate what is “important and urgent” to them, says Godfrey, on top of exercising analytical thinking—two qualities expected of curators.
The New Curators course is taking in applications through February 5, 2023, and will commence its program in September. Find out more here.
[via The Art Newspaper and Artnet News, images via various sources]