Nov.-Dec. 2011 - Maryland Institute College of Art

46 ESSAY
“ Curators determine
what art will be
seen and in what
context.”
Curating the Future
By George Ciscle, curator-in-residence
and director of the MFA in Curatorial Practice
Curators Play a key role in the creation
of a vibrant cultural life. Their choices place
aesthetic, social, and intellectual values
on work of the past and present. Curators
determine what art will be seen and in what
context. It is essential they be prepared not
only for the tasks they will perform, but also
for the responsibilities inherent in their chosen
field. The next generation of curators will need
to forge their own career path as established
professional roles develop, change, and in
some cases disappear. They will need to think
outside of traditional exhibition venues and
engage and invite audiences into a meaningful
relationship with art and artists by creating
relevant, timely, and accessible exhibitions.
Traditionally, a career as a curator of
contemporary art necessitated a graduate
degree in art history. This assumption has
been challenged in the last 15 years. Today’s
curators possess an array of academic
credentials, including degrees in the fine and
applied arts, and liberal arts and sciences, and
professional credentials in education, nonprofit
management, museum studies, and other
fields. The diversity of curatorial perspectives
has yielded an exhibition landscape that
encompasses traditional and unexpected venues,
and is richer and more engaging for both the
artists and audiences as a result.
A respect for varied aesthetics, in
combination with personal and experimental
viewpoints, is reflected in a range of exhibitions
and community outreach that seek to extend
the audience for contemporary art and to
enrich personal lives. Ideally, this respect will
help promote both sustainable and socially
responsible approaches to the presentation and
experience of art.
MICA’s new MFA in Curatorial Practice
program builds on the national reputation the
College has established over the past decade
for its innovative approach to educating artists
to explore the role of curators through both
the multidisciplinary Exhibition Development
Seminar and the recently introduced
undergraduate concentration in curatorial
studies. Designed to serve practitioners who
wish to combine the rigors of an intensive
liberal arts education with an active hands-on
methodology, the two-year graduate program’s
philosophy and curriculum are focused on
creating new models of exhibition design,
amplifying the voice of the artist in society,
and forging cogent and powerful connections
among art, artists, and community.
Students will be expected to pursue a
curatorial practice that emphasizes the creation
of transformative exhibitions and a purposeful
synergy between artist and audience. They will
examine their own emerging practice as an
artistic, social, and critical pursuit. Coursework,
ongoing discourse, and hands-on experiences will
complement a contemporary vision of exhibition
practice, and audience engagement and an
understanding of the shifts and changes in the art
world of the 21st century.
Graduates will be creative thinkers committed
to working in an interactive, collaborative
process and able to provide audiences with
a multi-cultural and worldwide outlook on
contemporary art. They will be well prepared
for the complex and evolving role curators will
play within cultural institutions, galleries, the
marketplace, and their own communities. These
aspiring curators will make lasting connections
with artists and the community through the
region’s vibrant, emergent art scene, and MICA’s
solid working partnerships with arts venues,
educational institutions, and community
organizations. The focus on conditions of display
and understanding will infuse an authentic
professional development experience relevant
to real-world settings that will shape students’
future careers as exhibiting artists, designers,
educators, and curators.