Profession museum director
Museum directors oversee the management of the art collections, artefacts, and exposition facilities. They secure and sell works of art on the one hand, and strive to preserve and maintain the art collection of a museum on the other hand. Moreover, they also manage finances, employees, and marketing efforts of the museum.
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Personality Type
- Enterprising / Conventional
Knowledge
- Art collections
The variety of paintings, sculptures, prints, drawings and other works that form collections in a museum and prospective new collections which are of interest for a museum or art gallery.
- Museum databases
The tools and processes involved in working with museum databases.
- Art history
The history of art and artists, the artistic trends throughout centuries and their contemporary evolutions.
- Art-historical values
The historical and artistic values implied in examples of one's branch of art.
Skills
- Liaise with managers
Liaise with managers of other departments ensuring effective service and communication, i.e. sales, planning, purchasing, trading, distribution and technical.
- Maintain museum records
Keep museum records current and in conformity with museum standards.
- Implement risk management for works of art
A registrar determines risk factors to an art collection and mitigates them. Risk factors for artworks include vandalism, theft, pests, emergencies, and natural disasters. It is the responsibility of a registrar to develop and implement strategies to minimise these risks.
- Liaise with shareholders
Communicate and serve as communication point with shareholders in order to provide an overview on their investments, returns, and long-term plans of the company to increase profitability.
- Liaise with colleagues
Liaise with fellow colleagues to ensure common understanding on work related affairs and agree on the necessary compromises the parties might need to face. Negotiate compromises between parties as to ensure that work in general run efficiently towards the achievement of the objectives.
- Liaise with educational institutions
Communication and cooperation for the supply of study materials (e.g. books) to educational institutions.
- Maintain catalogue collection
Describe, inventorise and catalogue items in the collection.
- Advise on art handling
Advise and instruct other museum professionals and technicians on how to manipulate, move, store and present artifacts, according to their physical characteristics.
- Manage budgets
Conduct cost estimates and budget planning. Monitor the budget, as well as costs and expenses. Forecast the budget development continuously. Report on the budget.
- Handle art
Work directly with objects in museums and art galleries, in coordination with other museum professionals, to ensure that artworks are safely handled, packed, stored and cared for.
- Plan art educational activities
Plan and implement artistic facilities, performance, venues and museum-related educational activities and events.
- Sell art
Secure and sell pieces of art in different markets. Negotiate prices, liaise with art dealers, and prevent from acquiring counterfeit art pieces.
- Advise on loans of art work for exhibitions
Working together with curators and museum collection managers, a registrar evaluates the condition of art objects for exhibition or loan purposes. The registrar also decides whether or not an artwork is able to withstand the stresses of travel or exposition.
- Manage staff
Manage employees and subordinates, working in a team or individually, to maximise their performance and contribution. Schedule their work and activities, give instructions, motivate and direct the workers to meet the company objectives. Monitor and measure how an employee undertakes their responsibilities and how well these activities are executed. Identify areas for improvement and make suggestions to achieve this. Lead a group of people to help them achieve goals and maintain an effective working relationship among staff.
- Supervise art gallery staff
Supervise the activities and performance of art gallery employees
- Document museum collection
Registrars are concerned with documentation and record keeping of museum collections. Documentation includes information about an object's condition, provenance, materials, and all of its movements within the museum or out on loan.
- Monitor museum environment
Monitor and document environmental conditions in a museum, in storage as well as exhibition facilities. Make sure an adapted and stable climate is guaranteed.
Optional knowledge and skills
evaluate cultural venue visitor needs classical antiquity marketing management advertise an art collection collaborate in the development of marketing strategies manage rented goods returns public relations analyse packaging requirements perform fundraising activities ensure special requirements for goods in storage investigation research methods store goods marketing principles manage fundraising activities manage artworks' installation in the gallery coordinate marketing plan actions paleontology history develop classification systems conduct scholarly researchCommon job titles
- Exhibitions administrator
- Director, operations & logistics
- John and jill freidenrich director
- Program director
- Director, membership & industry relations
- Program director accelerated teacher cert pgm
- Exhibition programs administrator
- Museum and cultural affairs director
- Executive director of development
- Executive director