Organized by UChicago GRAD, this interdisciplinary panel will feature speakers from the Smart Museum of Art and the Art Institute of Chicago who will introduce students and postdocs to some of the roles that curators can inhabit.

Curators do some of the most central—and visible—work in any museum or archive. With their involvement in exhibition development and collections management, their work is integral to what visitor's experience. Curators can also be involved in a variety of other areas, too, including object acquisition, preservation, interpretation, and visitor education. Curatorial careers can be exciting ways for graduate students to put their subject area expertise and research skills into practice. Opportunities to do curatorial work exist in a range of contexts.

FREE. Registration is open to UChicago graduate students, postdocs, and recent graduate alumni.

Speakers

• Leah Pires (she/her) PhD in Art History, Columbia University, 2019 Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Pembroke Center, Brown University, 2019-20, Assistant Instructional Professor, Art History and MA Program in Humanitiesm, Director of Curatorial Option, University of Chicago
• Leslie Wilson (she/her) PhD in Art History, University of Chicago, 2017, Associate Director, Academic Engagement and Research, Art Institute of Chicago
• Berit Ness (she/her) MA in Art History, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2015, Associate Director and Curator of Academic Engagement, Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago
• Jenny Carty (she/her) BA in History of Art and French and Francophone Studies, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor M.A. in Contemporary Art, Sotheby’s Institute of Art, London, Associate Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, Smart Museum of Art

About the conference

GRADUCon is the University of Chicago’s annual career exploration conference for graduate students, postdocs, and recent graduate alumni. Each year the conference brings together hundreds of participants for a full day of career-themed panel discussions and one-on-one conversations with UChicago alumni mentors. By centering the stories and advice of alumni, GRADUCon inspires students and postdocs and empowers them to achieve their professional goals.