The Art of Curation

“We aren't constantly swimming in trauma. We're a joyful people. I want to make sure that the way we present the work is reflective of an expansive and nuanced understanding that we can hold pain but we can also hold a lot of love, joy and happiness.” — Kalyn Fay Barnoski, Philbrook Museum of Art  When you’re a gatekeeper to a world that’s still unfolding for mainstream audiences, the pressure mus...

“I'm really interested in curators who have done the work of healing through their deep curiosity and then are thinking about what they can curate to help others on their journey. I can't think of anything that's more worthwhile and more meaningful than extending that vulnerability of your own healing journey and trying to support others on theirs.” — Scott Shigeoka, author of “ Seek: How Curiosit...

“I just love creating these really hyper specific titles where, after reading these few words, you really have an understanding of the context of the playlist itself…It's crazy how being that specific makes people so compelled to actually listen because it feels relatable.” — Kasey Gelsomino, Kasey’s Playlist You don’t have to press play to know what you’re going to get on a playlist called “ Oat...

“[Mixtapes were] the ultimate love letter because it’s like saying: ‘This is me looking at you and trying to understand where your taste lies and also imparting some of my taste. This is where we intersect.’ Maybe I can introduce you to new things while recognizing that I'm here in a context that I think you will appreciate.” — Hrishikesh Hirway , musician and podcaster Being a musician led Hrishi...

“It's not like you press a button and you get to see art. You have to go there to know there…You have to be in front of it, obviously, and then you have to have a relationship with it. You have to see it again and again. And sometimes it takes years.” — Dereck Mangus, Baltimore Museum of Art In 2022, the Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) turned over the curation of one of its exhibits to 17 security g...

“The internet demands that everyone be a kind of curator: you're a curator of your own Instagram, of your opinions on Twitter, of what playlists you listen to on Spotify. There's a lot of curation going on but it's more in the sense of selecting between stuff. Curation, to me, is a much more deep-seated act that has more to do with the caretaking of culture, building context, and creating historie...

“Good writing is simple writing. I think that goes for the curation part, as well. I will try and strip myself from the equation as much as possible. You’re like a spider with your tentacles out everywhere, looking and pulling in things from different reader recommendations, dashboards and things you know about the company, and trying to spin it into something really interesting.” — Hannah Ray , S...

“Back in the day, curation was mostly a job in museums and art galleries. It took the Spotifys, Twitters and Netflixes of the world to really popularize curation as a valid business need. I’m proud to say that we were amongst the first ones to identify the business need for that discipline.” — Robyn Kerkhof, Blinkist  Curation has long moved out of the ivory tower of the art world. These days, any...

“The problem is more to find what one wants to curate because, well, you have to find your way…[Mastodon] is a great place because you have incredible choice and a rich and creative crowd out there.” — Sabine Stoye, Mastodon art and photography curator You may have heard about a Twitter alternative called Mastodon. The service is a decentralized social network made up of independent servers organi...

“In the history of human culture, we've never had a time that’s been better for learning about photography. There are images everywhere, and hopefully somebody like me can help you see some of the good stuff.” — Andy Adams, FlakPhoto Projects In an era flooded with so much photography, usually without context, it’s a relief to have Andy Adams as a guide. Based in Madison, WI, Andy is the founder,...

“If you're a curator in a museum, you're thinking about the thousands or millions of people that are coming through your space, not just your own personal taste. That's [also] important when doing a list. I have things that I love that I drink, but if I'm putting a list together, it's really important to think about all the people that are coming through the door.” — Nadine Brown, Sommelier and Wi...

“‘Disability aesthetics’ is this term that is really loose but points to where we can find disability as the space that informs an artistic practice. When I say ‘disability arts’ or ‘disabled artistry,’ it’s [referring to] artists who have an experience of disability or illness and use that as a space that is generative and that is not hidden from the practice.” — Ezra Benus, artist, educator, and...

“When you focus on the research, educating, explaining and pulling things together, and then communicating that back in an easy way, this idea of bias often does not come up. I know that sounds counterintuitive. But it’s really about placing focus on how we explain [the news]. We don’t really worry about [what each side says]. We put our focus on contextual framing, trying to be quantitative, and...

“A lot of the curation and knowledge management is happening in single-player tools. It'd be a lot more powerful to combine the richness and the utility of all these tools with a more networked discovery and communal approach to building knowledge.” — Sari Azout When we talk about curation, the first question that usually pops to mind is: What is the thing being curated? Could be information , mus...

“Unlike the traditional definition of collecting, where you just accumulate, sneaker collecting is to accumulate and wear. The finality of collecting the art is to style it, to make it yours. For me, it's not just about the sneaker. It's about the whole fashion and the whole fit. It's about the whole piece that I'm putting out there while highlighting the shoe.” — Jixie Gonzalez, Curvy Kicks  Snea...

“There's no such thing as an unbiased algorithm, and some companies have probably admitted that sooner than others. But once you do admit it, the only rational step you can take is to try to learn as much as you can about the ways that algorithms can reflect our biases, both positive and negative, and what we can do to tune them so that they are running in line with the principles and standards th...

“Curation is a specific mode of creativity that's more based in analogical thinking and juxtaposition and categorization. The best curators are critics too … It's not enough to be a great subject matter expert. You also have to have a deep understanding of the spheres of art, aesthetics, commerce and technology, and be someone who's constantly thinking about those things through multiple lenses.”...

“For several years now, I have just kind of felt like I'm not seeing what I really want to see in my feed, despite following friends and strangers whose taste and opinions I care about…The algorithm doesn't really get it. The big motivation for me is: humans just do stuff better. Some things just can't be automated.” — Ann Friedman The algorithm doesn’t know that you can’t be put in a box. That yo...

“The beauty of NFTs and Web 3 is that now it's global, where you have a whole gallery in your phone or laptop. You can be your own curator without having all the background and connections that are typically in the traditional art space…Anyone can curate if they have that passion and that love for creativity and art.” — Lex Marcano, NFT Girl With all the Web3 hype and grim headlines about the “cry...

“When you host a lightweight cocktail party, you now have a way to go through life, collecting these new and interesting people and bringing them into your world…You use these parties as an audition to see who you would like to become better friends with.” — Nick Gray , creator of “The 2-Hour Cocktail Party” Whether you’re new to a place or getting on in your years, it can feel increasingly hard t...

Technology is an amazing tool, but at the end of the day there is still no algorithm for cool. Cool is humans observing, selecting and sharing something because it moves them and they think it might move others, too.  Join us on a weekly journey to understand tastemaking as a craft that can be learned, honed and expressed through the art of curation.  

“Whenever I wonder, ‘Wow, can I really pull this off?’ I know I'm in a good space, because I really want to push the limits of what I can do, what the exhibition can do and what the institution can do while trying to propel things in a positive direction. Risk, experimentality and curiosity are essential criteria for curators.” — Apsara DiQuinzio The exhibit “ New Time: Art and Feminisms in the 21...

“Part of my work is to look at how artists are using their craft to speak to the times that we're living in — everything from climate change to immigration to the everyday human experience. My role is to look at what our museum has historically focused on and, in some regards, attempt to fill in the gaps or expand the conversation.” — Ozi Uduma, University of Michigan  Ozi Uduma, Assistant Curator...

“I am the kind of person that believes in frequency and energy. I really like to meditate. So when I think about how to inspire the people…I use music as the channel to share that energy.” — Ramon Olguin Sanchez  A vibe manager — also known as a vibe curator — has been called “ the most millennial job ever .” To be one, you’ve got to be the kind of person who has their finger on the pulse of lifes...

“Film curators definitely have the challenge of [their medium’s] temporal nature. With two dimensional objects, you can easily look at them at once and figure out [how to] arrange them. But when it comes to working with a time-based medium, you really have to watch it…and maybe multiple times to understand how the piece works.” — Leslie Raymond, Ann Arbor Film Festival   At 60 years old, the Ann A...