Wednesday, September 1, was the first ever “Ask a Curator” day on Twitter. The event was organized by Jim Richardson of Sumo, a design agency in England. Over 300 museums worldwide participated and the DMA was thrilled to be one of only three in Texas to sign-up. Our curators, from the areas of ancient to contemporary art, jumped into the Twittersphere to talk about their work. They answered questions from what to visit at the Museum if you only had one day (so hard to pick when we have over 24,000 works!), to their favorite work of art in the collections (Decorative Arts and Design curator Kevin W. Tucker says it is impossible, like picking your favorite child) and favorite city to see art (Anne Bromberg, who curates our ancient and Asian art collections, named Isfahan, Iran). A lot of people wanted to know what to study to become a curator (DMA curators studied Art History, Studio Art, and Anthropology to name a few). The biggest challenge of the day, other than avoiding all the spam that hit the world-trending topic midday, was figuring out how to answer all of the great questions in only 140 characters! If you still have a question, post it on Facebook and Twitter and we will do our best to track the curators down in the galleries.
#askacurator Day @ the DMA was a blast; below are some of our favorites:
@JoseSPiano #askacurator How often does a curator walk through the galleries and interact with the public once an exhibit has opened?
Roslyn Walker, Curator of the Arts of Africa, likes to walk through the gallery daily and to give talks and tours when she can.
@deadsunflower #askacurator What part of your job do you love the most?
Anne Bromberg, Curator of Ancient and Asian Art, says the best part of her job is thinking about art all day
@hoperobertson How do you decide what exhibitions to feature at your museum? Personal choice, or is it all pre-arranged? #askacurator #iloveart
Olivier Meslay, Curator of European and American Art, says, One of many factors is to see how it relates to the rest of the museum’s collections. #askacurator
@kayommm What did you study at schools and what career will be required to be a curator? #askacurator
Curator of Contemporary Art Charles Wylie studied American Studies and Art History. #askacurator
@hummeline @DallasMuseumArt What piece in your collections still stops you in your tracks when you see it?
Anne Bromberg, Curator of Ancient and Asian Art, answered, Brancusi’s “Beginning of the World http://bit.ly/9giNHD #askcurators
@artistMFReid @DallasMuseumArt What art would you love to add next to your collection? Dream big…
Olivier Meslay, Curator of European and American Art, would love to have a large painting of the Grand Canyon by Thomas Moran
Dang! Wish we had noticed this in time. Sounds like a great way of engaging your people (tweeple?). Keep up the good work