Yesterday’s Ask a Curator Day on Twitter was a smashing success! Curators from nearly 600 participating museums around the world engaged in direct dialogue with the public, who prompted them with a flurry of questions ranging from sincere to silly. Tweeters following the hashtag #AskACurator received a constant feed of questions paired with curators’ insightful responses.
Three of our curators—Laura Muir, Assisant Curator of the Busch-Reisinger Museum in the Division of Modern and Contemporary Art; Amy Brauer, Diane Heath Beever Curator of the Collection in the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art; and Ethan Lasser, Associate Curator of American Art in the Division of European and American Art—had great fun participating in this lively event.
Here are some of our favorite exchanges:
@TaneDanger Great question! From Ethan Lasser: I could definitely be happy hiking around Bierstadt's rockies (https://t.co/AsaY9vrKWP ).
— Harvard Art Museums (@harvartmuseums) September 18, 2013
@brendagtz From Ethan Lasser: Visit museums, study art history, pick a field and try your hand at an exhibition. #AskACurator
— Harvard Art Museums (@harvartmuseums) September 18, 2013
@liseEliz From Amy Brauer: Being paid to look at art. How great is that?! #AskACurator
— Harvard Art Museums (@harvartmuseums) September 18, 2013
@BrandonBoat From Ethan Lasser: Assemble a gospel choir of 250 people (request from a contemporary artist) #AskACurator
— Harvard Art Museums (@harvartmuseums) September 18, 2013
@cdilly From Ethan Lasser: Yes. We have many more tools to lead visitors through the gallery than we used to.
— Harvard Art Museums (@harvartmuseums) September 18, 2013
@cdilly From Amy: Yes! Easier to share resources w/ colleagues & students. Promotes innovative ways to present ideas to the public.
— Harvard Art Museums (@harvartmuseums) September 18, 2013
The following tweets were answered by Laura Muir:
@designerloveart Anselm Kiefer’s lead-and-photographic works from the 1980s. Powerful themes, aesthetic beauty, and tremendous weight.
— Harvard Art Museums (@harvartmuseums) September 18, 2013
@AshGMartin Technology will be used in many different ways. It's playing a major role in our approach to interpretive materials.
— Harvard Art Museums (@harvartmuseums) September 18, 2013
Visit our Twitter page to see all the conversations between our curators and the public on Ask a Curator Day.
