From the Fellow: Be a Museum Multitool

Amanda Wastrom is the 2018/19 NEMA Fellow. As part of the fellowship Amanda is writing a series of articles for the NEMA community.

Before I entered the museum field, I was a high school art teacher. I loved working with students when they were discovering who they were and what they believed. I marveled at many of them who, at 16, were already laser-focused on what they wanted to be: doctor, journalist, microbiologist. Honestly, I envied them. I still didn’t know what I wanted to be when I grew up.

I’ve always been a jack-of-all-trades. I call myself a “slash girl.” I’m an artist/ writer/ designer/ teacher/ curator. It seems to be the best way to describe my wandering career path. When I became a curator, I found my niche. In the museum, I use every facet of my skills—from teaching to writing to selecting paint colors and using power tools—and sometimes all in the same day.

At my current institution, as recently as ten years ago, the Collections & Exhibitions Department had a staff of more than five including multiple curators, preparator, exhibit designer, collections manager, and photographer. Now, we are two: the head curator and myself. The fact that I can do a little bit of everything—from collections data entry and curatorial research to graphic design, sign fabrication and picture framing—was the main reason I was hired. My broad skill set is an asset, not a liability. Turns out all that wandering was useful!

I believe I represent a new generation of museum professional—the human multi-tool. In the New England region, with the majority of NEMA’s members being small institutions with even smaller staffs, the “jack-of-all-trades” toolset is the de facto position. When you’re a one-person shop, chances are more than good that, at some point, you will be working on a rack card, writing a grant, honing the text on an ID label, putting together (and maybe even running) a family program. So, if we know we are going to have to be master marketers, fundraisers, curators, and educators, what skills do we need?

I’ve outlined three skills that have served me well in my museum career thus far, why I believe they’re critical, how I acquired them, and some suggestions on ways to add them to your own museum professional’s toolbox. For each person, the path will be different. Each of us has different strengths and weaknesses—some things come naturally and some need some extra work—and different learning styles. But it’s never too late to add something else to your toolbox.  

Copywriting
Wait, doesn’t copywriting refer to advertising? Yes. The technical definition of copywriting is the art of creating words that inspire people to take some kind of action. I would argue virtually all of our museum world writing falls under this category: program descriptions, exhibit texts, working with vendors, grant writing, etc.

How I got the skills
Over the years, I’ve had a number of amazing writing teachers (thank you writing-intensive high school and college!). I still remember the teacher who taught me about the passive voice and the one who taught me to “show not tell.” I have also done freelance writing for publications and private clients (I told you I was a wanderer) and my magazine editors have been a trove of writing wisdom—giving me feedback long after my school days were over.

Add it to your toolbox
If you’re in school, take those term papers seriously. They’re good practice (practice is going to be a recurring theme here). If you are beyond school, there are tons of resources out there: writing schools (Like Boston’s Grub Street), online classes (Writer’s Digest University is one example), blogs, books. I know because I have done all of them. Not into any of that? Find someone—a colleague, a mentor, a friend—whose writing you admire and ask them to take a look (and edit) your work. I have certain friends and colleagues with whom I trade writing all the time. Lastly, read. I read a lot of magazines and long form essays. I’m pretty sure my writing style has inherited elements from all those issues of Vogue I’ve been reading for the past twenty years.

Visual Design
Ok, this is when I get up on my art teacher soap box. It baffles me (and all of the other artists I know) that in our visually saturated world, where we are consuming images literally ALL THE TIME, with few exceptions, we still do not teach students how images work. How do colors interact? How do the human eyes and brain see?

If you don’t know about basic design principles—color theory, contrast, and symmetry, for example—how can you put together a professional looking exhibit, program flyer, PowerPoint presentation, or proposal? I would argue that you can’t. Ever sat through a PowerPoint where the text is too small/ too faint to read/ so chaotic that your eyes cross? Ever walked into an exhibit only to be confused because you can’t figure out where to start? I have. Many times. These are skills that everyone needs to know. At the very least, you can craft a fabulous looking resume.

How I got the skills
I went to art school. But you know what? I wasn’t a naturally gifted artist. I worked hard at it. There was a lot of practice (there’s that word again). And my work at the beginning wasn’t that great.

Add it to your toolbox
Good news! You don’t have to go to art school! Understanding visual design is a skill that can be taught and learned. One of my favorite books about visual design for those without a formal arts training is The Non-Designer's Design Book by Robin Williams (not the actor). It’s short, sweet, and to the point so those of us who are overworked non-profit employees can still fit it into our reading list. It’s specifically geared towards designing printed materials but the visual concepts apply to anything. It’ll change your life. Maybe. Another option is Visual Design Solutions by Connie Malamed.

Graphic Design
How is this different from visual design? Well, once you’ve got the visual basics under your belt, you do need to know how to make something with them. And that means software. I have found that my fluency in Adobe Creative Cloud has come in handy time and time again, whether designing a map for a holiday event, a flyer for a program, or exhibit graphics. Since I joined my team at the museum, we’ve been able to produce a lot more in-house, which has meant either huge savings for my department (on the items we would have hired designers for) or more professional looking materials (for the projects that we just would have produced in Microsoft Word). Bottom line: it pays to know how to use the software.

How I got the skills
I’m self-taught. I got books (Classroom In a Book series are my favorites) and the software and just sat at the computer and figured it out. It took time. And quite a bit of banging my head against a wall. But I got there and it has paid back my time over and over again.

Add it to your toolbox
Adobe Creative Cloud’s suite of design programs (Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign are the big three) is the standard. But recently, a new software—at a much cheaper price point—has been taking the design world by storm: Affinity (Photo, Designer, and Publisher). At about $50 per license, it’s a tiny fraction of the cost of Adobe with all the functionality. Graphic designers are loving it. Both options have tons of resources out there from YouTube tutorials to online classes and books (see above). If I was starting from scratch, I might start with Affinity.

Three skills to start with—there are certainly more. But these three—writing, understanding visual design, and graphic design—have given me an edge in my curatorial career and have allowed me to wear many hats. I leave you with some questions to move the conversation forward. What skills have you found to be indispensable? Are we currently teaching these in our museum studies programs? How can we assist younger museum professionals in acquiring these skills?