How To Become An Exhibits Curator: What It Is and Career Path

What is an exhibits curator and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being an exhibits curator. For example, did you know that they make an average of $23.39 an hour? That's $48,658 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 12% and produce 4,200 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreExhibits CuratorUS Average

Salary

3.8

Avg. Salary $48,658

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.3

Growth rate 12%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.29%

Asian 5.16%

Black or African American 5.30%

Hispanic or Latino 7.38%

Unknown 4.39%

White 76.48%

Gender

female 65.61%

male 34.39%

Age - 43

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 43

Stress level

6.3

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

10.0

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.5

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an exhibits curator

Explore exhibits curator education requirements

Most common exhibits curator degrees

Bachelor's

67.7 %

Master's

20.4 %

Associate

4.8 %

Start to develop specific exhibits curator skills

Skills	Percentages
Curate	26.16%
Press Releases	14.87%
Exhibit Design	13.71%
Condition Reports	10.11%
Adobe Photoshop	8.60%

Complete relevant exhibits curator training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New exhibits curators learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an exhibits curator based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real exhibits curator resumes.

Research exhibits curator duties and responsibilities

Manage visual resource center, including acquisition, cataloging, budget management and other relevant issues.
Compile a catalogue of artist biographies for guests to reference.
Assist in preparing zoo for AZA re-accreditation: create and clean exhibits as well as grounds keeping and diet preparation.
Design and implement comprehensive training programs focusing on artifact preservation and cleaning base on complete training course taken at Smithsonian.

Prepare your exhibits curator resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your exhibits curator resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an exhibits curator resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable exhibits curator resume templates

Build a professional exhibits curator resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your exhibits curator resume.