A Day In The Life Of A Museum Curator
Name: Nicola Lawson
Job Title: Assistant Curator
Employer: The Beacon Museum
Where are you from?
Hull, quite a way away, but they are both similar as they are both on the coast and quite similar people.
When did your journey into curating begin?
My original degree is in English Literature, but after that I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do, so I started volunteering at my local museum in Hull. That’s when I discovered this as a job.
What qualifications/experience do you need?
You usually need to do a PostGraduate Degree in museum studies, so I went to University of Leicester to do that. Then it is just a case of applying and volunteering, there’s a lot of volunteering involved to get the hands on experience you need.
Can you talk us through a typical day at work?
It varies quite a lot; the big thing is looking after the objects, maintaining the correct temperatures and environment to help preserve them for as long as possible. I also deal with enquiries from people and donations and then there is the exhibitions and setting things up. At the moment I am working on a few loans that will eventually go into the exhibitions, but that involves a lot of paperwork.
What do like most about the job?
I think telling stories with the objects in the exhibitions and finding a way in which I engage with them, that hopefully other people will too. That’s what is really fascinating to me, finding a good story to hook into that people haven’t heard of before – and sometimes ones that they have because people like to hear their favourite stories.
When did you know “that’s what I want to do”?
I think it was when I was volunteering at Hull museums. I’d gone to university and done what I loved in literature but I didn’t know what to do with that. I started volunteering to get some work experience, but I didn’t realise it was something you could do as a job, nobody had ever talked about it. Working on their exhibitions and seeing what they did and how interesting it was to tell the stories with the objects they pulled out. It was just a wonderful thing to be a part of.
What is the strangest thing that’s ever happened to you at work?
I once did an internship at Saffron Holden museum and I pulled out this thing, it was a bit of rock with paint sprayed on it and it was a bit of the Berlin wall. I was fascinated by that and how it had ended up there.
What is it about working at The Beacon, in particular, that you like?
I think it’s the people and the history, they’re really passionate about their history and they know all the stories. They want to know about their history and they come in and engage with it. There’s a connection and they are proud of it.
What advice would you give to somebody wanting to get into your profession?
You need to have a passion for it, because it is quite hard to get into and there’s quite often setbacks. Get as much experience as you can, that’s what people look for, go above and beyond with the hands on experience.
What does your work mean to you?
Engaging with people, telling a story and getting people interested in something. As part of our latest exhibition, we did a glass workshop with Calderwood House, nobody knew how it was going to go, but the feedback from people was so good; we had given them a chance to learn a skill. Making that connection with people through history.
What do you do in your spare time?
To be honest, I’m a bit sad, I do like to go to museums. I do try and go on a fun basis but you spend a lot of time critiquing things. I like to read as well, I’m part of a book club, which is how I made a lot of my friends when I moved up here. I try to get out and about in the Lakes, it’s great having all this on your doorstep.
And finally, do you ever get scared you’re going to break something?
Yes, All the time.
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