The role and impact of curators
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can analyse, explain and apply curatorial principles.
Key learning points
- Curators organise and manage art exhibitions to enhance viewer understanding.
- Curators use space and flow to shape how viewers experience art.
- Curation involves selecting, arranging, and presenting artworks.
- Curators impact how art is perceived and interpreted by the public.
Keywords
Curation - the process of selecting and organising items in a collection, like artworks, objects, or digital content
Exhibition - a display of items such as artworks or objects, usually in a space such as a museum or gallery
Layout - the way things are arranged in a space
Common misconception
Making an exhibition is just about hanging art.
Curation requires skills and knowledge. Curation can create connections and a narrative between individual works.
Teacher tip
Print a selection of case studies of exhibitions with curation or notes as per Task A.
Equipment
Sticky notes, access to the internet for research or pre-prepared examples of exhibitions with curation of note.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Which of these is a place where you are unlikely to see art displayed?
Q2.An exhibition is ...
Q3.What does the word “theme” mean in art and design?
Q4.What is the main purpose of an art exhibition?
Q5.What is an artist’s statement?
Q6.Why do artists research other artists’ work?
To help you plan your 11 art and design lesson on: The role and impact of curators, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 11 art and design lesson on: The role and impact of curators, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 4 art and design lessons from the Curating an exhibition unit, dive into the full secondary art and design curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.