Abstract:
The role of artists in contemporary museums and university galleries has been shifting over the past fifty plus years as art has become a formally recognized discipline in the university setting and as museums have sought to diversify their staffs and provide a greater variety of educational programming. This thesis will look at the evolving duality of artist/curator in order to better define the role these professionals are fulfilling in the contemporary art museum and university gallery. Through the examination of case-studies as well as through primary research with contemporary museums and university galleries, this thesis will present current data defending the evolution and necessity of this dual-role to the post-modernization and survival of these institutions. Through this exploration, this thesis also aims to address the greater question of whether curatorial work can be considered an art form.
