Written by Halle Pressler
When you think of museum work, what jobs do you think of? What often comes to mind is a museum’s curator or even the collections manager, as these roles often get talked about when people, especially students, are interested in pursuing a career in the museum world. What students may not realize is that there are so many possibilities when it comes to a career in museum work.
I came into college wanting to become a history professor or a museum curator because I thought those were the only jobs available to someone interested in history. Through my academics, and speaking with Dr. Wendy Soltz, the Director of the Public History Program, I learned about the abundant possibilities in the sphere of history. I became especially interested in the idea of museum education because it combines love for teaching and love for museums in a unique way. My internship at the David Owsley Museum of Art (DOMA) has not only taught me about museum education, but also shown me the various positions available in museums.
To raise awareness of possible jobs in the museum world students may not even realize exist, I interviewed three members of staff with lesser-known positions to find out their responsibilities, education, and career journey that led them to the DOMA.
1. Security and Officer Manager
Walking into the museum, you would see student guards posted in each room to protect the art, but who protects them? Michael DuQuette has been DOMA’s security and office manager for over a year. As security manager, he supervises the forty to fifty student guards that watch over the various galleries. He often walks the floors, especially when the museum is busy, to check on the guards and make sure everything is running smoothly. If you have been to DOMA, you have probably walked past him and not even realized. When a person has a question at the desk or over the phone that the guards do not know the answer to, they refer to Michael. He often interacts with the public, allowing his flamboyant personality to shine.
Besides watching out for the art and staff, Michael oversees the office. As office manager, he orders any necessary materials such as paper or candy for the office candy bowl. One of his unwritten responsibilities is keeping up office morale by telling stories and making us laugh.
When asked, he stated he has always wanted to work in a museum, but did not have the proper education for other museum roles. He studied performance and sculpture at the School of Art Institute in Chicago from 1988 to 1991. Previously, his career focused on education administration and coordinator in special events. His love for art and experience in administration brought him to DOMA, where he protects the artwork, but also does his best to make visitors’ experiences a pleasant one.
2. Education Coordinator
Museum education is often discussed when thinking of a career in museum work, but it is not the only education related position in a museum. While the role of museum educator is often more front-facing, a position called education coordinator handles the behind the scenes responsibilities. The David Owsley Museum of Art’s education coordinator is Cathy Bretz, who has worked within this role for the past fifteen years. Cathy has many responsibilities including organizing and planning field trips for local schools. Teachers reach out to Cathy to schedule a field trip and request certain curriculum be covered in a tour. If a tour does not already exist over a requested curriculum, she will research and write a tour plan that often details information about the artist, history behind the work, connection to specific curriculum, and a wide variety of questions that are meant to engage the students and make their experience at DOMA a positive one.
Cathy is also responsible for assisting in the training of DOMA’s volunteer guides. Every Wednesday from 3:30 to 5, Cathy and Maureen Nicholson, the Curator of Education, work together to train a group of individuals who volunteer to lead tours. She assists in planning activities and acquiring special guests to come talk to the guides about specific art-related topics. When there is not a guide available to lead a tour, Cathy steps in and leads the tour herself.
While she did not always want to work in a museum, her love of art led her to DOMA. She entered her undergraduate program at West Virginia University as an art major, but graduated with a Bachelor’s in Computer Science with a minor in art in the 80s. Though she did not get a degree in museum studies, her education and career has helped her in her role. After graduation, she worked as a computer programmer on statistical research contracts, which helped with a special project at DOMA when she was first starting out. Students from Burris Laboratory School in Muncie partnered with the museum for a multi-year study that investigated the effects of visual thinking strategies, which is a well-known museum teaching method. Throughout the study, Cathy managed the data from students’ responses, which shows how skills can be transferable from one career to the museum world.
3. Associate Director
At the David Owsley Museum of Art, the curator and director are one and the same. Robert La France runs the museum, but his Associate Director, Rachel Buckmaster, has run the behind-the-scenes for the last eight years. During an interview with Rachel, she stated that she likes to think Bob is front and center running the show, while she takes care of the behind-the-scenes.
Rachel thinks of herself as an operations manager that is responsible for finance, social media, marketing, and oversees guards and security. She pays the bills and creates financial plans while also being the liaison between the museum and other departments at Ball State and facilities. She also is in charge of two grad students who assist with operations and media. Similarly to Michael, she keeps up office morale with her bubbly personality.
Rachel never planned to work in a museum as she did not consider herself a creative person. She grew up in Muncie and graduated from Ball State in 1995 with a Bachelor’s in Political Science and four minors in African American studies, Women and Gender Studies, history, and natural resources. After approximately ten to fifteen years of working in politics, she took a break to travel and visit museums. She realized she wanted to leave the stressful world of government work and decided to go to graduate school. She graduated from the School of the Art Institute in Chicago in 2011 with a Master’s in Art Administration and Policy Programming. She knew that she wanted to work on a campus museum, but never expected to return to her hometown. She checked DOMA’s listing to appease her mom, and that led her to where she is today.
These museum positions are typically overlooked because they often do not require an education in museum work. Michael, Cathy, and Rachel’s career paths were not straightforward. They joined DOMA’s staff because they had transferable skills from their diverse career backgrounds and educations that can be applied to their positions. During Rachel’s interview she stated “all kinds of places need all kinds of skills” and that holds true for DOMA. The staff is small and dependent on each other because they could not do what they needed to do without each other’s skills.
The museum world has a variety of positions and is not only restricted to artists and historians, so if you, or students you know, do not know what you want to do with your career, consider a role in museum work as your skills could transfer in ways that you may have never thought of.
This post is part of our Curation Chronicles series. Find out more about the History department and DOMA.