Curatorial Certificate

Approved by the State of New York in October 2015, the Advanced Certificate in Curatorial Studies is intended to formalize and recognize the high level of curatorial training already being provided to graduate students (both MA and MFA) in Hunter’s Department of Art & Art History, and to intensify and amplify that training through the rigor of an official curriculum. The certificate recognizes the curatorial interests and ambitions of Hunter students and the Hunter College Art Galleries’ longstanding commitment to support exhibitions developed by our students. The Curatorial Seminar is a Hunter tradition that goes back over two decades.

The certificate program, open by application to students in the MA and MFA Programs at Hunter, or to students with a completed MA in Art History from Hunter or another recognized institution, is a sequence of four courses designed specifically to offer both a theoretical and historical grounding in curatorial practices and practical experience in exhibition organization and display and object research and preservation. Every student enrolled in the certificate program will have the opportunity to work on an exhibition from inception to fruition, either in the annual Curatorial Seminar or at cultural institutions beyond the College. Members of Hunter’s faculty are actively engaged as curators for special projects outside our galleries in a number of museums locally and internationally and we have a network of curators from those museums who have taught at Hunter or have expressed interest in working with our students.

The Curatorial Certificate is a 12-credit program, but for students currently enrolled in the Hunter MA or MFA programs, 6 of those 12 credits can be applied both toward the certificate and toward credit requirements within the existing 30 credit MA degree in Art History or the existing 48 credit MFA. Six are in addition to those credit limits in both programs.