Annual Salary
£18,000 to £40,000
Average UK salary in 2023 was £34,963
(source Office for National Statistics)
Swap to Sports or Tourism or go back to all job sectors
Swap to Sports or Tourism or go back to all job sectors
Art gallery curators manage collections of paintings and objects.
Average UK salary in 2023 was £34,963
(source Office for National Statistics)
You could work: evenings / weekends; flexibly
There will be
2.4% more Art gallery curator jobs in 2027.
Your day-to-day duties might include:
You could work in a museum or at an art gallery.
Your working environment may be physically demanding.
You can get into this job through:
You'll often need a degree in a relevant subject like fine art or art history.
You might also find it useful to have a postgraduate qualification in museum and gallery studies, or in a particular style or period of art.
Paid or unpaid work experience in a gallery, museum or heritage property is usually essential to apply for courses and jobs.
You'll usually need:
You may be able to start by doing an advanced apprenticeship in heritage and cultural operations.
This could lead into gallery assistant or gallery educator jobs. With further training and several years' experience, you could apply for curator roles.
You'll usually need:
You could work as an assistant curator, conservator or education manager before becoming a gallery curator.
You may be invited to guest curate a gallery, if you're an artist with an established reputation in the art world.
You can join the Museums Association for professional development and to make industry contacts.
You can find out more about becoming an art gallery curator from the Museums Association.
You can also find out more about working in related careers from Discover Creative Careers.
You could work in galleries ranging from very small independent galleries to large public sector and national institutions, like the National or Tate Gallery.
You could also work in a university gallery, or curate large companies’ collections.
You would usually have more opportunities for promotion if you worked in a large gallery.
You'll need: