Are we All Curators? A Conversation with Keith Struve on "New Museology"

Keith Struve is the co-chair of the Evanston Art Center’s Exhibition Committee.  He is also a private art dealer specializing in 20th Century American artists.  He is the son of an art dealer and has been around art for nearly 60 years.  He has created numerous exhibitions for the Struve Gallery where he worked for 15 years.  Keith has also curated museum exhibitions, most recently at the Rockford Art Museum.

Investigating operational shifts in curatorial practice. 

Today the words curate and curator are being widely used and hotly debated. Are we all curators? What does it mean to curate a collection, an exhibition, or a website? Beyond collection work, today’s curator engages the community by fostering civic, social, and cultural dialogue of ideas and creativity through public examination, interaction, research, interpretation, and exhibition of arts, sciences, and humanities collections. 

Curatorial activities refer to the activities that form part of the core functions of museums, namely research (research, interpretation), collection management (documentation, conservation), and communication (exhibitions, education, and public programming). Curatorial practice refers to methodologies and professional standards grounding these activities. In New Museology, it is acknowledged that curatorial practice is not value-neutral but reflects power relations.

If you are interested in serving as a committee member on our development, facility, marketing, or membership committees.  Contact Paula  Danoff, Executive Director at, pdanoff@evanstonartcenter.org, she will be happy to answer any questions and forward your information to the Committee Chairperson for further discussion.