Collections Seldom Seen

Curriculum and Lesson Plans
including how to make Japanese Scrolls and Printmaking

People are familiar with the most obvious and accessible aspects of museums: their structures, exhibitions and public programs. Less known to the public are details about what goes on in a museum behind the scenes, so to speak, or, in our case at the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, underground. As in any production, there are many hands, hearts and minds that work together to create a museum exhibition. The exhibition Collections Seldom Seen highlights the role of the curator and gives the public an opportunity to examine folk art and traditional objects as well as self-taught paintings and works on paper that illuminate aspects of culture, demonstrate a wide use of materials, and explore some of the forms that humans around the world use to express themselves.

What is a curator? The word curator is derived from the Latin curare, which means to take care of. Museum curators do take care of objects that their institution holds, but they also acquire new objects, meet with donors to develop their collections, research their current holdings and areas to acquire, and collaborate with colleagues including exhibit designers, educators and others to create exhibitions. Curators also work with conservators to repair objects that have been damaged and to plan for proper storage of artifacts so that their collections will not deteriorate. They write books and articles and give lectures.

How does one get to be a curator? The professional training of individual curators varies, and depends especially on the area of their focus. Usually curators in art museums have studied art history and have focused on a particular area of interest, either a time period, an artist, an art movement, a specific culture or technology.

In this exhibition, Collections Seldom Seen, four curators Annie Carlano, Curator of North American and European Collections, Barbara Mauldin, Curator of Latin American Collections, Barbara Sumberg, Curator of Textiles and Costumes, and Tamara Tjardes, Curator of Asian and Middle Eastern Collections, present some of their favorite objects from their respective domains. The selections that the curators made demonstrate the international nature of the collection, complementing the Girard, Neutrogena and Hispanic Heritage Wings.

Curriculum and Lesson Plans

Written by Aurelia Gomez, Director of Education

Photos by Elsa Lenz, Intern

Museum of International Folk Art
a Unit of Museum of New Mexico
P.O. Box 2087
Santa Fe, NM 87504-2087 (505) 476-1200, Fax (505) 476-1300


Educational Programming for this exhibition is generously supported by the B.F. Foundation,
the City of Santa Fe Children and Youth Fund, the Folk Art Committee of the Museum of New Mexico Foundation,
the International Folk Art Foundation, the L.L.W.W. Foundation and the Wheless Foundation.

Asia | Latin America | Textiles | US & Europe

Scrollmaking | Printmaking | Bibliography | Curricula