What an MA in Global Gallery Studies Means For You and Your Future Career

“In January 2017 and February 2018, I led 26 History of Art students from UCC to the United Arab Emirates for the purpose of conducting fieldwork in important art and cultural institutions.

“Exhibition viewings, artist and curatorial talks, and seminars delivered by leading scholars, gallery directors, art collectors and policy makers in the field were central to the learning experience.

“Galleries in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah acted as key spaces for teaching and learning where the students were pushed beyond their educational and cultural comfort zones and tasked with locating the ‘borders’ of understanding between the local and global in modern and contemporary Middle Eastern art and gallery practices.

“This valuable international group fieldwork experience is part of a fully funded formal module on the MA in Global Gallery Studies where we travel to a different country each year.”

“Our approach nurtures an employable graduate who utilizes the academic knowledge gained in order to produce a meaningful, real-life project in collaboration with industry via their internship.

“Our students also have the opportunity to not only learn in the classroom environment, but also to visit important international galleries, build new networks, and learn state-of-the-art knowledge from leading international galleries and cultural experts.

“Furthermore, over 90 percent of most fine art collections are held in storage. Therefore, employers in the sector are seeking gallery professionals with skills in digital arts and humanities for the purpose of developing internal digitization projects. Training in digital arts and humanities is also included in the MA in Global Gallery Studies curriculum.”

“Students will have an advanced ability to understand and write about visual material as well as complex issues in the gallery space.

“They will possess an understanding of professional practice, select legal frameworks and ethical standards in gallery practices.

“All students will have experience in the gallery space, and, depending on their internship, this might include curation support, educational support, research and more. Their transferable skills include innovative creativity; research and analytical skills; written and verbal skills; experience in project and time management as well as team collaboration; presentation skills; problem solving, and enhanced interpersonal skills and independent thinking.”

“We move our students beyond the lecture theater in order to teach them what it is like to be a professional in the gallery sector, and how to be a professional in the gallery sector.

“Exposing students to active projects through their internships and fieldwork, as well as object-based teaching and learning and innovative assessment techniques enhances the student’s transferable skills and subject knowledge.”

Possible careers awaiting you include everything from curation, archive digitization (gallery website content creation, maintenance and development, including social media integration) and global outreach, to gallery consultancy or specializing and working as an artist advisor.

With the right experience, skills and qualifications, it’s absolutely possible to find a career that’s perfectly suited for you and your interests.

To find out more about the MA in Global Gallery Studies, please contact Dr Mary Kelly, Program Director via email: [email protected]

Lead image: History of Art Students from UCC at Sharjah Art Museum, UAE, January 2017. Artwork: Kaz Shirane, Light Origami, 2015. Photo: Barry Pierce.