An acquaintance asked what I did for a living. When I told her that I was a museum curator she said to me “that is fascinating” and then said, “I’ve never met someone who actually had that job, what does a curator really do.”
People are generally familiar with the title of curator. Today people curate their closets, homes and even their vacations. As for being a museum curator, my job involves working with a permanent collection. I also meet with donors, research a variety of people and subjects, work on exhibits, and with community partners on a variety of special projects. In the museum world, a permanent collection includes items owned by the museum. In the case of History Colorado, the collection includes artifacts, photographs, archives and even buildings (community museums). These items are held in trust for the people of Colorado and serve as material evidence to the state’s history. A collecting agency since 1879, History Colorado owns millions of pieces. Some collections are held in partnership with other state agencies. Once such example is the Governor’s Residence. In the 1960s the Boettcher Family generously gave their family home and much of its contents; at that time beautiful furniture, decorative arts and paintings were integrated into the History Colorado permanent collection. Recently, as part of my job to care for and evaluate the History Colorado holdings—including the Governor’s Residence material—I spent a week in the attic of the residence evaluating, researching and documenting collection items. This experience was interesting, and inspiring. Visual beauty was everywhere, from the craftmanship of the pieces, to the intricate details of the furniture and interior design, to the rich colors, and even the manufacturer labels. The selection of images presented here are but a small sampling of the beauty I encountered during my week of curatorial work at the Colorado Governor’s Residence. By: Alisa DiGiacomo
