STEP 4: GET UP & RUNNING
Hampe says that with curatorial degrees being offered at many universities around the world, people are now being specifically trained for the job of running a major art museum. At the moment, though, the pool of premier league talent in this area is limited. “In the art world, for the very top job at a museum, there’s not a lot of people who actually have the ability to do it,” he says.
On the plus side, because there are so few of them, they’re easy to identify. “It’s a pretty close-knit group of people and if the person building this institution is connected, which I imagine they are, they’ll know who to approach” to head up operations at the new museum, suggests Hampe. “Hiring is difficult, because the person running the museum needs to be reflective of the character of the institution. Get advice and seriously think it through,” he advises.
According to Phua Gajardo, it’s vital you hire “someone with experience in fundraising, dealing with sponsors.” Indeed, once the gallery has been constructed and your spectacular collection hung, you’ve really only just begun. Will visitors come? How will the institution sustain itself? With yet more money from your own purse? “Of course, it all sounds very glamorous to establish a museum,” says Hampe. “But these things take a lot of resources, lifelong effort and commitment. Unless you have the energy, the passion and the wherewithal, you need to really think hard about whether or not you’re prepared to make that commitment.” Matisse once said, “Creativity takes courage.” So too, it seems, does opening your own museum—plus a helluva lot of time and money.