What is the role of the curator in putting together an art exhibition?

A Curator is the person on staff responsible for
maintaining collections of art and artifacts, keeping detailed records of their origins
and histories, and deciding which new objects to purchase (see Collections:
Accessioning). A Curator in a museum will ordinarily act as a general manager, making
sure the collections and individual pieces are properly cleaned, moved, stored, and
archived.

In creating an art exhibition, the Curator's role
is to contact the specific artist about their work, if applicable, or to collect all
pieces of art together from existing collections. The Curator will design the basic
structure of the exhibit, delegate construction and cleanup work to staff, and identify
and resolve issues with lighting, sound, and viewer areas. Because an exhibit requires
many people to make it work, the Curator's role is that of an organizer, overseeing
everything at once and keeping the exhibit on schedule and under budget, as well as
making sure the art itself remains intact and properly displayed. After the exhibition
finishes its run, the Curator disassembles it, either properly storing the art for the
next show or packaging it for transport to its original home.