The Phillips Collection Launches New App, uCurate

In the great tradition of quasi-educational art apps, Washington, DC’s Phillips Collection is launching one of their own. It’s called uCurate: The Phillips Collection, and it allows users to do just that—curate the Phillips Collection. In conjunction with the current “Made in the USA” exhibition, the app provides participants with 52 works from the show to choose from, ranging from pieces by Winslow Homer to Alexander Calder. Users can then arrange the works as they wish within a “virtual gallery.” Wall colors, hanging locations, and information panels can also be customized. Once their exhibition is finished, the virtual curators are encouraged to upload their exhibition to the Phillips’s website and, of course, share it via social media using the hashtag #MyAmericanArt.

“uCurate allows visitors to design their version of ‘Made in the USA’ and…create deeply personal displays of works that spark visual conversations,” said Susan Behrends Frank, the exhibition curator, in a statement. “By making this technology available through a mobile app, the Phillips aims to increase our audience engagement, making interaction with the museum’s American masterworks more accessible.”

Does this mean apps are soon to become the new must-have for museums, artists, and exhibitions alike? Only time will tell, but it’s worth noting that learning to curate from an app is certainly a lot cheaper than, say, a Master’s degree in curatorial studies.


Follow Artnet News on Facebook:


Want to stay ahead of the art world? Subscribe to our newsletter to get the breaking news, eye-opening interviews, and incisive critical takes that drive the conversation forward.