Curator, Ron Burch, of WTC exhibit speaks on collecting

Ron Burch, curator of art and architecture for the New York State Museum, will speak on "Putting Hindsight First: Collecting Now for the Future" on Monday, Sept. 30, at 6 p.m. in the Mandeville Gallery at Union College's Nott Memorial.

His talk, free and open to the public, is part of an exhibit titled "Unioniana! Union College Souvenirs and Memorabilia," which runs through Oct. 13. The exhibit contains a number of collectibles – from cups to hats and toys to prints – from Union's Special Collections.

In his talk, Burch will discuss the recent collecting of artifacts from the World Trade Center for an exhibit by the New York State Museum, the philosophy and human nature involved in collecting, and collecting at the museum level. He will also focus on how a curator determines what will be relevant for a collection for generations to come.

Burch, who joined the state museum in Albany in 1983, also was registrar for the New York State Historical Association and the Farmer's Museum in Cooperstown. He holds a master's degree in museum studies from the Cooperstown Graduate Program, and a master's in U.S. History from Duke University.