Curations allows anyone to curate their own group of artworks.
Curations can be kept private or made public and shared. Curations can be made to share your discoveries, tell a story, explain ideas, or can simply be created just for fun.
(Using Curations in the classroom? See our learning resource Teachers' Toolkit: how to use Curations.)
Guide contents
Step 1: Sign in to your Art UK account
How to create, edit and publish a Curation
Art UK shows one million artworks – paintings, sculptures, prints, drawings and photographs – from collections all across the UK. Any of these artworks can be added to a Curation. All you need to do is make an account and start curating.
Curations are groups of artworks, but you can also add text to explain your ideas – as an introduction, or next to each artwork. You can even add sections that are just text.
The best way to learn how to make Curations is to start making them (don't worry – you can always change them later), but for those who prefer more help, below is a five-step guide.
Step 1: Sign in to your Art UK account
Creating an account on Art UK is free of charge. Click 'Sign in' in the top-right corner of Art UK to either sign in or newly register. Here you can also find a 'Forgotten password?' feature.
Step 2: Create a new Curation
Once you are signed in, your name will appear in the top-right corner: click this to open the personal menu – 'My Curations' appears here.
Menu when signed in
Once you are viewing the 'My Curations' page, click the plus (+) symbol to create a brand new Curation.
'My Curations' page
Start by adding a title for your Curation. You can also add an introduction if you wish.
Select a 'Primary template':
- Album is a basic group of artworks, with no accompanying text visible
- Showcase shows your artworks and any text on a black background
- Storyline shows your artworks in a list, plotted onto a line. You can add dates if you wish
Visitors to your Curation can choose their own way of viewing it, but 'Primary template' will be the original style it first opens in.
Remember to click 'Save' often. There are 'Save' buttons at both the top and bottom of the page.
Step 3: Add artworks
When you've saved your new Curation, it's time to add artworks. There are two ways to do this: from the Curation itself (option 1), or from an artwork's own page on Art UK (option 2).
Option 1. Adding artworks from the Curation page
When editing the new Curation, scroll to the end of the page and click the 'Add an artwork' button. Start typing here to search for art by title, and select your choice:
Remember to click 'Save' after you're finished adding artworks.
Can't find what you're looking for? Look for artworks using the search tool first, then add artworks to your new Curation from there (as explained in option 2).
Option 2. Adding artworks from the artwork page
Search artworks, by artist, venue, keyword or type. Open the artwork's own page by clicking the title or image. Just underneath the image, you'll see a picture icon, labelled 'Add artwork to Curation' when you hover over your mouse cursor:
'Add artwork to Curation' button
Click 'Add artwork to Curation', and add it to the new Curation by clicking the title. A tick will appear to show that this is done and saved.
If you aren't signed in yet, you will see the 'Sign in to Curate' message instead:
'Sign in to Curate' button
Step 4: Edit your Curation
It's easy to make changes to your Curation.
Go to your Curation. (You can see all your Curations under 'My Curations'. Sign in, and click your name in the top-right corner to open the personal menu.)
Click 'Edit' to make changes.
- Change the order of the artworks in your Curation using the up/down arrows
- Remove an artwork by clicking the bin icon
- Add additional text by scrolling to the bottom of the page and clicking 'Add description'. Once you have added your wording, you can move the text by clicking the up/down arrows
- Remember to click 'Save' after making any changes
More tips:
- There is a character limit when adding any text
- 'Headings' only show on Showcase and Timeline views
- 'Dates' only show on Timeline views. They must be four-digit numbers to save correctly (if you want to add something other than just numbers, consider adding this information to the 'Heading' field)
- Please note that the website address (URL) of your Curation will use the words in the Curation title, e.g.
Curation title: A Picture of Health
Curation web address: https://artuk.org/discover/curations/a-picture-of-health
Changing the Curation title will change the website address, so please keep this in mind when sharing a link to your Curation.
Step 5: Publish your Curation
Once you are happy with your Curation, click 'Save and view'. Then toggle the 'Published' button at the top of the screen to 'Yes' to make the Curation live.
Success! Your Curation will now appear on Art UK's Curation pages. It may take a little while for the Curation to show on Art UK, so don't worry if you can't find it at first.
You can continue to make changes to your Curation once it's published. You may also unpublish your Curation at any time by toggling the 'Published' button to 'No'.
Sharing Curations
Use the 'Share' button to copy the correct link to your Curation.
Be aware that:
- Your Curation link will contain your Curation title. If you change the title, the link will also change
- If you copy the Curation web address from your browser whilst logged in, this will generate an unshareable link. Watch out for 'my-account' or 'my-curations' appearing in the URL, as these links will not work for other people. Share the link that's generated when you click the 'Share' button instead. For example:
https://artuk.org/discover/curations/lists-of-london-spot-the-dogs – correct link
https://artuk.org/my-account/my-curations/edit/lists-of-london-spot-the-dogs – incorrect link
Reporting offensive content
We created Curations as a democratic tool: anyone, anywhere, can make a Curation. We believed that allowing users to create and publish their Curations without the need to wait for approval lets the resource grow and evolve. We ask that creators use the free tool with respect.
Have you seen a Curation that you consider offensive? Please report it: email info@artuk.org. (When reporting, including details such as the URL, Curation title or creator name, and the nature of the offensive material, is an enormous help.)
Art UK does not tolerate any kind of discrimination. Art UK reserves the right to remove a Curation without prior notice, and without explanation, if it is offensive or objectionable in the opinion of Art UK. Art UK accepts no liability for the consequences of such removal.
Does a Curation highlight an offensive artwork?
Sometimes titles of artworks may contain offensive, outdated language, but the collection that owns the work may wish to keep the historical title intact for research purposes, and also as a representation of historical-cultural attitudes. The tool allows any artwork to be used in a Curation in the belief that context is beneficial. The issue of archaic language in historical titles is something Art UK is addressing, in liaison with our collection partners.
Still need help?
Contact Art UK at info@artuk.org and we'll get back to you as soon as we can.