Dr. Schildkrout has worked for three decades as a Curator at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, where she also served as Chair of the Division of Anthropology from 1997-2002. She has curated major exhibitions including Body Art: Marks of Identity (1999), African Reflections: Art from Northeastern Zaire (1990), and, in collaboration with the British Museum, Spirits in Steel: The ARt of the Kalabari Masquerade (1998) among others.

Dr. Schildkrout joined the Museum for African Art in Long Island City as Chief Curator in 2005. She is in charge of exhibitions and publications and is working on both current projects and plans for the Museum's 2008 relocation to Manhattan.

The primary focus of Dr. Schildkrout's research is the art of central Africa, ethnicity and Islam in Ghana, and women and children in Nigeria. Among her major publications are the award-winning book, African Reflections: Art from Northeastern Zaire (1990) and The Scramble for Art in Central Africa (1998) (both with Curtis A. Keim), and People of the Zongo: The Transformation of Ethnic Identities in Ghana (1978).