Blog @ the Nelson-Atkins

Last week, we announced that Julián Zugazagoitia was named the new director and CEO of the Museum.

At a special staff meeting, we had the chance to meet Julián for the first time. There was a buzz of excitement in Atkins Auditorium but the room quickly fell silent as Sarah Rowland, the chair of the Board of Trustees, walked in and took her place at the front. Since the guest of honor had not yet arrived, we waited patiently for a few moments in the palpable silence. All of a sudden, Julián bounded in to the room and took his seat in the front row.

After Mrs. Rowland’s brief introduction, Julián took the microphone. He made a few remarks about the honor of being chosen as the new director and feeling a little daunted to follow in the footsteps of the current director, Marc Wilson. Then, he asked if we had any questions. Again, the room was silent. Finally, someone good naturedly asked “so, how ya doing?”

With a sigh of relief, Julián smiled and thanked the fellow for his question. That set the tone for the rest of the questions.

Here are just a few and the (paraphrased) responses.

Q: What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?

A: Dulce de leche and chocolate.

Q: What are the six languages you speak?

A: His first language is Spanish, followed by French which is the language he feels most comfortable writing in. Next is English and then Italian and Portuguese. The last language that he has attempted to learn but has struggled with is German. He said he looks forward to the possibility of picking up some Mandarin from Marc Wilson.

Q: Cat man or dog man?

A: He had an Irish setter as a child but living in New York, they don’t have room for a pet except for a small red fish. When they were making the decision to move to Kansas City, one of the bonuses (i.e. “bribes”) for his children was that they may have a pet.

Q: PC or MAC?

A: “Why must the world be divided? I am bilingual and bi-platform.”

Q: How do you feel about Kansas City barbeque?

A: After numerous trips to Kansas City, he finds it a challenge. There are so many pieces and he doesn’t know how to order it. However, his son loved it and he is sure to educate his father.

Q: What do you think will be your biggest adjustment from NYC to KC?

A: He said he didn’t think he would know until after living here for awhile, but most likely having to get a car. He hasn’t had a car since he was a teenager in Mexico and had to drive his sister to ballet lessons. He moved to Paris to attend school and didn’t have to worry about that responsibility anymore.

Q: Do you have any hobbies?

A: Yes, fencing, and biking but he loves sailing.

Fencing and biking are definite possibilities in KC. Sailing may require some creativity here in the heartland.

Julián is currently the director of El Museo del Barrio in New York, a leading institution in the field of Latin American and Latino art. He will begin his post at the Nelson-Atkins on Sept. 1.

Click here for a more official introduction.

As a new employee of the Nelson-Atkins, much of my time in these first few weeks has been spent meeting other employees and becoming familiar with the inner workings of the Museum itself. This task has been a fairly smooth one as I seldom have to go far to find a friendly face or useful resource.

My position as Assistant Educator of Interpretive Media and Resources also places me in contact with people from departments across the Museum, and I look forward to those continued relationships. My position will have me spending much time examining didactic material for rotations, new exhibitions and perhaps even material for promotional purposes. In the process of addressing these tasks, I have found myself with impressive access to digital images of the Museum’s art objects and am daily amazed by the great diversity of art available at my fingertips. I continually discover new artists and media that I had not considered previously, but I am also able to experience long-time favorites in a personal way.

I have been drawn to the work of Claude Monet for some time, and my gallery excursions find me returning again and again to Monet’s Water Lilies. This version of his pond at Giverny seems to have been produced later in his life, when his vision was failing and becoming more blurred, but that “blurriness” adds a bit of romance to the painting, in my opinion. I like sitting in front of the Monet here because, though perhaps this is just a reaction to staring too long, there are moments when I am convinced I can see the water moving and the light (always shades of purple or pink) changing and glinting.

As with many Impressionist paintings I have seen, the closer I get to Water Lilies (though far enough to respect Museum rules!), the more blurred the content. At a closer vantage point the brush strokes become clear, abrupt and the paint thick. Yet as I move away from the painting, the lilies take shape and the green of foliage above and below the surface of the water begins to reflect. To me, Water Lilies is about movement and daydreams.

I look forward to sharing my ever-expanding knowledge of the Museum with others and assist in the promotion of visitor engagement with works of art. Perhaps I will even be able to help someone else see the dream-like qualities of Water Lilies.

When I visited the Nelson-Atkins as a kid, I thought that the only people who worked in the Museum were the ones that protected the artwork in its galleries and sold books at the Museum Store. As an employee, I quickly learned that it takes hundreds of people performing a fascinating assortment of tasks to keep the place running!

Because one of my favorite things to do in the Museum is treating myself to dessert in Rozzelle Court, I took some time to chat with Judy Garver who spends a lot of time there.

What do you do at the Museum?
Administrative Assistant for Food Service [now contracted through American Food and Vending], which includes the weekly payroll, invoices, maintaining the department calendar, maintaining and updating the kitchen event work clipboards with event worksheets, counting the daily cash receipts and completing all deposit documentation, plus secretarial functions, helping with cashiering in the dining room, Point of Service programming, and a hundred other things too boring to a normal person to mention.

How did you get your job?
Been doing it for many years…so many years I don’t remember really when I first started doing it. Aspects of it have evolved over the years, with some parts of it getting easier or more complicated as the years went by. Now that I’m with American Food and Vending, the payroll and the invoicing parts of my job are a lot less complicated than they used to be.

You’re redecorating your place and the Museum offers you one piece of artwork. What do you choose?
The large limestone relief, Winged Genii Fertilizing a Date Tree. I just love that piece. I’ve walked past that piece for so many years I already feel like it’s mine.

Why is art important to you?
Art can be a snapshot of the creator’s soul. And to have a glimpse at his joy or misery, or his emotional vision, whatever, is what is interesting to me. If I can share his moment for just a second, then it matters to me. I’ve never been able to “go” there with a giant soup can or the Shuttlecocks.

Stay tuned for the next installment of Who's Who @ The Nelson-Atkins!