Julián Zugazagoitia became just the fifth director of the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art on Sept. 1, replacing Marc Wilson after his 28-year run. He is a true citizen of the world—a Mexican native whose parents were Spanish and German, he earned his Ph.D. at the Sorbonne, has worked on four continents and speaks six languages. He most recently was chief executive of El Museo del Barrio in New York. He visited with Ingram’s recently about what he’s found in Kansas City.
Q. You have not only a deep background in the arts, but a broad one, working in so many countries. How will that come into play in this role?
A. “Early on, I worked for UNESCO; that gave me a lot of diplomatic skills and an understanding of multilateral negotiations at the highest level, and also a sense of articulating policy, but it also gave the frustrations of all of the above. All the experiences that had just been collecting, really, somehow gave me focus. Today, all those experiences seem perfectly suited to being at the Nelson-Atkins.
Q. Your father (a mathematician) exposed you to the hard sciences, and your mother, as an actress, to the arts. What influences did that have on you?
A. It’s unfortunate that we think that hard science and the arts are so far apart. They have always been very close; many, many, many scientists have been great musicians. Great musicians have always been thinkers. And philosophy is like the middle ground where everything comes together. … But what my dad brought to the table is a deep appreciation for structure, and at the same time the passion for what was behind numbers. From my mom, what I got was a couple of things. Not only was she a performing artist who’s still on the stage every weekend, every week, it’s the discipline of what it takes to put on a show, the discipline of what it is to produce something and the inevitability of a curtain time. And the ethic of never missing a show.
Q. In learning about this community’s relationship with the arts, what’s been the biggest surprise?
A. How rich the artistic community of Kansas City is and how under-appreciated nationally it is. It’s a very good ecosystem, and by ecosystem, what I mean is that you have art incubators that give grants of $1,000 to help an artist continue moving or something like the Charlotte Street Foundation that gives studio space to artists. You have gatherings, like First Fridays— it’s just such a healthy and exciting environment.
Q. Any sense of what’s happening here yet in the performing arts?
A. We have a great conservatory of music. That conservatory is feeding into a great city that has an appreciation for classical music with a great symphony. But also the jazz, the Kansas City Ballet and its affiliation with Alvin Ailey, things like that. I just found it to be much more fertile ground than I had expected it to be. I think Kansas City has been over the years under-recognized, perhaps under-boisterous about all the great things here. … This city is poised for a lot, nationally and internationally.
Q. If you were to take a look at the Nelson in 2020 or 2025, what is different about it?
A. What you would certainly see different is our commitment to making the Nelson more accessible and more open to people from all walks of life. You would see more art everywhere, art that is less intimidating, and you would see people from different backgrounds and different generations visiting from all over not only the region, but visiting this as a national and international destination. So maybe you will hear lots of different languages being spoken through our galleries. The level of noise will be a bit higher, and I hope you will not be surprised, but it’s going to be a more lively, more exciting place.
