Julián ZugazagoitiaThe Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

    Dr. Zugazagoitia joined the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, MO, as the fifth director and chief executive officer in 2010. Since his arrival, Zugazagoitia has grown the museum’s attendance by 43% through broadening commu-nity outreach. He has overseen exhibitions with international partners such as “Plains Indians: Artists of Earth and Sky,” 2014–15, with Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac, Paris and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Other important Asian art exhi¬bitions include: “Flowers to Frost: Four Seasons in East Asian Art,” 2015–16; and “Secret Messages: Symbolic Meaning in Chinese Art,” 2013–14. Prior to his appointment, he was the director/chief executive officer of El Museo del Barrio in New York and transformed the institution through a $44 million renovation project with new gallery spaces. He also worked at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York and as a consultant and curator for UNESCO and the Getty Conserva¬tion Institute. He curated exhibitions at the international art fair ARCO in Spain in 2005 and the 25th São Paulo Biennale in Brazil in 2002, and was director of visual arts for the Spoleto Festival in Italy. Zugazagoitia was awarded the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres Medal by the French Ministry of Culture in 2005, and achieved the next level of excellence, Officier, in 2014. Zugazagoitia received his PhD in philosophy from the Sorbonne Paris IV and BA in modern and contemporary art, Egyptology, and Medieval art from the École du Louvre in France.

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