The search is on. Next month, Julia Marciari-Alexander will step down as executive director of The Walters Art Museum. On the eve of her arrival in 2013, the California native and San Diego Art Museum curator was described to The Sun as an “up-and-comer” with “a gift for making art engaging and accessible to the public.”

Now fast-forward nearly 12 years, as she ends her tenure in September to become president of the New York-based Kress Foundation, Marciari-Alexander leaves behind an impressive era as the first woman to helm the Mount Vernon institution. Under her direction, the museum launched innovative exhibits, shed light on the Walters family’s difficult history, navigated through COVID, and unionized its staff—with Marciari-Alexander becoming a pillar of the city’s arts scene along the way.

What role does The Walters play in the broader arts community?
The Walters has positioned itself as a steadfast leader when it comes to what role art, culture, and museums can play in creating great civic life, and great cities. I also think we have been a leader in being very intentional in building change for the institution, bringing what is a 90-year-old museum into a 21st-century conversation about why art and art museums matter in this moment of seismic societal change.

What are some of the ways you’ve done this within the museum?
We’re finally seeing the result of decades-long work of my predecessor and the preceding boards . . . just thinking differently about how we use the collections that we have to tell stories that are relevant to where we are today. And that work plays itself out in bringing different voices to the table, different ways of seeing and looking and displaying the art, and how we talk about the art, so that we can reveal the ways that humans relate to each other in their present moment, but also see how humans have related to each other through these wonderful objects of human creativity from across the globe and time.

Are there any exhibitions that encapsulate these efforts for you?
One of the biggest achievements was the complete refurbishment of the Hackerman House—looking at buildings not simply as receptacles for art but the largest and most complex objects that we steward. That project was a showcase for looking differently at how we tell the stories. So, telling the story of the [original] owners, who had two enslaved women living there, and then revealing the little history we have of Sybby Grant, the enslaved cook, and then commissioning a contemporary artist to engage in a conversation with a letter that is written by this woman who did basically invisible labor in this house. All of that comes together through art, and you make the invisible visible. How can we understand objects differently when we think about the context in which they are made, used, and handed down?

Do you have any museum favorites?
My current favorite place in the museum is Across Asia. Around my third week of work, I told some donors that I thought the Asian collection should go on the fourth floor, but museum time is like ocean liner time, not speed boat time—and that’s how you make change. I’m a fan of radical incrementalism, because otherwise, you’re just redecorating, and your house still is the same house. But having Across Asia up there just shows these objects in such a different way. . . . You can learn so much in every room, it bears going back over and over, and that’s our goal.

Speaking of radical incrementalism, after a years-long process, employees at The Walters just voted to unionize. How does it feel to be here?
I have always valued putting the employees first and giving them the opportunity to vote for themselves [for or against unionization]. That was the goal the whole time, and I’m so happy that they did that, and that we are on the other side of that, and that we are now collective bargaining. I’m absolutely sure that, if it doesn’t finish with me, it will keep going and come to a good resolution.

Of course, during your tenure, you also had the pleasure of being dressed by Baltimore fashion designer Bishme Cromartie for a few galas. What was that like?
The first time, I was super star struck. He knew that he was going to be on that first Project Runway, but we couldn’t tell anybody, so it felt like I was wearing this giant secret. I really am a such a [big fan]. Not a Swiftie, but a Bishme-ie.

How would you describe the state of the Baltimore arts right now?Baltimore is one of the premier art and cultural scenes in America, if not the premier city for its size. . . . I will say, I think the future needs to be more truly collaborative, not just, “Hey, let’s do things alongside each other.” Museums have changed more in the last 10, maybe 15, certainly five years than the last before then. And that means that what we do and how we do it is ever more important, because if we don’t meet the moment, we are going to become irrelevant. We have the opportunity to create an even richer community relationship within in the ecosystem of the arts and cultural scene here.

On the second Saturday in October (aka this Saturday, October 13), The Walters Art Museum will host its annual gala, this year celebrating a year of transformation with their theme “Metamorphosis.” While this isn’t exactly the Met Gala, The Walters and executive director Julia Marciari-Alexander enlisted local design prodigy Bishme Cromartie to make her outfit and encourages patrons to dress to the nines as well. We talked to Marciari-Alexander and Cromartie about the design process, their inspiration, and what to expect from this year’s event.

How did this collaboration come about?
Julia Marciari-Alexander: He did a photo shoot at the Walters for Bmore Art and I loved it.

Bishme Cromartie: It was just so weird. I did a collection called “The Chrysalis” because I felt like I was going through the process of being a caterpillar and coming out of my chrysalis as a designer. So, when I got the information about this event I kind of teared up because it felt like the universe letting me know that I am going in the right direction.

JMA: I was so nervous meeting you, I was like, “Oh my god, I’m going to meet a real-life designer. He is going to be all stiff and art-y.” But you just were so awesome and put me at ease immediately, and your collection is just so beautiful.

BC: I appreciate it. I’m prolonging the fittings because I don’t want it to end.

JMA: You can just be my personal stylist forever.

Why did you choose to have a local designer make your outfit?
JMA: We have such a commitment at the museum to Baltimore and the ways that the collection inspires Baltimore, and to have someone for whom that is 100-percent true being the star of the evening is just awesome.

BC: Don’t make me cry again. My mascara is not waterproof.

JMA: Fashion is art and we have a lot of examples throughout our collection of fashion throughout the ages, so this collaboration is just another piece of that.

What inspired the garment?
JMA: Well first, we walked through the museum with Bishme. Our collection is really about design, and I think that most of the works in the collection were used as inspiration in some way. Walking around with Bishme was just amazing because I was seeing the collection through his eyes and seeing his mind click in terms of what he was interested in and how it would fit with his development as an artist.

BC: I got chills walking through because we were standing in the museum talking and I realized we were standing there looking at one of my favorite artists’ paintings. I love Sir Lawrence and his work as far as draping and stuff. To see one of my favorite artist’s paintings for the first time in person was amazing and has been an eye opener to keep going and how things come full circle.

JMA: Seeing you looking at the Lawrence Alma-Tadema paintings and knowing the way this painter treats fashion and treats fabric has been a guiding force in your creativity and to have that happen right here, that made me cry. That was a moment of wonder. You had a moment of wonder and we got to experience that with you.

How much input did you have on the piece Julia?
JMA: The most interesting conversation that we had about the outfit—and I say outfit—was whether it was going to be a dress or pants. I saw myself wearing a dress, but Bishme really wanted to put me in pants.

BC: When you guys came to me, I was told you were open to different styles, so pants were a thought. But then when I got to meet Julia and got to know her, I thought she needs to stand out. A dress would’ve been expected, so for me I really just wanted to create a moment that reads well with the theme of the night. And then once I saw the invitation, I wanted the fabric to sort of mimic how the invitation looked with the detailing.

How is this event different from others in the city?
JMA: We don’t have any auctions, it’s really just a beautiful party in an extraordinary setting. This isn’t about an exhibition, it’s about the museum and celebrating the opportunity for everyone to have access to creativity. The money from tickets goes straight into our operating budget and covers a lot of our education programs.

BC: I love the fact that the theme of this event has a message behind it that I and other people can connect with. It’s about transition in our lives and growing. It’s not just a theme, it’s something that everyone experiences. Everyone is developing, and I think that’s why this experience has meant so much to me.

I’ve heard you want this to be sort of the Met Gala of Baltimore. Do you think people will get that and incorporate the theme into what they choose to wear?
JMA: Absolutely! We saw it last year with a lot of people you could tell thought about what they put on. Our theme last year was Egypt and I felt like our patrons got it and really stepped up their game in bringing their most beautiful clothing to reflect the collection well without being culturally inappropriate. I’m really interested in connecting our collections with contemporary artistic practice primarily through the lens of people in Baltimore and what better way to do that then through what we all are wearing.

This year I think we’ve been really intentional about how we’ve presented the event and I think people will understand even just from a feeling level the theme and what kind of event they are going to. It’s elegantly fun. But it does make you think.

What are you most excited for at this year’s event?
JMA: Sitting with Bishme. It is such an honor to be wearing something of yours because there is no one else that could’ve made something like this for me. Plus, we just really like each other.

BC: My fittings with Julia. I don’t want them to end.

JMA: Also, there is no one in this town that cares more about fashion than our Mayor [Catherine Pugh] and the opportunity to sit you right next to her and to let her see the amazing creativity that lives here in Baltimore all the time and to talk about your work and mentorship with the Baltimore Design School—the school she set up. That’s just so exciting. That’s what a museum can do.

“I would hope that people would describe it as modern-traditional ‘shambolic,’ with an emphasis, perhaps, on the last word,” The Walters Art Museum’s executive director Julia Marciari-Alexander says with a laugh. She’s talking about the interior design of the four-bedroom Homeland house she and her husband, John Marciari, bought in 2013, which is, just for the record, anything but a shambles. But it’s clear the goal is simple: Forget the Joneses and just make the place comfortable for the home’s eight denizens, human and otherwise.

Those would include herself, her husband, 11-year-old twins Beatrice and Jack, plus a menagerie of pets: Pancake the bearded dragon and cats Smitten, Lovey, and Dovey. As for the modern-traditional, that comes in the form of what Marciari-Alexander lovingly calls a “mishmash” of furnishings and artwork: some brought from their last home, a custom-build in southern California, others handed down through family or picked up over the years, and some given or made by friends.

Almost all of it came with them when they packed up their West Coast lives and moved to Baltimore so that Marciari-Alexander could take over as the museum’s fifth executive director, the first woman to hold the post.

Though the timing wasn’t exactly planned, the landing in Baltimore was not quite surprising, either.

“When you’re a young, aspiring museum professional, people ask you what your five dream jobs are and one of mine was always the Walters,” says Marciari-Alexander, who most recently was deputy director of curatorial affairs for the San Diego Museum of Art.

But there was also an existing Charm City connection: Prior to her California stint, she spent 12 years in various roles at the Yale Center for British Art in New Haven, CT, and for three of those years, her husband was commuting to Baltimore to teach at Loyola University. And Marciari-Alexander got to know and love both the museum and the city. “So we were thrilled that we ended up back here,” she says.

Though they considered a few homes in Baltimore County, “we very quickly knew we wanted to be in Roland Park or Homeland,” says Marciari-Alexander. John Marciari knew the areas especially well: At Loyola, he’d taught a class on landscape architecture and gardens and often used Homeland—the creation of the two sons of Frederick Law Olmsted, America’s first landscape architect—as an example of neighborhoods that have park-like settings without looking overly designed.

In California, they’d gone for new construction, but their New Haven home had been a 1922 Colonial. “We loved the idea of coming back into a historic development that really reflected the idea around city planning,” says Marciari-Alexander. “That was really important to me, to be part of the city fabric and to support the city as a homeowner.”

The Homeland house turned up early on in the search, but though it seemed ideal, “we thought it was kind of out of our price range,” Marciari-Alexander recalls. The family’s search took them through a host of Roland Park Victorians—“big houses, small rooms,” she says—but they kept circling back. “We really loved this neighborhood and this house.”

A big part of the appeal to the two art-history aficionados was that it was designed in the early part of the last century by the darling design duo of Palmer-Lamdin—architects Edward Livingston Palmer Jr. and William D. Lamdin—and is one of the pair’s “Cotswold Cottages,” with a meandering layout, “destinational” rooms, and intimate interiors.

The elegant first floor seemed ideal for the occasional small dinners Marciari-Alexander hosts for work. And a third-floor space jokingly dubbed the “man garret” (since “man cave” isn’t quite right for the sunlit room, she says) seemed the perfect home office for Marciari, who was about to embark on a year-long book-writing project. (Mission accomplished: The finished work now sits on bookstore shelves and the family’s coffee table and Marciari has since moved on to a job as a curator and head of drawings and prints at the Morgan Library & Museum in New York, commuting home on weekends.)

For Marciari, the quiet third-floor space was certainly alluring, “but the biggest selling point for us with the house was the classic design,” he says. “The combination of exterior stone and slate and the woodwork inside really appealed to us.”

There was another big plus, too: The home was not only move-in ready, but “the previous owners had refurbished the house and the similarity of their taste to ours was really striking,” says Marciari. Arts and Crafts-style touches like the Stickley-inspired built-in table in the breakfast nook, Stickley-inspired radiator covers, and the William Morris wallpaper were reminders of the home Marciari-Alexander’s parents had lived in (and of John’s time as curator of a Stickley exhibition at the San Diego Museum of Art). Kitchen tiles inspired by Scottish artist Charles Rennie Mackintosh also caught their eye.

That she’d have little to do before moving in was a boon for Marciari-Alexander, who had just taken the helm of the Walters, where she faced the challenge of “following a terrific director.” The most daunting task was thinking about “new ways to view and talk about this collection that is so cherished by so many,” she says.

At home, the challenge was finding space for the couple’s significant collection of books (which leans, no surprise, toward art history) and marrying their home’s style with their eclectic collection of furnishings and art.

In the two-and-a-half years since they moved in, the Walters exec has continued the expansion of the museum’s digital collection and continued to help the public access the museum’s collection in new ways. At home, the family has gotten an even greater appreciation for the intimacy of the space. Says Marciari-Alexander, “We’re very much homebodies, so livability is really it.”

Julia Marciari-Alexander in 30 Seconds

Age: 48

Early years: Grew up in Claremont, CA; completed undergrad studies in art history and French at Wellesley; earned a master’s and Ph.D. in history of art at Yale University, plus a master’s in French literature from New York University.

First knew art was in her blood: During a family trip to Rome while she was in 6th grade. “It was 1979, so the then-Pope was brand new. We went to mass in St. Peter’s. We’re not Catholic, but spending that day in St. Peter’s and experiencing how architecture and art and life can create these moments of wonder was a really formative moment in my life.”

Favorite book on her bookshelves: “All books by my husband, most recently his Italian, Spanish, and French Paintings Before 1850 in the San Diego Museum of Art (2015). This represents an important and entire chapter of our life together and all the people from that moment.”

Favorite piece of art at home: “My favorite changes every day. . . . I take great joy especially in the two watercolors by my twins that hang in my bedroom.”

Favorite corner of The Walters: The jewelry collection. “Maybe that’s a little bit obvious for a gender stereotype, but I love the fact that jewelry is one of the art forms that brings together artistic expertise, technology, materials, and what the zeitgeist was doing at the time.”

It was a year ago that Julia Marciari-Alexander took over for Gary Vikan at The Walters Art Museum. As a new director with a reputation for reinventing gallery spaces, you might think she’d be eager to make a splash and launch major initiatives. But, as Marciari-Alexander is quick to point out, the Walters didn’t need a major overhaul, just some fine-tuning. “In some ways, my job is harder, because Gary and his staff did a great job for such a long time,” she says. “It’s an incredible privilege to follow someone like Gary, and it’s incredibly difficult. 

But evidence of change in the first year was never my goal. I didn’t want to come in and change it up just for the sake of change.” Marciari-Alexander sits at a conference table in an office characterized by its ornate décor and the sort of near-liturgical ambiance that hovers around cloistered treasure. It might be stuffy, stifling perhaps, if not for her disarming presence, which offsets any pretense. Her sunny disposition played well in Southern California—where she was previously deputy director for curatorial affairs at the San Diego Museum of Art—and it has endeared her to arts leaders around town.

Fellow museum directors Rebecca Hoffberger (American Visionary Art Museum,) and Doreen Bolger (The Baltimore Museum of Art) praise Marciari-Alexander’s unflagging enthusiasm for not only the Walters, but also the broader arts community and the community at large.

“Julia’s participation in February’s Maryland Arts Day in Annapolis spoke volumes about her commitment,” says Bolger. “She talked to the legislators about the arts with such passion. It was wonderful to have her energy with us.”

Her grassroots-level approach to the job furthers work done by Vikan and dovetails nicely with similarly minded peers like not only Bolger and Hoffberger, but also Kwame Kwei-Armah at Center Stage and Marin Alsop at the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Gone are the days of shying from community engagement, and we’ve likely seen the last of someone like former BSO music director Yuri Temirkanov, who didn’t speak English and projected aristocratic cool.

Engaging the public is now paramount, and the director’s job has become increasingly ambassadorial, but with expectations of visionary—or at the very least, bold—leadership. “Because the Walters already had a history of strong leadership and engaging with the community,” says Marciari-Alexander, “I’ve been able to come in and figure out where we can improve, as opposed to feeling like we have to build something from scratch. We’ve been making improvements and deepening that commitment. The frustrating aspect is that it’s never fast enough.”

Visitors to the Walters will begin seeing evidence of her efforts over the coming months, as the museum tweaks its curatorial approach, de-installs some beloved collections, and enhances interactivity. Marciari-Alexander will also be exploring the possibility of partnerships with a new set of potential collaborators. And don’t be surprised if a local video-game company is in the mix.

“There is real excitement about the next phase of our development,” she says.
A pair of adjacent rooms on the main floor of the Walters’s Charles Street building illustrate where the museum is headed. The Chamber of Wonders—which opened in 2005, after extensive renovations at the Walters—has proven to be its most popular gallery. Modeled after a 17th-century nobleman’s chamber, or cabinet of curiosities, it taps into a spirit of exhibiting an impressive and far-reaching collection of art and artifacts to astound visitors. That was the goal 400 years ago, and that’s the goal today, as paintings and sculptures are displayed alongside exotic talismans, taxidermy (including an alligator), and hundreds of other intriguing objects—including sword grips, scarabs, and a corn mummy.

The focus is on the collection, with limited wall text. (Explanatory notes are available on laminated cards placed discreetly around the room). The room was carefully curated by Joaneath Spicer, but it is also more family-friendly and less overtly didactic than a typical Walters exhibition. It eschews a chronological, encyclopedic approach for something more experiential. “We see that space as an example of a supreme museum experience,” says Marciari-Alexander. “It’s art historical and intellectually rigorous, but also really fun. And it acknowledges the needs of all ages and facilitates intergenerational learning.”

She sees it as “a bellwether” for what’s to come: “It’s the sort of thing we want to integrate into more spaces throughout the museum. I don’t think all the spaces have to look that way, but we’re looking for ways to create interactivity that is multi-layered so people can think about and be with objects in new and different ways.”

And while the Chamber of Wonders illustrates her overall curatorial approach in the galleries, a small display in the adjoining 17th-century Dutch cabinet room hints at the perspective she brings to individual objects. Amongst the jewelry in a display case mounted on the wall are tiny painted portraits of unidentified men and women. But where most people might simply see the portraits as painted miniatures from a dusty past, Marciari-Alexander, who specializes in art from this era, likens them to, of all things, the iPhone.

“The act of encounter that someone had with a portrait miniature is similar to the act of encounter that we have with an iPhone,” she explains, turning over her hand and gazing at an open palm. “You hold the world in your hand. Centuries ago, that world was the image of a loved one.”

She smiles broadly, obviously tickled by the notion. “It’s also the idea that you telescope your vision from your eye to your hand and then out the back of the hand,” she continues. “You enter into that world and then look out, into the much broader world around you.”

Like many objects exhibited at the museum, we don’t know who actually made them. But to Marciari-Alexander, the names aren’t as important as the stories they tell. “What is it about this object that has touched and moved viewers over time?” she often asks herself. “I love the idea of how objects live through time and thinking about why an object was created in one moment, perceived in another moment, repurposed in a third moment, and then how it’s looked at today. It’s our job, as stewards, to honor the life of those objects.” 

Overall, Marciari-Alexander views the Walters’s holdings as “a collection of collections,” similar to how she sees Baltimore as “a community of communities.” She lives in Homeland—with her husband, John, and their 10-year-old twins, Beatrice and Jack—and is quick to note that Baltimore is more European than she’d anticipated. “It has, like European cities, great food, culture, and architecture,” she says, “along with distinctive neighborhoods that are infinitely walkable.”

The city’s thriving art scene makes her feel “continually uncool,” she says. “It’s at the forefront when it comes to thinking about art and different media, as well as the relationship between craft, fine art, and visionary art. It’s a crucible for exciting work, the kind of place where schools like Baltimore Design School and Baltimore School for the Arts are putting all these disciplines into the supercollider and creating new things. It’s an exciting time to be here.”

Marciari-Alexander hopes to tap some of that talent for the Walters. She was thrilled the museum hosted last year’s Janet & Walter Sondheim Prize finalists’ exhibition, showcasing the work of six local artists, and looks forward to exhibiting more contemporary art. Though she emphasizes the Walters won’t be competing with the BMA, Marciari-Alexander is open to exploring how contemporary work might interact with the various collections.

“It’s another way of presenting what we have in new and exciting ways,” she notes. “People don’t readily associate the Walters with contemporary art, but they forget that the things we have weren’t always historic art. In fact, William and Henry Walters collected contemporary art, as well as art from the past.”
She’d also like to partner with Baltimore’s education, technology, and video-game communities. The Walters held its second annual Art Bytes hackathon, a weekend-long event that brings together tech and creative types to find new ways of engaging museum visitors. A panel of judges awards $1,000 prizes to the best projects, and this year’s winners looked at how the Walters might utilize QR codes, an iPhone game, viral Tweets, and a database of public art.

Sid Meier, director of creative development at Hunt Valley’s Firaxis Games and one of this year’s judges, says he’s not only open to working with the Walters, he’s “excited by the possibilities of forming a connection to the rich history of the art world. I hope we can help preserve and share great works of art through digital collaboration.”

Those efforts would focus on creating more interactive experiences on the Walters’s already impressive website, generating more public interaction with curators and other staffers. It’s sort of a digital extension of the museum’s fourth-floor conservation window, which allows visitors to observe and question conservators about their work. “It’s all about developing mechanisms for us to communicate with people who express interest in certain artworks,” says Marciari-Alexander. “Creating a dialogue around that is the future of the museum.”

That said, presentation of and access to the Walters’s permanent holdings, its collection of collections, remains paramount.

“What’s on view at the Walters all the time is what we need to be emphasizing,” says Marciari-Alexander. “You come here to see your favorite objects, and it’s free. There’s no admission charge, so this can be your community center. Stop in and use the bathroom, or come in from the cold and experience some great art. Come in for a few minutes, or spend all afternoon.

“Of course, you also come for a temporary exhibition, which costs money, but we aren’t luring you here just for that show. In fact, we should be treating the permanent collection almost like a temporary exhibition. It should be compelling and always changing, so you see familiar things in a new light every time you come. Technology is going to be a very big factor in that, because it allows us to provide those experiences in more nimble, less-intrusive ways.”

The word “nimble” comes up repeatedly when Marciari-Alexander discusses the Walters’s future. She has a reputation for transforming museums into lively, agile environments. During her tenure in San Diego, she oversaw reinstallations in all the museum’s public gallery space. Don’t be surprised if something similar happens at the Walters, especially considering that renovation of the Centre Street building is now more than a decade old.

In fact, deinstallation of some galleries has already started. In July, work begins at Hackerman House, partly to refurbish the space and make physical plant improvements. But there’s a broader plan at work, and some of Hackerman’s Asian art will be incorporated into a new exhibition opening this fall.

It’s too early for Marciari-Alexander to discuss details, though she says the exhibition will “bring together the art of different cultures around the idea of collecting and the idea of the Walters. It will shake things up a little bit.”

After all, she says, “Once we take artwork down, we don’t have to put it back in the same place.”