From Würzburg to the World

What do graduates of Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg (JMU) do for a living? In order to introduce students to different perspectives, Michaela Thiel, Managing Director of the central alumni network, regularly interviews selected alumni.

This time, Dr Ulrike Groos answered her questions. The alumna studied Art History at JMU and is now Director of the Stiftung Kunstmuseum Stuttgart gGmbH.

Dr Groos, did you always want to become the director of an art museum and how did it come about?

When I studied art history, musicology and ethnology in Würzburg, Münster and New York, I didn't realise what direction I wanted to take later on. Back then, the degree programme was very theoretical and there was no information about practical prospects. That's why I started doing internships in museums during the semester breaks early on, and I also worked as a freelancer for a city magazine in Münster, where I wrote about art and music. I also did an internship at WDR in Cologne and was then allowed to make short films about artists and exhibitions for television. So I tried out a lot of things, many of which were conceivable for my future. Then, directly after my doctorate in Münster, a trainee position was advertised at the Westphalian State Museum there, for which I applied and was accepted.

And so your museum career took its course.

In Münster, I worked on the "Skulptur. Projekte 1997", then project manager at Manifesta 2, a European biennial for contemporary art, which took place in Luxembourg in 1998. This was followed by positions in a private Swiss museum and a Swiss gallery, as well as my first teaching post in Zurich. In 2002, I was finally appointed director of the Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, and in 2009 I was appointed director of the Kunstmuseum Stuttgart. I have been teaching at the Academy of Performing Arts in Ludwigsburg since 2023. Looking back, I found it very enriching and also nice that I was always able to gain experience in different areas in other cities and have now arrived in Stuttgart at a great museum.

How would you describe your day-to-day work?

At some point, I really wanted to work at a museum because I could work with a collection there. And I preferred a museum in the location and size of the Kunstmuseum Stuttgart, which is in the middle of the city centre and therefore has great visibility, where I work with a small, very dedicated team and can therefore still curate exhibitions myself. The administrative tasks of a museum have grown enormously in recent years as new topics have constantly been added: Compliance rules, digitalisation, sustainability. In addition to these tasks, I am also largely responsible for liaising with politicians, looking after the Friends of the Kunstmuseum and acquiring third-party funding. Sometimes I have to make sure that the essentials - the art, the artists, collection management and our exhibitions and projects - don't fall by the wayside.

What do you particularly love about your job?

Working with people. Whether it's working in a team with different skills, collaborating with artists or interacting with our visitors. I also really appreciate the discussions with my superiors, i.e. the city's politicians and the museum's sponsors, because they tell me what the public expects from us and what impact our exhibitions and projects can have on people.

What new challenges and opportunities have developed in recent years?

The digitisation of the museum in particular was very extensive and time-consuming. We are delighted to have received a large amount of funding from a foundation and the City of Stuttgart to drive forward the digitisation of our museum over five years, from 2018 to 2022, with the support of an agency. We focussed on the areas of art education, the online collection and the development of a new website. The pleasing result is that we are now reaching many more and very different people and are constantly gaining new ones.

What is your favourite memory from your student days?

In Würzburg, I attended a lecture by Erich Hubala on the baroque sculptor Gianlorenzo Bernini during my undergraduate studies. Until then, I hadn't been a big fan of baroque art. However, Professor Hubala's lecture was so captivating, even ecstatic, that I became more and more enthusiastic about this artist. So a student friend and I decided to take a language course in Rome and visit the Villa Borghese, where the artist's most important sculptures can still be seen today. When we got there, we realised that the villa was closed for renovation work. Whilst we were still standing disappointed in front of the entrance, a side door opened and the caretaker asked us what we wanted. We told him our situation, whereupon he let us into the side of the house and led us into the room with the sculptures, which were all covered with white cloths. One by one, he unveiled the works for us and brought them to life before our eyes. We were all alone with the works, it was very quiet and our breath was taken away, we were so fascinated by the special atmosphere and the aura that these marble sculptures had, as if they were alive. I only visited Villa Borghese once more after that during normal opening hours, but I quickly left again because it was crowded and noisy.

Thank you very much for the interview.

Are you not yet a member of the university's alumni network? Then you are cordially invited to register! You can also find the previously published interviews with JMU alumni and alumnae on the network's website.