Since ancient times, it’s been said that art is long and life is short — a sentiment likely felt by outgoing Walters Art Museum CEO and Executive Director Julia Marciari-Alexander.

After 11 years as the first female director there, she will officially wrap up her tenure at the Baltimore institution on Friday, a little less than six months after announcing she would step down from the role. Marciari-Alexander’s time at the Walters was praised in April by Peter Bain, president of the museum’s board of trustees, as “incredibly successful” and “nothing short of exceptional.”

Before she takes on her new role as president of the Samuel H. Kress Foundation — a supporter of the study of European art, architecture and archaeology — Marciari-Alexander spoke with The Banner about her tenure at the museum, the creative culture in Baltimore and how her time here changed the way she looks at art.

How would you describe your time at the Walters Art Museum?

Exciting is the only word that I can think of. We did a lot of really great work over the years. We had a lot of things go on, from sinkholes to the pandemic, but everything was really exciting and hard work is great. So I’m really proud of the time there.

As the first woman director at the Walters, were there any struggles that you faced during your 11-year tenure?

I don’t necessarily think of it that way. My style of leadership isn’t necessarily feminine or masculine, and with the employees who came in and projects that we had, it felt like the right people were in the right place at the right time.

As a woman, I think it was great for the institution to be one of the first museums in our budget size to have a woman director. Now, women have really taken hold in the museum sector at the leadership level, so I feel good to have been sort of a pioneer with that group of women.

What are your thoughts on the Baltimore art scene as a whole?

I love the way that Baltimore has such a vibrant art and culture scene. It’s vibrant because of the diversity of artists in the city as well as the proximity of artists and institutions, and the different kinds of organizations that bring them all together. There’s an ecosystem, as opposed to major institutions doing their own thing or independent artists not connecting others.

There’s really an integrated community of living artists and art from the past. And it’s in a city that’s not too big for itself, so all of us come together regularly and deeply.

What advice would you give the next director to take over the role?

Lean into every single thing Baltimore has to offer. Baltimore is so unique and exciting. It has so much potential to be the leading arts city in the world, and I think the new director has the opportunity to work with other cultural leaders, city officials, the government of the state, corporations and artists to make that happen.

How will you use the skills from your time at the Walters in your new position?

I have a much richer understanding now of how the art of today interacts with, depends on and enhances our understanding of humanity and creativity in the past. At the Kress, which is a foundation really dedicated to the advancement of the history and understanding of the broadest reaches of the Western Judeo-Christian art world, my work in Baltimore brings a unique perspective on how to connect that past with our present for audiences that are not just experts.

What was your favorite exhibit at the Walters?

I’m going to say I had one exhibition in which I was deeply involved at the curatorial level — so sort of my project from start to finish, even though sometimes I wasn’t the named curator — and that was the Betty Cooke very first major museum retrospective.

Betty Cooke is one of Baltimore’s foremost artists, designers and entrepreneurs. She’s one of the women who really stood out in the history of women artists in the 20th and 21st century. So to do that was a gift of a lifetime. I think it was truly a Baltimore exhibition because it didn’t just put Betty in the limelight, but also put Baltimore in the limelight and connected the past with the present.