Dr. Julia Bailey, director of Galerie Rudolfinum in Prague, will focus her lecture on how art museums balance deep expertise with broader conceptual thinking. Drawing on her everyday professional experience, she will offer a behind-the-scenes look at museum work and share insights on building a flexible and fulfilling career path.

Julia Bailey previously worked as a curator at Tate Modern and the National Gallery Prague, following a past career as a marketer at the V&A and Royal Academy of Arts. In late 2023, Julia took the helm of Galerie Rudolfinum, a major state gallery in the Czech Republic. As artistic and executive director, she has led an effective operational restructure, boosted audience engagement, and commissioned a series of acclaimed exhibitions by artists including Antony Gormley, Iván Argote, Kateřina Vincourová, Sahej Rahal, and the group exhibition ‘Poetics of Encryption’.

She was also a research fellow at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, completing her doctoral thesis at UCL that led to the book ‘Painting Paranoia: Cold War Art and Anti-Communism’, forthcoming from the University of Illinois Press in 2026.

Guest Lectures: Julia T. Bailey

Valuing Versatility in the Art Museum