Julien Robson teased colleagues when asked why he accepted the position as the first Contemporary Art Curator for the Speed Museum by saying, “I’m making my way to Santa Barbara where I will retire.” 

That could make sense since Julien relocated from Vienna but then he realized the job resembled one that he would invent for himself.  “There was a community of people here who supported contemporary art who had no leadership as well as young, local talent with no discourse, Julien says, “and I realized I could bridge those gaps.”

Julien makes the distinction that he is an artist by training not an art historian and right off the plane from Vienna he organized a trip for the New Art Collectors Group in Louisville to view new work in Los Angeles. That was almost nine years ago and Julien comments, “Now we have moved to a place where the patrons here are no longer asking ‘Is this Art?’ but rather we are engaging in discussion about the work itself and its context.”

And that is his own mandate as well for the collection at the Speed that he has grown. “There is no room for redundancy,” he says, “so we buy works in relation to what we have. We have to be selective and contextualize the collection.”

Julien has also been able to broaden the reach of the museum as well . . . both internationally and locally. One show brought both together when an Argentinean photographer was given her first solo show and the Speed formed partnerships with local billboard companies to display the work outside the museum walls. This public art had no messaging . . . not even the Speed logo . . . and juxtaposed one of the most base forms of commercial advertising with the musings of a self-portraitist. The presentation was layered and invited viewers to text in messages when they spotted a billboard thus literally completing the cycle of communication between artist, presenter, viewer and back again. “We know for sure,” explains Julien, “that 300,000 people passed each billboard everyday.”

Yes, this all happened along the Louisville highways. Did you catch it?