This is me: Nienke van der Wal. An experienced strategist with over 18 years of experience in the cultural sector, full of entrepreneurial spirit and equipped with a large national and international network. You can contact me for consultancy, coaching and training in the field of cultural entrepreneurship and for the design and development of large-scale (international) cultural projects. As director of Stichting Art Projects, I also develop my own projects, such as Young Collectors Circle. Lastly, I am available as speaker, moderator or writer.
Consultancy, coaching & training
Inspired by best practices from home and abroad, I guide cultural institutions and creative companies in developing their entrepreneurship and implementing it within the organization. I am available for short and long term projects at small and large institutions: from coaching and brainstorming to setting up a strategic multi-year plan with concrete objectives regarding organization, governance, programming & digitalization, marketing and business development. I am also available for supervising working sessions with team and/or board members and drafting and editing fundraising propositions. (Past) clients include a.o. Vleeshal, Kunstvereniging Diepenheim, Nederlandse Dansdagen, Over het IJ Festival and European Press Prize.
I regularly provide hands on workshops and trainings on entrepreneurship and marketing for artists, creatives, marketeers and business developers on behalf of clients such as the municipality of Amsterdam, ThisWorks and Cultuur+Ondernemen. I also teach about entrepreneurship at various art academies, for instance HKU in Utrecht.
Projects
I develop various large scale projects at home and abroad for Dutch museums and institutions. For example, I previously realised the exhibition '1000 Days of Free Art' for the Cobra Museum in Sharjah (UAE) and Muscat (Oman), among other places. I am currently working on the following projects:
Kadir van Lohuizen's Rising Tide exhibition is traveling around the world. Sustainably, because an exhibition about the climate crisis must itself set an example. For Het Scheepvaartmuseum, I developed a plug and play concept for this exhibition and continue to ensure it will be seen all over the world (from New York to Hong Kong). More details
Stemming from the sustainability ambition of Het Scheepvaartmuseum to be ecopositive by 2030, the wish arose to share and retrieve knowledge from the museum sector. After a successful funding application to the Mondriaan Fund, we launched ATLAS: the future of exhibitions. More details
For the Van Gogh Museum’s global partnership with DHL, I designed the Heart For Art program which offers a special program on the life and work of Vincent van Gogh to over 20,000 children in underserved communities in Detroit, New York, Houston and other places across the US. More details
I am currently working on two large-scale, innovative projects in Amsterdam: one in the city center and one in Southeast. More on that soon!
Stichting Art Projects
As director of the non-profit foundation Art Projects Amsterdam, I initiate projects that promote the economic independence of the cultural sector, such as Young Collectors Circle. Young Collectors Circle is a community of art lovers with collecting ambitions, aiming to sustainably support the art sector by activating a new generation of collectors and patrons. I am currently developing a new platform for accessible and contemporary patronage together with voordekunst.
Moderating, presenting, writing & talking about art
I moderate and present panels, talk shows and podcasts and have done so a.o. at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Felix Meritis, SBK and Soho House. I have been invited to speak about art, collecting, patronage, and community building at institutions such as FOAM, Arts Council Norway, the Courtauld's Art Institute, De Koninklijke Vereeniging van Handelaren in Oude Kunst, and the Van Abbemuseum. I am also a speaker for Leqture, who provide live knowledge sessions for hundreds of companies that want to invest in their leadership, talents, and company culture. I’ve written about art and collecting for magazines such as Flow, SeeAllThis, Tableau and GalleryViewer. I myself am also regularly in the press, for example in Vogue, Volkskrant, FD and Het Parool.
Board Memberships
I am a Board member at ArtTable, the platform for women professionals in the arts. I am also Chair of the Supervisory Board at Kunstverein, a non-profit membership organization for curatorial experimentation with offices in Amsterdam, Aughrim, Milan, New York and Toronto, and a Supervisory Board member at Drawing Center Diepenheim, the place to discover the art of drawing in the Netherlands.
Previous experience
I’ve previously worked (free lance) as a producer and business director for a.o. Imagine Film Festival, RAW Rhythm Festival, Amsterdam Underground Festival, Young Pianists Festival, Discovery Festival, and Women Inc. I hold a Master of Science degree in Communication Studies from the University of Amsterdam (Class of 2004).