About Arja

I started to run my own business in May 2018. My main occupation is to lead the city museum of Woerden, a small city between Utrecht and Gouda (24 hrs per week). In the remaining days I am available for other activities in the field of museums, education, heritage, working with volunteers and audience development. In 2019 I was employed for one day a week as specialist cultural education at LKCA, the national centre of expertise for cultural education and amateur arts; I still have a few hours there in 2020. I am also teaching as guest lecturer Heritage Education at the Reinwardt Academy.

Enabling people to discover culture and heritage in their environment and encouraging them to make meaning of it. That is the main motive in my work. I’m a museum-freak, but familiar with a wider scope of heritage organisations. And I am an expert in education.

In my spare time I am guiding in the Utrecht Dom Cathedral. I love to rouse children, elderly or ‘normal’ visitors to look different and make more of their visit.

In the past I have been working for the Amsterdam Museum and Tropenmuseum, CODA (Apeldoorn) and for Landschap Erfgoed Utrecht (provincial organisation supporting museums and other heritage institutions and coordinating heritage education for primary schools in the region).

Internationally I am active in ICOM, the International Council Of Museums, currently as Board member of ICOM Netherlands, earlier in the Board of CECA, the education committee.

See my LinkedIn profile for more details: