van der Koelen Foundation for Art and Science
26 February 2026
Dr. Dorothea van der Koelen—known to many as a gallerist and art historian—is also active in other fields. This week, we would like to introduce you to the van der Koelen Foundation for Art and Science.
We have prepared not one, but two videos of the week for you. We will be looking at the van der Koelen Foundation for Art and Science from two perspectives: one from the perspective of the art lover (video on the right) and one from the perspective of the student (left).
The founder’s concept differs significantly from that of a conventional private museum: it is a holistic offering that allows visitors to encounter art on all levels. Value-oriented promotion of current trends in contemporary art is made accessible to a wide audience, with a particular focus on promoting young talent. The basic idea is to create synergies between theory and practice, science and business. The symbiosis of education and training is the program.
Dorothea van der Koelen has been a passionate gallerist and art dealer for over 40 years. Growing up in an artistic family, she decided to devote her life and work to contemporary art even before studying art history, philosophy, and book publishing. She now has three galleries in Mainz and Venice and has demonstrated her curatorial skills in over 650 exhibitions in more than 30 countries on all continents, gaining a wealth of experience. She wants to pass this on to future generations.
She conquered the public space with her artists and became the interface between the art market and scientific research. At the same time, she has left no stone unturned in her efforts to communicate art to a broad audience and has realized numerous collaborations with museums and public exhibition institutions worldwide. She has published numerous essays on art in lectures, magazines, and books and has also made a name for herself as a publisher: she is a recognized editor of Œuvre catalogs. She serves as a juror on several committees.
She established the foundation to create a place for international encounters, a forum where people of all generations, religions, and nations who are interested in contemporary art and want to engage in dialogue with like-minded people can find a home.
Since 2020, Dr. Dorothea van der Koelen is also represented on Youtube, where the channel of the gallery with its popular videos boasts more than 150.000 views.
The van der Koelen Foundation for Art and Science supports young students in their careers with a range of events, which we would like to present to you below.
After five rounds, the Experiments series can already be considered a success story at the interface of science and artistic and curatorial practice. Four artists – still students in Mainz – are paired with eight art historians or cultural studies students to form four teams that face the challenge of realizing an exhibition project. This involves everything that goes with it: curatorial work, press relations, attracting sponsors, and, last but not least, producing an accompanying catalog for the exhibition.
In order to provide students and scholarship holders with an adequate point of contact in the field of art appreciation and art education, a new focus on contemporary art is being established at the Institute of Art History at Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz. The initiators are Prof. Dr. Matthias Müller from the Institute for Art History of the Johannes-Gutenberg-University of Mainz and Dr. Dorothea van der Koelen of the van der Koelen Foundation for Art and Science.
The event series Experts in the Art World embodies a new concept. Prominent figures from the art scene – such as Jan Hoet, Klaus Bußmann, Bazon Brock, Peter Raue, Reinhold Würth, Philip Rylands, Simone Schimpf, Dieter Ronte, and Frédéric Bußmann – provide essential insights into the experiences of exhibition organizers, museum directors, art educators, gallery owners, journalists, art consultants, auctioneers, collection curators, art dealers, art collectors, and patrons.
The lecture series, which has been running since the 2008/2009 winter semester and was initially held at the Institute of Art History at Johannes Gutenberg University, has been taking place at CADORO – Center for Art and Science since 2016. The program is aimed at art history students and anyone interested in art who lives in the Rhine-Main area, but participants from other regions are also welcome. They come together in an alumni circle and are regularly provided with the latest information.
We hope we have been able to give you a better understanding of the van der Koelen Foundation for Art and Science at the Cadoro – Center for Art and Science in Mainz-Hechtsheim and spark your interest in the numerous activities at our spacious exhibition venue. If you want to stay informed about the activities of Gallery Dr. Dorothea van der Koelen, feel free to register for our weekly newsletter here.
All students who are interested in our diverse offerings and are considering an internship, voluntary work, or a scholarship can contact us at info@vanderkoelen.de.
We look forward to hearing from you!
