Washington’s contemporary art scene is losing one of its biggest players. Melissa Chiu, director of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, is leaving the Smithsonian to take the helm at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, museum officials announced Thursday. The move is the latest high-profile leadership change at major U.S. museums and sends a Washington institution’s top curator to one of New York’s best-known cultural brands.
As reported by The New York Times, Chiu is 54 and has served as director of the Hirshhorn since 2014. She will become director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and is expected to begin the role on Sept. 1. According to the Times, she will report to Mariët Westermann, and her appointment follows a decade in which she reshaped the Hirshhorn’s board and fundraising strategy.
A Big-Decade Makeover At The Hirshhorn
Under Chiu’s leadership, the Hirshhorn broadened its international profile, bringing on trustees from overseas, commissioning major works by artists such as Mark Bradford, and raising nearly $250 million for programs and capital projects. The museum is also finishing a redesigned sculpture garden by artist-architect Hiroshi Sugimoto that it says is slated to open in October. Per the Hirshhorn Museum, these ambitious projects were central to Chiu’s pitch to expand the institution’s reach.
Turnover At The Smithsonian Keeps Climbing
The New York Times notes that Chiu’s exit makes her the fourth Smithsonian museum director to leave within the past two years, a pattern that has raised questions about succession and continuity across the federally supported museums. Chiu told the paper, "this is a dream job," and said she felt confident in the legacy she was leaving at the Hirshhorn.
What Comes Next
The Hirshhorn’s board will now launch a search for Chiu’s successor, while the Guggenheim picks up a director with extensive fundraising and Asia-Pacific experience, cultivated during Chiu’s years at the Asia Society in New York. The move also strengthens the Guggenheim’s ties to global collecting networks, and the foundation’s leadership structure suggests Chiu will be joining an international team headed by Mariët Westermann at the foundation level. For background on the institutions, see the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and the Asia Society.
