Melissa Chiu, the longtime director of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Backyard in Washington, DC, is leaving her submit to guide New York’s Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Chiu won’t be taking any break day between jobs: her ultimate day on the Hirshhorn is 31 August, and she is going to take up the helm on the Guggenheim on 1 September.
Chiu, a local of Australia and an knowledgeable in up to date Asian and Asian American artwork, has served because the Hirshhorn’s director since 2014—a place she accepted after having spent 13 years at New York’s Asia Society.
Throughout her time on the Hirshhorn, Chiu elevated fundraising by 75%, greater than doubled the museum’s attendance, secured two of the biggest financial items within the establishment’s historical past, expanded its assortment and commissioned site-specific works and launched new expertise programmes. She additionally led the $68m backyard revamp designed by the artist Hiroshi Sugimoto, which is scheduled to open in October. Upon her departure, the museum’s deputy director, Aaron Seeto, will take over as interim director whereas the museum searches for a everlasting successor.
“Melissa has guided the Hirshhorn with thoughtfulness and objective, strengthening its position as a nationwide museum whereas supporting artists, students and the general public,” Lonnie G. Bunch III, the secretary of the Smithsonian Establishment—of which the Hirshhorn is part—mentioned in a press release. “We’re grateful for her management and need her continued success on this subsequent chapter.”
On the Guggenheim, Chiu will work underneath Mariët Westermann, the director and chief government of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Basis. Westermann has been serving because the New York museum’s director since 2024; she is going to step again from the position to focus on overseeing the Guggenheim’s many branches throughout the globe—together with the forthcoming museum in Abu Dhabi.
“Melissa has an excellent and provoking monitor document of management within the arts,” Westermann mentioned in a press release. “She remodeled the Hirshhorn with the worldwide and native disposition that’s so particular to our establishment, and I look ahead to working in shut partnership together with her.”
In statements for the museums’ bulletins, Chiu mentioned she was honoured each to have labored on the Hirshhorn and by her Guggenheim appointment. “I’m delighted to affix Mariët Westermann together with my colleagues in Bilbao, Venice and Abu Dhabi as we construct the Guggenheim of the longer term collectively,” she mentioned. “I look ahead to guaranteeing that the Guggenheim in New York stays a spot of pleasure and studying about artwork and artists for all who go to.”
