Guggenheim Taps Hirshhorn Museum's Melissa Chiu To Be Director

(MENAFN- USA Art News) Melissa Chiu to Lead the Guggenheim Museum in New York as Mariët Westermann Expands Global Role

Melissa Chiu will become the next director of the Guggenheim Museum in New York, taking over on September 1 after more than a decade leading the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C. The appointment places one of the Smithsonian's most visible museum leaders at the center of the Guggenheim's flagship institution, while also marking a broader reshuffling of responsibilities inside the foundation.

Chiu will succeed Mariët Westermann, who will step away from day-to-day management of the New York museum to oversee the Guggenheim's international network, including Bilbao, Venice, and the institution under construction in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation described that portfolio as its international“constellation.”

The move also continues a recent pattern of leadership overlap between the Hirshhorn and the Guggenheim. Chiu is the second recent Hirshhorn leader to move into the Guggenheim orbit, following Daniel Sallick, the museum's former chairman, who joined the Guggenheim board in 2024 after eight years in that role.

At the Hirshhorn, Chiu leaves behind a record shaped by fundraising and institutional expansion. She said she raised nearly $250 million during her tenure and tripled the size of the museum's board, bringing in international members for the first time. She also oversaw a redesign of the Hirshhorn's sculpture garden, which is scheduled to open in October.

Her departure comes amid a turbulent period for Smithsonian leadership. Chiu is the fourth director of a Smithsonian museum to leave in roughly two years since President Donald J. Trump returned to office. The administration has pushed to eliminate diversity and equity initiatives and to reframe historical narratives across the Smithsonian system. Kim Sajet, the former director of the National Portrait Gallery, resigned last year after Trump criticized her support for diversity initiatives; she now leads the Milwaukee Art Museum.

In an interview with The New York Times, Chiu rejected the idea that Washington's political climate influenced her decision. She called the Guggenheim post“a dream job” and said she would have accepted it“under any circumstance.”

For the Guggenheim, the appointment signals continuity at the New York museum and a renewed emphasis on its international footprint. For the Hirshhorn, it closes a consequential chapter just as a major new sculpture garden is set to open.

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