Melissa Chiu has been appointed as the new director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, effective September 1. She departs the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., where she has served as director since 2014. This leadership transition follows a decade of growth at the Hirshhorn under Chiu’s tenure and marks a significant shift for the Guggenheim’s administrative structure.
Chiu’s hiring is a strategic move as the Guggenheim Foundation restructures its leadership ahead of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi opening. By bringing Chiu in to manage the New York flagship, current director and CEO Mariët Westermann will be freed to oversee the foundation’s expanding international "constellation" of museums. Chiu’s extensive experience with global art programs and complex institutional management is expected to stabilize and advance the Guggenheim’s domestic operations during this period of global expansion.