New York University has appointed Alison Weaver as the next director of its Grey Art Museum, effective May 26. Weaver, who has served as founding executive director of the Moody Center for the Arts at Rice University since 2015, succeeds Lynn Gumpert, who retired last year after leading the museum since 1997. At Rice, Weaver oversaw the completion of a new building for the Moody Center, launched an artist-in-residence program, curated over 25 exhibitions, and expanded the university's art holdings. She previously taught art history at the City University of New York and served as director of affiliate museums at the Guggenheim Museum, overseeing its outposts in Bilbao, Venice, Berlin, and Las Vegas.
The appointment matters because the Grey Art Museum, founded in 1975, recently underwent a major transformation: in 2024 it moved to a larger, custom-designed space at 18 Cooper Square and changed its name from 'gallery' to 'museum,' adding over 40 percent more exhibition space. Weaver's experience in building a university museum from the ground up and her track record of ambitious programming position her to lead the Grey into this new chapter, expanding its role as a hub for scholarship, contemporary art, and public engagement within NYU and the broader New York arts community.