Melissa Chiu named director of Guggenheim Museum in New York

The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation has announced the appointment of Melissa Chiu as the new director of the Guggenheim Museum in New York. The official induction is scheduled for September 1, 2026. The announcement was made by Mariët Westermann, director and ad of the foundation, who emphasized that the appointment represents a key piece in the evolution of the Guggenheim system, which is articulated between venues in New York, Venice, Bilbao and Abu Dhabi. Chiu’s arrival is in fact part of a strategy to consolidate coordinated global leadership, capable of enhancing the museums’ local specificities while maintaining a shared international vision.

In her new post, Melissa Chiu will be responsible for the artistic direction and operational management of the New York museum, a landmark for modern and contemporary art since its opening in 1959. She will work closely with Westermann and the other directors of the Guggenheim network, namely Karole P. B. Vail who heads the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, Miren Arzalluz at the helm of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, and Stephanie Rosenthal who is instead in charge of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi project.

Westermann emphasized that building an “agile and collaborative” leadership team is a priority, especially as the Abu Dhabi museum opens. “I am thrilled,” he said, “to welcome Melissa Chiu as the new director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York. My priority has been to build an agile and collaborative leadership team across our network as we prepare for the upcoming opening of the Guggenheim in Abu Dhabi. Melissa has extraordinary and inspiring leadership experience in the arts, most recently as director of the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. She has transformed the Hirshhorn with the international and local approach that distinguishes our institution, and I look forward to working closely with her.”

Melissa Chiu expressed satisfaction with the new position. “It is an honor,” she said, “to be appointed director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, an extraordinarily valuable institution that has played a key role in shaping culture since 1959. I am delighted to join Mariët Westermann and my colleagues in Bilbao, Venice, and Abu Dhabi in building together the Guggenheim of the future. I would like to thank Mariët and the Foundation’s Board of Directors for entrusting me with this opportunity. I look forward to contributing to ensuring that the Guggenheim in New York remains a place of joy and learning about art and artists for all who visit.”

Australian, born in Darwin in 1972, Melissa Chiu has built her international career incontemporary art. She received her bachelor’s degree in art history and criticism from Western Sydney University in 1992 and her master’s degree in arts management in 1994 from the College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales. She completed her Ph.D. with a thesis on Chinese experimental art at Western Sydney University in 2005. Chiu is the author and curator of several books and catalogs on contemporary art, including Contemporary Art in Asia: A Critical Reader (MIT Press, 2010), and has lectured at Harvard, Yale, Columbia, the Museum of Modern Art, and other universities and museums.

Currently, Chiu directs the Smithsonian ’sHirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, DC, a position he has held since 2014. Under his direction, the museum has also expanded its collections, integrating the tradition of post-World War II European and American art with a broader perspective on global modernism. Notable initiatives include commissions of site-specific works designed in relation to the museum’s architecture and the development of innovative technology programs. Chiu has also spearheaded the transformation of the Hirshhorn campus, with a focus on the redevelopment of the Sculpture Garden on the National Mall, scheduled to reopen in October 2026. Prior to that, she worked for thirteen years at the Asia Society, where she served as Vice President of Global Arts Programs, among others. Previously, she was director of the Asia Society Museum. She has also curated several modern art exhibitions, including Iran Modern (2013) and Art and China’s Revolution (2008). In 2012, Chiu led the creation of the exhibitions and inaugural programs for Asia Society’s new venues in Hong Kong and Houston.

The appointment as director of the Guggenheim New York is part of the broader process of renewal initiated by Westermann since her inauguration in 2024. During this time, Westermann has strengthened the Foundation’s governance by bringing in new board members, expanded public engagement strategies, and enhanced fundraising activities. In parallel, he promoted a rebalancing between major contemporary art exhibitions and the enhancement of the New York museum’s historic collections.

Globally, the Foundation’s strategy has focused on intensifying collaborations between different venues, fostering exchanges and synergies. Chiu’s arrival completes the definition of a new management structure, which also includes the recent appointments of Lauren Stakias as Chief Development Officer and Todd Quinn as Chief Financial Officer, as well as the confirmation of Juan Ignacio Vidarte as Deputy Director and Chief Global Strategy Officer.

Melissa Chiu named director of Guggenheim Museum in New York

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