Melissa Chiu, the longtime director of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, DC, is leaving her post to lead New York’s Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Chiu will not be taking any time off between jobs: her final day at the Hirshhorn is 31 August, and she will take up the helm at the Guggenheim on 1 September.
Chiu, a native of Australia and an expert in contemporary Asian and Asian American art, has served as the Hirshhorn’s director since 2014—a position she accepted after having spent 13 years at New York’s Asia Society.
During her time at the Hirshhorn, Chiu increased fundraising by 75%, more than doubled the museum’s attendance, secured two of the largest monetary gifts in the institution’s history, expanded its collection and commissioned site-specific works and introduced new technology programmes. She also led the $68m garden 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 while the museum searches for a permanent successor.
“Melissa has guided the Hirshhorn with thoughtfulness and purpose, strengthening its role as a national museum while supporting artists, scholars and the public,” Lonnie G. Bunch III, the secretary of the Smithsonian Institution—of which the Hirshhorn is a part—said in a statement. “We are grateful for her leadership and wish her continued success in this next chapter.”
At the Guggenheim, Chiu will work under Mariët Westermann, the director and chief executive of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. Westermann has been serving as the New York museum’s director since 2024; she will step back from the role to concentrate on overseeing the Guggenheim's many branches across the globe—including the forthcoming museum in Abu Dhabi.
“Melissa has an outstanding and inspiring track record of leadership in the arts,” Westermann said in a statement. “She transformed the Hirshhorn with the international and local disposition that is so special to our institution, and I look forward to working in close partnership with her.”
In statements for the museums’ announcements, Chiu said she was honoured both to have worked at the Hirshhorn and by her Guggenheim appointment. “I am delighted to join Mariët Westermann along with my colleagues in Bilbao, Venice and Abu Dhabi as we build the Guggenheim of the future together,” she said. “I look forward to ensuring that the Guggenheim in New York remains a place of joy and learning about art and artists for all who visit.”
