For the first time a woman will lead the constellation of museums, among the most important in the world, which belongs to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum Foundation and museum.
She is an art historian Mariette Westermann, appointed director and CEO of the foundation and the museum: her task – Westermann will take office on June 1, 2024 – will be to supervise the Foundation, the museum of the same name in New York, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection of Venice and, in the words of the press release released after his appointment “to offer leadership to the management of Guggenheim Museum Bilbao e del futuro Guggenheim Abu Dhabi”.
The 25 years of the Guggenheim in Bilbao. The director: “We imagined the museum of the future”
by Lara Crinò
Westermann, currently vice-rector of the New York University campus in Abu Dhabi, has a curriculum that combines knowledge of art history and museology with the management skills of non-profit and higher education institutions. As vice president of NYU Abu Dhabi recruited Nobel Prize winner Wole Soyinka to the university’s faculty and tasked the academic community with developing the campus’s first Climate Action Plan, a concrete and realistic roadmap to net-zero emissions by 2050.
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The interior of the Guggenheim Museum in New York
Graduated with honors from Williams College and with a master’s degree in art history from the Institute of Fine Arts at NYU, she specializes in Dutch art history, has curated numerous exhibitions and has been executive vice president of the Mellon Foundation and professor and director from NYU/Institute of Fine Arts.
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Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venezia
He collaborated in the organization of Reframing Museums, the major international conference on the future of museums, organized by NYU Abu Dhabi and Louvre Abu Dhabi in 2020; you had already dealt with the topic in the past: in 2010, on behalf of the NYU Abu Dhabi Institute, you collaborated with Philippe de Montebello on the conference Art Museums Here and Nowon the challenge of building art museums in countries that have no experience in this field, and of reinventing traditional art museums to stay in touch with changes in society.
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Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao
On his new appointment, Westermann commented that joining the Guggenheim is “a great honor” because it is “a unique institution with a splendid mission dedicated to modern and contemporary art in four museums, on three continents. Each museum exists to create opportunities to engage with the transformative and connective power of art and artists, from New York to Bilbao, Venice and Abu Dhabi. I have been fortunate to have wonderful experiences as an art historian, global educator, curator, philanthropist, and leader in academia. The aspirations and complexities that have motivated me thus far have also prepared me to help the Guggenheim realize its full potential as a constellation of museums united in a mission and rooted in their respective environments and communities.”
Created in 1937, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation was created to promote the understanding and appreciation of modern and contemporary art through exhibitions, educational programs, research initiatives and publications. The international constellation of Guggenheim museums currently includes the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao; and the future Guggenheim Abu Dhabi. An architectural icon, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York today is part of a group of eight buildings Frank Lloyd Wright recently declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
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– 2024-05-11 03:49:29
