The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Foundation has appointed Mariët Westermann as its next director and chief executive beginning June 1, 2024. Currently vice chancellor of New York University’s Abu Dhabi campus in the United Arab Emirates, Westermann will be the first woman to hold the role at the institution. She will lead the Guggenheim’s New York museum and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice while working alongside leaders at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao and the forthcoming Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.
A historian specializing in Netherlandish art and the former executive vice president of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Westermann will replace Richard Armstrong, who announced his departure from the institution last year after a rocky 14 years at its helm. The cultural institution is still rebuilding its reputation in the wake of the October 2020 resignation of its Artistic Director and Chief Curator Nancy Spector, who left the Guggenheim after 34 years amid workers’ accusations of systemic racism and was replaced by Naomi Beckwith. An independent investigation found no wrongdoing by Spector.
Westermann will join the Guggenheim ahead of the completion of its controversial Abu Dhabi museum. Since plans for the Frank Gehry-designed building were first announced in 2006, the project has been embroiled in allegations of labor abuse, with migrant workers in the region and advocates claiming unfair compensation and poor living conditions. (No opening date for the museum has been set, and the Guggenheim could not confirm when construction is expected to be completed.)
