Guggenheim Appoints Mariët Westermann Director and CEO

Westermann arrives at the storied New York institution after acting as Vice Chancellor at NYU Abu Dhabi.

Guggenheim's Board has appointed Dr. Mariët Westermann the new Director and CEO of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Foundation. Westermann is the first woman to take the role.

'It is a great honour to be joining the Guggenheim, a unique institution with a beautiful mission dedicated to modern and contemporary art in four distinctive museums on three continents,' Westermann said.

'Each of the museums exists to create opportunities for anyone to engage with the transformative and connective power of art and artists, from New York to Bilbao to Venice to Abu Dhabi.'

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Westermann began her career teaching art history at Rutgers University. She acted as Director of NYU's Institute of Fine Arts, Director of the Clark Art Institute, and Executive Vice President at the Mellon Foundation before her most recent role leading NYU Abu Dhabi as Vice Chancellor, Chief Executive, and Professor of Arts and Humanities.

Westermann will officially join the Guggenheim on 1 June 2024.

'We cast a very wide net and interviewed extensively to identify the right person for the Guggenheim at this time,' said J. Tomilson Hill, billionaire hedge fund manager and Chair of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation Board of Trustees. Tomilson Hill said they had been searching for the right candidate for six months.

'Dr. Westermann brings a unique set of qualities and experiences to this critical role—a wide ranging world view, experience in navigating multiple stakeholders and critical issues across geographies, all rooted in a deeply held belief in scholarship, excellence, and the power of arts and culture to inspire and connect,' Tomilson Hill added.

Westermann takes the reigns from Richard Armstrong, who served as Director of the Guggenheim Foundation for almost 15 years before retiring in spring of this year. —[O]