Hileman to Baltimore, Scary Curators to DC

Hirshhorn associate curator Kristen Hileman is leaving the Horn of Hirsh for the Baltimore Museum of Art. (That's my bit in Art in America on the news.) Some people expressed in correspondence that this was a mistake, because the BMA doesn't have a strong contemporary brand. But that's the opportunity. The Hirshhorn has had leadership shakeups over the last few years and never really got its footing during the short tenure of Olga Viso. On the other hand, outgoing BMA contemporary curator Darsie Alexander took the right steps to put that museum on the path but left, I think, room for other accomplishments.

When I spoke with Kerry Brougher about the new positions that this would open for the Hirshhorn, he told me that the museum would immediately start looking for an associate a contemporary curator and think later about an assistant curator. So there's a demotion happening there. I asked him whether they would hire locally for the assistant curator, and he said that they'd be doing a global search for the associate curator and a national search for the assistant curator. So there's a demotion, and the stakes are higher!

Now, if you listen to new Hirshhorn director Richard Koshalek tell it, the museum's about to get a lot more curators. From Tyler Green's April Q&A with Koshalek:

Koshalek: The other thing about research is that I see us having two curatorial staffs: The people who are here -- there are some extraordinary people here, they're the primary curatorial staff for the institution. The other I think is the curators that exist in the larger world that do extraordinary things, curators who are scaring me because they're breaking new ground. I have a list of people who are re-thinking the world we live in. We see them as our second curatorial staff. We're going to use them to bring in more of a comprehensive look at what this institution can be.

Green: So you anticipate the Hirshhorn having more adjunct relationships?

Koshalek: Exactly. And from different institutions -- not just museums of modern and contemporary art, but also from broader, historical institutions.

UPDATE: I caused some confusion with my gloss of my own conversations for this story. Per the AiA story: The Hirshhorn will hire a contemporary curator to replace Anne Ellegood, and then an assistant curator to replace departing associate curator Kristen Hileman.

Posted by Kriston at August 5, 2009 9:32 AM