Lynda Roscoe Hartigan Appointed Director of Smithsonian American Art Museum Amid Political Pressure
On September 8, Lynda Roscoe Hartigan will take on the role of director at the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM) in Washington D.C., following a 17-month search for the position. She is stepping down from her position as executive director and CEO of the Peabody Essex Museum in Massachusetts. Hartigan has a history with SAAM, having served as a curator in the 1970s, and she was also the chief curator and deputy director at Peabody Essex. Additionally, she held roles at the Royal Ontario Museum between 2020 and 2021. She will replace Jane Carpenter-Rock, who has been the acting director since 2024. Hartigan aims to boost engagement with American creativity amidst heightened political scrutiny, particularly following President Trump's April executive order on federal funding.
Key facts
- Lynda Roscoe Hartigan appointed director of Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM)
- Hartigan starts September 8, 2024
- She leaves Peabody Essex Museum in Massachusetts
- Hartigan previously worked at SAAM as a curator in the 1970s
- She was Peabody Essex Museum's first chief curator in 2003 and deputy director in 2016
- Hartigan served as Royal Ontario Museum's deputy director for collections and research and chief innovation officer from 2020 to 2021
- SAAM was singled out by President Donald Trump in an April executive order threatening federal funding
- SAAM is one of eight Smithsonian museums undergoing an audit
Entities
Artists
- Lynda Roscoe Hartigan
- Stephanie Stebich
- Lonnie G. Bunch III
- Melissa Chiu
- Kevin Young
- Kim Sajet
- Donald Trump
- Jane Carpenter-Rock
- Robin Pogrebin
- Joseph Cornell
- Nicholas Galanin
- Annabelle Selldorf
- Alex Greenberger
Institutions
- Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM)
- Peabody Essex Museum
- Royal Ontario Museum
- Smithsonian Institution
- National Portrait Gallery
- National Museum of African American History and Culture
- Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture
- Lawrence A. Fleischman Gallery of the Archives of American Art
- Smithsonian American Art Museum
- Joseph Cornell Study Center
- Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
- Guggenheim Museum
- Renwick Gallery
- Women's History Museum
- Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
- The Times
- San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
- Washington Post
- ARTnews
Locations
- Washington D.C.
- United States
- Massachusetts
- Canada
- Washington DC
- Salem
- Toronto
- Washington
- New York
- Washington, D.C.
- San Francisco