Valerie Hillings Named First Director of Guggenheim Abu Dhabi
So, the Department of Culture and Tourism in Abu Dhabi has just announced that Valerie Hillings will be the inaugural director of Guggenheim Abu Dhabi. This is a big deal for the museum! Valerie has quite the resume; she was the Curator and Associate Director of Curatorial Affairs for the project from 2009 to 2018 and recently served as the Director of the North Carolina Museum of Art. She holds a PhD and an MA in Art History and Archaeology from NYU, plus an AB in Art History from Duke. In her new role, she’ll oversee exhibitions and programs for the museum, designed by Frank Gehry, which will feature 11,600 square meters of exhibition space in the Saadiyat Cultural District.
Key facts
- Valerie Hillings named first director of Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.
- Appointment announced by Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi.
- Hillings previously worked on Guggenheim Abu Dhabi project from 2009 to 2018.
- She served as Director of North Carolina Museum of Art before this role.
- Annual attendance at North Carolina Museum of Art reached 1.2 million under her leadership.
- Museum designed by Frank Gehry with 11,600 square meters of interior exhibition space across 30 galleries.
- Guggenheim Abu Dhabi will be part of Saadiyat Cultural District.
- Hillings holds PhD and MA from Institute of Fine Arts at New York University and AB from Duke University.
Entities
Artists
- Valerie Hillings
- Frank Gehry
- Dr Valerie Hillings
Institutions
- Guggenheim Abu Dhabi
- Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi
- Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation
- North Carolina Museum of Art
- Louvre Abu Dhabi
- Zayed National Museum
- Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi
- teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi
- Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
- Guggenheim Foundation
Locations
- Abu Dhabi
- United Arab Emirates
- Saadiyat Cultural District
- North Carolina
- New York University
- Duke University
- New York
- United States