Smithsonian museum director to move to Guggenheim: ‘a moment of change’

Melissa Chiu, 54, director of Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, led the institution for 12 years

A museum director at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington has announced that she is leaving to take over at the Guggenheim Museum in New York.

Melissa Chiu has been director of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden on the National Mall for 12 years. In an interview on Thursday, she insisted that her departure is not related to Donald Trump’s efforts to interfere with the Smithsonian.