Richard Koshalek to be Hirshhorn director

The Smithsonian Institution and the Hirshhorn board of trustees have selected Richard Koshalek to be the museum's next director.

The Hirshhorn has been without a director since Olga Viso left to run the Walker Art Center. Viso announced her departure 531 days ago, on Sept. 11, 2007. Kerry Brougher, the museum's chief curator, has been serving as acting director. Brougher was not a candidate for the directorship.

Koshalek was the director of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles from 1983 to 1999 and was the president of the Art Center College of Design until last September. He and the school parted ways after conflicting over institutional priorities. The end of Koshalek's tenure at Art Center was marked by student protests over tuition costs and related complaints over Koshalek's support of a $50 million, Frank Gehry-designed expansion.

Prior to his tenure at Art Center, Koshalek spent nearly 20 years at MOCA, where the collection expanded dramatically under his leadership. He started at MOCA as chief curator and deputy director in 1980 and became director in 1983. Among his curatorial staffers at MOCA was the Hirshhorn's Brougher. 

The hiring of Koshalek, 67, marks the continuation of a recent Smithsonian trend: The hiring of late-career executives. The Smithsonian's secretary, G. Wayne Clough, is also 67. Johnnetta Cole, the newly-hired director of the Smithsonian's National Museum of African Art, is 72.