The century-old artist residency program in Saratoga Springs, New York, Yaddo, has found a new person to lead it. Cyra Levenson has been put into the position of president, taking over from Elaina Richardson, who led the nonprofit for 26 years.
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Foundation is where Levenson now works as deputy director of Learning and Engagement. Her next job at Yaddo arrives alongside a wave of changes across the art world, which includes a significant pairing of curators at the Whitney Museum of American Art and an award given to Santa Fe artist Rose B. Simpson.
“For 100 years Yaddo has been dedicated to creative people, to practice and to the magic that happens in community,” Levenson said in a statement. “Artists have a unique ability to see what doesn’t yet exist and to metabolize what is happening in the world in ways that others can digest and gain nourishment from.”
Levenson’s Move From the Guggenheim
Yaddo’s Levenson brings extensive museum background to the position. The Guggenheim was where her focus lay on learning and engagement, an area she has spent years working within. Her work there has been central to her career, and the move to Yaddo comes at a moment when the residency is looking ahead after two and a half decades under Richardson’s leadership.
The organization’s mission is simple: provide time, space, and encouragement to artists of outstanding talent. Levenson’s statement suggests she understands exactly what that means. Her appointment follows a period of leadership continuity at Yaddo, but her own career has been defined by movement between institutions rather than staying in one place.
Simpson Takes the Santa Fe Mayor’s Award
Rose B. Simpson has received the Santa Fe Mayor’s 2026 Award for Excellence in the Arts. The award recognizes her “leadership, mentorship, and service to emerging generations of artists,” according to the citation.
In Santa Clara Pueblo, Simpson makes her home and carries out her work. Her creative output moves across sculpture, performance, and installation, and she has long spoken up for the survival of Indigenous cultural life.
In a 2025 opinion piece for Hyperallergic, Simpson responded directly to President Trump’s efforts to defund Santa Fe’s Institute of American Indian Arts. She is an alum and trustee of that institution.
“I believe in the power of offering Indigenous people opportunity and space for investigation — both personal and communal,” Simpson wrote. “I believe in the power of collective strength to lift the voice of our people, to claim our rightful position as leaders of creativity and aesthetic expression.”
Temkin Steps Down at MoMA
MoMA’s longtime chief curator of Painting and Sculpture, Ann Temkin, is leaving the position in January, though she will stay on at the institution in an advisory capacity, according to the New York Times.
She has been placed in an advisory role that involves directing the programming for MoMA’s anniversary in 2029, which marks its 100th year.
Temkin has been a fixture at the museum for decades.
Leadership Changes Across North America
In recent months, a number of significant institutions have changed their leaders. The Vancouver Art Gallery has appointed Eva Respini and Sirish Rao as co-CEOs. Respini is also taking on the role of chief curator, with Rao serving as executive director.
Anthony Kiendl, the gallery’s former director and CEO, left in spring 2025, following months of upheaval tied to a shelved scheme for a new building, which was abandoned because of mounting expenses.
Colin Fanning has been appointed as the new curator of Craft at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. He will oversee acquisitions and exhibitions of craft and “maker culture” at the Renwick Gallery in Washington, DC.
Jessica Silverman gallery now represents Laeh Glenn, while Diné artist and composer Raven Chacon has joined Sikkema Malloy Jenkins for representation.
The Bronx Museum Acquires Zoë Pulley
The Bronx Museum made a notable purchase from last week’s Armory Show. It acquired Zoë Pulley’s “Elegance No. 1” (2026) from Superposition Gallery’s booth.
The purchase was made via the debut Bronx Museum Acquisition Prize. Pieces by Lizania Cruz, Joshua Nazario, and Theresa Weber were chosen for the Pérez Art Museum Miami Acquisition Prize.
The foundation also increased its collection through a purchase. Mira Schendel’s work was added, specifically her “Still Waves of Probability” (1969).
Two works from Joiri Minaya’s Divergences (2022) series have found a home at the Museum of Modern Art. The museum purchased both of them, with “Effluvia” and “Wake.” entering its collection.
Da Corte Curates Lichtenstein at the Whitney
Next week, a major retrospective devoted to Roy Lichtenstein, a figure long regarded as an icon of Pop Art, opens at the Whitney Museum of American Art. The person chosen to co-curate it, however, carries no reputation in that particular field.
The Venezuelan-American artist Alex Da Corte is best known for his video art and installations that examine celebrity and consumer culture. He will work alongside Lichtenstein on the exhibition.
Da Corte is scheduled to deliver this year’s Walter Annenberg Lecture at the museum on October 29. The talk will cover his work as both an artist and a curator who has engaged with Lichtenstein.
The New York Times ran an interview with Da Corte, during which he spoke to Hyperallergic contributor Aruna D’Souza that despite the ubiquity of Lichtenstein’s work. He “had never thought about it in a close way.”.
“So, for me, it felt urgent to ask, as an artist, how would I want my work to be considered and reconsidered when everyone thinks they know everything about it?” Da Corte said.
The Year Ahead in Art Leadership
| Event | Date |
|---|---|
| Roy Lichtenstein retrospective opens at the Whitney | Next week |
| Walter Annenberg Lecture by Alex Da Corte | October 29 |
| MoMA’s 100th anniversary begins | 2029 |
The next few months will reveal if Levenson can hold onto that legacy while adjusting to a shifting landscape. She appears to know exactly what she is stepping into, according to her own words.
The current appointment signals that a long-standing creative institution will keep its course. Yaddo has endured a century of artistic evolution. Now it has a new person in charge, and that person has been given the job of carrying on with what the place has always done.
The coming months will show whether that mandate holds.
Source material: “Cyra Levenson to Lead Yaddo Artist Residency,” Hyperallergic.
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