The Ford Foundation awarded the Studio Museum in Harlem a $10 million gift a year before it reopens in the fall of 2025 to endow its director and head curator position, which has been held by Thelma Golden for the past 19 years. Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation, announced on October 28, at the annual gala held by the Studio Museum. Golden will become the Ford Foundation Director and Chief Curator going forward in accordance with the endowment donation.
The museum is “one of America’s cultural treasures,” Walker said in a statement provided to reporters.
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Walker stated, “For more than half a century, the Studio Museum in Harlem has been a vital platform for multiple generations of outstanding artists of African descent and, in so doing, has opened vast new areas of scholarship, creativity, and appreciation in the visual arts.”
He added, “It is especially fitting to endow the leadership position of Director and Chief Curator when the inimitable Thelma Golden is about to celebrate 20 years of proving to be the art world’s exemplary leader for courageous change.”
By expanding hours on Thursdays and Fridays, Golden has been credited for boosting visitor attendance by 27% in her first 10 years as the museum’s director and head curator, having taken up the position in 2005. By bringing in artists of African origin from outside the US, she has furthered the Studio Museum’s dedication to Black art and culture.
Golden has also guided the museum through its 2015 announcement of a price growth plan. To expand, the institution shuttered its physical location in 2018. However, several development delays over the years have caused the grand reopening to be delayed until next fall. Following three female former workers’ accusations of sexual misconduct and harassment against Ghanaian-British architect David Adjaye in mid-2023, the Studio Museum severed its relationship with the architect. Cooper Robertson, an executive architect, and his New York company, Adjaye Associates, will complete the project, according to the organization.
The timing of the Ford Foundation’s grant to strengthen the Studio Museum was ideal since Golden has been seen as the leading candidate in the ongoing search for a new director at the Museum of Modern Art.
