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Roscoe, who has risen through the ranks at Salem Museum for more than 20 years, will step down from his position at PEM at the end of June. Kurt Steinberg, the museum’s chief operating officer and director of collection services, will serve as acting executive director starting July 1. The museum’s board of directors plans to begin a search for her permanent successor in the coming months. <\/span><\/p>\n Meanwhile, the Hartigan exhibit opens September 8 at SAAM, one of 21 museums in the Smithsonian Institution’s vast cultural complex. <\/span><\/p>\n “Linda is a visionary leader whose career reflects America’s deep commitment to the arts, thoughtful scholarship, and social engagement,” Lonnie G. Bunch III, executive director of the Smithsonian Institution, said in a statement. \u201cShe began her career at the Smithsonian Institution and returns with deep curatorial knowledge and a wealth of experience that will guide the museum for years to come.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Hartigan, who served as SAAM’s chief curator before joining the Salem Museum in 2003, said it was heartbreaking to leave the museum where she spent much of her career and the museum where she got her start. <\/span><\/p>\n “When I started working as director of PEM, my message was that I was here to move the museum forward,” she said. “This is my message about physically returning to Washington and SAAM. I am here to move this great museum forward.”<\/span><\/p>\n Mr. Hartigan initially served as PEM’s chief curator, but was appointed deputy director in 2016 and returned to lead the museum in 2021 after a brief stint at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto.<\/span><\/p>\n For more than 20 years, she played a central role in many aspects of Salem Museum. Hartigan, an expert on the works of Joseph Cornell, oversaw the interpretation and reinstallation of the museum’s new wing. She directed the museum’s exhibition program and launched new collecting and program areas including photography, American art, contemporary art, and fashion. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cLinda is an inspirational change agent whose ability to rally people around art, experiences, and interdisciplinary ideas has expanded PEM’s leadership in creativity, innovation, and visitor experience,\u201d Jennifer Borgard, PEM board chair, said in a statement. \u201cWe will miss her dearly, but we are proud of the visionary energy she will bring to SAAM and our nation’s national cultural complex, the Smithsonian Institution.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Mr. Hartigan, who takes over the reins of SAAM from acting director Jane Carpenter-Locke, comes at a complicated time for the Washington Museum. SAAM’s former director, Stephanie Stevich, was removed from her position in 2024 following staff complaints about her leadership style. <\/span><\/p>\n The Trump administration is also pressuring the Smithsonian Institution to present a more sanitized version of American history, accusing it of promoting “a narrative that depicts American and Western values \u200b\u200bas inherently harmful and oppressive,” with an executive order. <\/span><\/p>\n In about a year, the directors of three Smithsonian museums have announced their retirements, including the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the National Portrait Gallery, and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. <\/span><\/p>\n Nevertheless, SAAM houses one of the world’s finest collections of American art, with particular strengths in New Deal-era works, modern craftsmanship, and American Impressionism. <\/span><\/p>\n “The truth is that the arts and crafts that have been created and the American visual culture are what people can really rely on for inspiration, hope, and insight,” she said. \u201cIntegrity, which is the core mission of the Smithsonian Institution, and by extension the Smithsonian American Art Museum, is something that I really look forward to upholding.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Malcolm Gay can be reached at malcolm.gay@globe.com.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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