Cultural Comings and Goings: Brooke Lampley Leaves Sotheby’s for Gagosian and More

From Juan Ignacio Vidarte’s decision to step down from the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao after twenty-seven years as director general to the pioneering appointment of countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo as head of Opera Philadelphia, here are some of the most notable changes recently announced across the arts and culture spheres.

Brooke Lampley joins Gagosian as senior director

Brooke Lampley, global chairman and head of the global fine art division at Sotheby's, is leaving the auction house for Gagosian. She will start at the gallery as senior director later this year.

“After twenty years of auctions, I am excited to experience another side of the art world, and to learn from the very best,” said Lampley, who will bring her robust client relationships to Gagosian, in a statement. “My love of art is what drives me, and I am looking forward to getting closer to artists and thinking deeply about the evolution of a body of work.”

At Sotheby’s, Lampley oversaw the auctioneer’s specialist teams for its Contemporary, Modern, Photographs, 20th Century Design and Prints departments. She also played a large role in bringing the collections of Emily Fisher Landau and Linda and Harry Macklowe to the auction house, which realized $424.7 million and $922.2 million respectively in 2023 and 2022.

Lampley also previously headed the Impressionist and Modern Art team at Christie's and took over as head of the department in 2012 after becoming a specialist in 2005. She has additionally worked in curatorial departments at the National Gallery of Art, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden and the Fogg Art Museum.

Studio Museum in Harlem appoints Natasha Logan as chief program officer

The Studio Museum in Harlem has a new chief program officer in the form of Natasha Logan, who most recently acted as deputy director of arts nonprofit Creative Time. Logan, who started her new role earlier this month, will work alongside the museum’s director and chief curator Thelma Golden and senior leadership to spearhead programming supporting the institution’s artistic goals and funding missions.

During her four-year tenure at Creative Time, Logan helped produce more than a dozen public commissions including Rashid Johnson’s 2021 Red Stage and Jenny Holzer’s 2019 VIGIL. She was also behind initiatives like the Creative Time Think Tank, R&D Fellowship and CTHQ, a permanent event space.

Her move to the Studio Museum coincides with the expansion of the institution’s long-time home on New York’s West 125th Street, which will increase exhibition, education and public programming space. Logan’s responsibilities will include developing program strategies unifying various aspects of the museum; managing operations for acquisitions, loans and conservation efforts affecting its permanent collection; and enhancing collaboration between the institution, artists and museums. “As we embark on a new era, I am confident her breadth of experience and deep commitment to uplifting artists’ voices will greatly advance the Museum’s dynamic programming initiatives,” said Golden in a statement.

Logan also previously led Hank Willis Thomas’ studio for five years and first began her career at New York University (NYU), where she became assistant director of career development at NYU’s Tisch School of Arts.

Juan Ignacio Vidarte steps down as director general of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao

After overseeing the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao for nearly three decades, Juan Ignacio Vidarte is stepping down as director general of the Spanish arts institution. He will remain involved with the museum and stay on in his current role at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, which also oversees the Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice and the future Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.

“I believe it is my responsibility to promote generational change by facilitating the process of identifying the person who will lead the museum in the upcoming years, writing another chapter in its history, and to give way to new voices and initiatives that will continue this success story,” said Vidarte in a statement. “As an institution committed to the art of today, the museum must remain dynamic and reflect the ideas and perspectives of the next and emerging generations.”

He came on as director general twenty-seven years ago and in 1992 headed a consortium overseeing the development of the Guggenheim Bilbao, which opened in 1997 in a Frank Gehry-designed building. As of 2023, the museum reached record levels of attendance with 1.3 million visitors. It has initiated a process for selecting its next directory which is expected to conclude this fall.

Since 2008, Vidarte has also served as deputy director and chief global strategy officer of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. This role will be expanded under the leadership of newly appointed director and CEO elect Mariët Westermann, with Vidarte assisting in the foundation’s relationship with the Guggenheim Bilbao, its development of Guggenheim Abu Dhabi and initiatives to increase collaboration across its international constellation of museums.

Anthony Roth Costanzo to helm Opera Philadelphia

The acclaimed countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo has been tapped to lead Opera Philadelphia. Starting this June, the Grammy-winning singer will oversee the company as general director and president while continuing his performing career.

Costanzo, who began performing at age 11, has sung with the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago and San Francisco Opera, among others. He first appeared at Opera Philadelphia at age fourteen in a production of Puccini’s Tosca starring Luciano Pavarotti. “As I stood beside that lion of opera, looking out at an audience that he had single-handedly introduced to this art form, I knew that I not only wanted to be a part of this tradition, but I also wanted to be part of carrying it forward in an impactful way,” said Costanzo in a statement, adding that singing has only been part of his journey as an artist. “I have found that perhaps the greatest impact I can have comes in what I produce, create, imagine, and what stories I can help find a voice.”

His offstage work has included creating and producing the New York Philharmonic’s Bandwagon series during the Covid-19 pandemic and leading the fundraising concert Only an Octave Apart with Justin Vivian Bond. As the seventh general director of Opera Philadelphia, Costanzo will lead the company’s fundraising strategies, artistic planning, audience development and community initiatives.

He was selected from nearly forty candidates and will succeed David B. Devan, whose 18-year career with Opera Philadelphia came to a close last month. “It is unprecedented for an opera singer in the prime of his performing career to take on this type of CEO role at a major opera company,” said Stephen Klasko, chair of Opera Philadelphia’s board of directors, in a statement. “He will set a new paradigm for our industry as a working artist running the business side of an organization.”