Darren Walker has been named president of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, the museum announced October 15. The new president, a member of the board of directors since 2019, took office immediately.
Before becoming president of the National Gallery of Art, Darren Walker served as president of the non-profit Ford Foundation for eleven years. During his tenure, he sustained the foundation’s grant system and supported inclusiveness, particularly for people with disabilities, reports the Ford Foundation. He also served as vice president of the Rockefeller Foundation and as chief operating officer for the Abyssinian Development Corporation, a Harlem charity.
Darren Walker becomes the first black trustee of the National Gallery. He supported the traveling exhibition “Afro-Atlantic Histories” (co-organized by the Houston Museum of Fine Arts, the São Paulo Museum of Art, and the National Gallery of Art) in 2022, and he conducted research on the slave trade in North and South America.
Darren Walker has received seventeen honorary appointments, including Commander of the French Order of Arts and Letters, as well as the Order of the British Empire awarded by Queen Elizabeth II. He also serves on several other boards, including Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the High Line, Art Bridges, and the Foundation for Art and Preservation in Embassies.
The new president will be responsible for serving as a liaison between Kaywin Feldman, director of the museum, and the board of directors. Darren Walker has expressed his intention to expand private fundraising for the museum.
A true institution among the world’s great museums, the National Gallery of Art in Washington is one of the most visited museums, ranked 7th behind the Musée d’Orsay according to Forbes’ 2023 world ranking. Founded in 1937 by collector Andrew W. Mellon, the museum is located just steps from the White House. The neoclassical style building, designed by architect John Russell Pope, was extended by a west wing, built in 1978 by Ieoh Ming Pei. Administered and subsidized largely by the federal government but also private funding, the museum welcomed 38 million visitors in 2023. The collection of American and European art includes 150,000 works (sculptures, paintings, decorative arts, drawings, photographs ) ranging from Antiquity to the present day. The museum notably holds the famous Portrait of Ginevra de Benci (1474-1476) by Leonardo da Vinci.
Darren Walker replaces American businessman and art collector Mitchell P. Rales, a board member since 2006 and president of the museum for five years. The former president helped acquire the Corcoran Gallery of Art’s collection and led a fundraising campaign to enrich acquisitions and support conservation.
