Deputy Director, Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation

Ari Wiseman joined the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation in January 2010 as deputy director, charged with overseeing strategic planning and acquisitions policies. He also launched the foundation’s new Collections Council, is currently engaged in capital campaign assessment, and is helping to develop the global exhibitions program and collections strategy. Working in concert with Director Richard Armstrong and the Executive Cabinet, Wiseman helps manage activities of the foundation and global network of museums, while providing assistance to the director for a variety of special projects.

Wiseman began his museum career at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (1998–2001), where he served as Assistant and then Senior Assistant for Acquisitions. He then joined the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Los Angeles, in 2001, serving in a variety of capacities, including as Deputy Director (2007–09). Wiseman’s responsibilities at MOCA included taking the lead in strategic planning, board development, and acquisitions process. He also provided continuity and leadership during the museum’s period with an interim director in 2008–09.

Wiseman is coauthor of Visual Music: Synaesthesia in Art and Music since 1900 (winner of the George Wittenborn Memorial Book Award, 2006) and author of the catalogue Matthew Monahan: Five Years, Ten Years, Maybe Never (2007), among other publications.

Wiseman received his BA in art history from Nothwestern University and his MA in art history from the Courtauld Institute of Art.