Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art is a nonprofit museum in Bentonville, Arkansas, founded by the philanthropist Alice Walton in 2011. The museum sits on 134 acres of Ozark forest, and in June will open 114,000 square feet of new galleries, studios, and visitor spaces, designed by the architect Moshe Safdie. Rod Bigelow has been the Executive Director of Crystal Bridges since 2013. Bigelow joined Guggenheim President Emeritus Jennifer Stockman and Rail Consulting Editor Joachim Pissarro to discuss the importance of public access to the arts, how a museum can act as a disruptor, and the three pillars of Crystal Bridges: art, nature, and architecture.

Padmanabh Singh and Noelle Kadar are at the forefront of an effort to invigorate public interest in contemporary art in Jaipur, India. Recently, they joined Guggenheim President Emerita Jennifer Stockman and Rail Consulting Editor Joachim Pissarro to discuss The Jaipur Centre for Art, the unique history of arts patronage in Jaipur, the importance of color to the city and its culture, and their exhibition now on view, Annotations of Colour. 

For this iteration of the Brooklyn Rail’s Director’s Series, Min Jung Kim joined Guggenheim President Emeritus Jennifer Stockman and Rail Consulting Editor Joachim Pissarro for a conversation that spans her time at Sotheby’s Korea, the Samsung Art Foundation and Ho-Am Art Gallery, the Guggenheim Museum, and the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum. 

Dorothy Kosinski is the Director Emerita of the Phillips Collection as of 2023. Recently, she joined Guggenheim President Emeritus Jennifer Stockman and Rail Consulting Editor Joachim Pissarro to discuss her work as the curator of the Douglas Cooper Collection, her tenure in Dallas, how the expansion of private foundations affects public museums, and the challenges—and ultimate success—of guiding the Phillips Collection through the turbulent politics that surrounded the Black Lives Matter movement..

Since 2008, Madeleine Grynsztejn has helped the MCA redefine contemporary art museums as artist-activated, audience-engaged spaces for generating art, conversation, and connection while stewarding the best-attended exhibitions in the MCA’s history. Recently, Grynsztejn joined Guggenheim President Emeritus Jennifer Stockman and Rail Consulting Editor Joachim Pissarro to discuss the importance of action and purpose within a museum, the ways our personal narratives influence our artistic and professional lives, and the joy of giving young artists their first big exhibitions.

An art historian by training, Laurent Le Bon served as Director of the Musée Picasso prior to his appointment as the President of the Centre Pompidou. In the conversation that follows, Le Bon discusses the importance of returning to the testimony of Brancusi, staying true to the mandates of the museum’s architects, and the Guggenheim as a pioneer of international satellite institutions.