WASHINGTON, DC.- The Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden has hired Lisa Gold as its director of public engagement. Gold comes to the newly created position from the executive directorship of the Washington Project for the Arts, where she has served since 2009. She was previously the public relations and marketing director at The Drawing Center in New York City (2006–2009) and the director of development and communications at Socrates Sculpture Park in Long Island City, N.Y. (2002–2005).

“Lisa Gold is a vital member of my new leadership team,” said Melissa Chiu, the Hirshhorn’s director. “She has helped some of our most highly esteemed arts organizations to position and present themselves so that they stand out in a crowded marketplace of ideas. An adept fundraiser, communicator and manager, she has worked effectively with major stakeholders at the local, national and international levels. She has cultivated the relationships necessary to expand our programming and connections with multiple audiences, both on-site and online.”

At the Hirshhorn, Gold will be responsible for public programs and education, including the ongoing series of Meet the Artist talks, which have recently featured Shirin Neshat, Janine Antoni, and Jason Moran and Theaster Gates, as well as the prestigious James T. Demetrion Lecture, last presented by Claes Oldenburg, and the museum’s groundbreaking digital art studio for teens, ARTLAB+.

The Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden is a leading voice for contemporary art and culture and provides a national platform for the art and artists of our time. The Hirshhorn seeks to share the transformative power of modern and contemporary art with audiences at all levels of awareness and understanding by creating meaningful, personal experiences in which art, artists, audiences and ideas converge. The Hirshhorn enhances public understanding and appreciation of contemporary art through acquisition, exhibitions, education and public programs, conservation, and research.