The Nasher Sculpture Center Announces Carlos Basualdo as Its Next Director

The Nasher Sculpture Center, a world-renowned museum dedicated to modern and contemporary sculpture, is pleased to announce the appointment of Carlos Basualdo as its next Director. He will assume the role on May 12, 2025.

Born in Argentina, Basualdo is a 2013 Fellow of the Center for Curatorial Leadership in NYC and has taught at the IUAV University of Venice and PennDesign at the University of Pennsylvania. He is an internationally respected curator and institutional leader whose career spans over two decades. During this time, Basualdo has shaped contemporary art discourse through pioneering curatorial initiatives, influential exhibitions, forward-thinking acquisitions, and international collaborations. Since 2022, Basualdo has served as Marion Boulton (Kippy) Stroud Deputy Director and Chief Curator at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where he oversaw a team of approximately 140 staff across Curatorial, Collections, Library and Archives, and Publishing.

“We are thrilled to welcome Carlos Basualdo as the next Director of the Nasher Sculpture Center,” said David Haemisegger, Chair of the Nasher Board of Trustees. “His distinguished career and curatorial achievements align perfectly with our mission to champion the field of sculpture. Carlos’s appointment marks a dynamic new moment for the museum, and we are excited for what lies ahead under his leadership and how he will build on the Nasher’s enduring legacy.”

“It is a great honor to join the Nasher Sculpture Center, an institution I have long admired for its dedication to sculpture and its exceptional program,” said Carlos Basualdo. “I look forward to working with the team in Dallas to build on its remarkable legacy and shape a bold, dynamic future for the museum.”

From 2005 to 2022, Basualdo served as Keith L. and Katherine Sachs Senior Curator of Contemporary Art at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where he shaped a globally recognized contemporary program. During this time, he curated landmark exhibitions including Bruce Nauman: Topological Gardens, which was presented at the 2009 Venice Biennale and received the Golden Lion for Best National Participation; Dancing Around the Bride (2012), a multidisciplinary exploration of Marcel Duchamp’s legacy; Barbara Chase-Riboud: The Malcolm X Series, (2013 – 2014), showcasing the artist’s iconic bronze and textile sculptures honoring the legacy of Malcolm X; and Jasper Johns: Mind/Mirror (2021–22), the most comprehensive retrospective of the artist to date, co-organized with Scott Rothkopf and the Whitney Museum.

In 2017, Basualdo co-founded the Future Fields Commission in Time-Based Media with the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, commissioning works by artists such as Rachel Rose and Martine Syms. In 2021, he initiated a collaboration with Penn Medicine to install large-scale contemporary works by Philadelphia artists across ten floors of their new facility designed by Foster + Partners. Publications produced during this time include Giuseppe Penone, The Life of Forms, Gagosian Gallery and Rizzoli; and Cy Twombly: Fifty days at liam, Philadelphia Museum of Art.

During his tenure at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Basualdo helped secure major endowments including the Keith L. and Katherine Sachs Collection, comprising 97 works by artists such as Jasper Johns, Louise Bourgeois, Ellsworth Kelly, Francis Alÿs, and Steve McQueen, as well as works from the Daniel Dietrich III Collection, featuring Agnes Martin, Cy Twombly, Philip Guston, and Eva Hesse. Additional acquisitions included five sculptures by Cy Twombly, gifted by the Cy Twombly Foundation; new media works by Fikret Atay, Anri Sala, Marepe, and Melik Ohanian from the Peter and Mari Shaw Collection; and over 300 drawings by Giuseppe Penone. Basualdo also established the Brind Center for African and African Diasporic Art and hosted the international symposium “Art in Context III: Identity, Ethics, and Insight,” which focused on bias remediation. Publications produced under Basualdo’s leadership include Art of Japan: Highlights from the Philadelphia Museum of Art; The Shape of Time: Korean Art after 1989; and Mary Cassatt at Work.

Earlier roles included Curator at Large, MAXXI, Rome; Chief Curator of Exhibitions, Wexner Center for the Arts, Ohio; Co-curator, Documenta11, Kassel; Curator of The Structure of Survival, 50th Venice Biennale; and Curator of Tropicália: A Revolution in Brazilian Culture, which toured major institutions internationally.

“Carlos brings with him a singular combination of scholarly rigor, global vision, and deep respect for artists and their work,” said Jed Morse, Interim Director and Chief Curator at the Nasher Sculpture Center. “His experience working at the intersection of curatorial innovation and institutional leadership makes him uniquely suited to guide the Nasher into its next chapter. I know I speak for our full team when I say how thrilled we are to welcome Carlos to the Nasher and work alongside him.”