Incoming executive director Debra Wimpfheimer will oversee the museum’s next phase of development focused on accessibility and deeper engagement with diverse local communities. Portrait by Claudia Lucia, courtesy Queens Museum
Last month, the board of trustees of the Queens Museum announced that Debra Wimpfheimer would serve as its next executive director. Wimpfheimer replaces Sally Tallant, who recently ended her seven-year tenure in the role to head Southbank Centre’s Hayward Gallery in London. We caught up with Wimpfheimer to hear about her plans for one of the five boroughs’ most unique institutions.
Your new job has you stepping into the role as Sally Tallant departs for London. How do you intend to follow her lead, and where might your style differ from hers?
Sally and I have worked in lockstep for the past seven years, so I don’t see this as a departure as much as an evolution. I’m extremely proud of the work we’ve done together. In the next few years, as we finish the capital project, my focus is to continue to build upon and reinforce the museum’s commitment to being a resource and community partner for our many constituents. I’m particularly excited to build these constituencies in advance of the reopening and to make the museum even more accessible through our physical plant and by expanding multidisciplinary and intergenerational programming.
What are some of the big projects that you’ll be tackling in the coming years?
The biggest thing we’re tackling is the final phase of our capital project, scheduled for completion in 2029. It’s an enormous moment for the museum. This will include the addition of the Suna Children’s Museum, a Noguchi-inspired artist playscape in Flushing Meadows Corona Park and dedicated space for older adults, which will allow us to deepen our commitment to intergenerational engagement.
Right now the Noguchi Museum has a great exhibition about all the projects he wanted to realize for New York, many of which were playgrounds. Why was he drawn to this kind of structure, and what did he bring to his designs for them?
The Noguchi Museum exhibition highlights how central playgrounds were to his practice and artistic vision. The playground wasn’t a side project for him but an expression of what sculpture could do in public life. He imagined playgrounds as civic sculptures embedded in the city’s fabric, where sculpture becomes architecture and architecture becomes lived experience. The Suna Children’s Museum playscape is an extension of this legacy.
You first worked with this museum in 2002. What’s changed the most about it since then?
When I joined the Queens Museum in 2002, we were a much smaller institution, both physically and programmatically. The museum was deeply rooted in the community even then, but our capacity to serve Queens in all its complexity has expanded tremendously over the past two-plus decades. One of the most visible changes has been our capital transformation. The expansion and building renovation in 2013 allowed us to open up the museum in a way that feels more welcoming and embraces our role as convener, advocate and responsive neighbor. We’ve built long-term partnerships with local organizations, artists and residents and those relationships shape our programming at every level.
Since then you’ve also held roles at the Boston MFA and Lincoln Center. What would you say you learned at these other institutions?
My time at both the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and at Lincoln Center was incredibly rewarding. These are two institutions that taught me a lot about how to balance artistic excellence with large-scale institutional complexities, particularly around diverse audience constituencies. That said, I’ve been with the Queens Museum for over 20 years, so much of my leadership has been forged here, in this building, with this team and the communities we serve.
Though it stages cutting-edge contemporary exhibitions, the Queens Museum is also something of a community center. As a longtime Queens resident, how do you plan to balance these different demands?
As someone who grew up in Queens, I’m very aware that people come to the museum for different reasons. Some come for a specific artist; others because it’s a welcoming place to spend time. Presenting ambitious contemporary art is part of serving our community; the people of Queens demand the same rigor, experimentation and critical inquiry as audiences in Brooklyn or Manhattan. And being a community-centered institution means we think about everything from Spanish and English-language didactics to the public programs and partnerships we build around an exhibition. My role is to make sure those experiences strengthen one another and that our exhibitions and community engagement are in dialogue.
What are some of your favorite exhibitions that have been staged by the Queens Museum in recent years?
There are far too many to choose from! Exhibitions representing the site’s history and works in our collections come to mind, like our current show “About Us: The American Imaginary,” which three members of the Queens community curated. There are also special exhibitions that highlight the history of the borough and its residents, such as “Aliza Nisenbaum: Queens, Lindo y Querido.” I also love the legacy we hold of giving many artists their first major solo museum exhibitions, dedicating our large wall to female-identifying artists like Caroline Kent as well as important career surveys including “Mierle Laderman Ukeles: Maintenance Art.”
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