Blake Gopnik - Profile of New Hirshhorn Director Richard Koshalek - washingtonpost.com

Blake Gopnik - Profiles New Hirshhorn Director Richard Koshalek

Although not an art historian himself, he calls "the creation of new knowledge" one of the "core values" that he wants to emphasize at the Hirshhorn. That extends to the exhibition program, which he imagines being tightly focused, without an empty-headed blockbuster in sight. "Never once -- never once -- have I decided on an exhibition because the attendance was going to be phenomenal. Never once. Never."

The Hirshhorn can never forget that it exists only to foster creativity, he says, and to spread word of it. "It's not a corporation.

...part of Koshalek's appeal to the museum was his belief in contemporary artists -- a central tenet of the Hirshhorn tradition -- and his desire to get them involved in almost every aspect of the institution, from education to building planning ... "Richard will be able to get these artists to do things they don't even know they want to do." And that, he says, will help spread word of the Hirshhorn.