Jeff Koons and Scott Rothkopf
Photo via: Business Insider

Scott Rothkopf has been appointed deputy director of programs at the Whitney Museum of American Art, museum director Adam D. Weinberg announced yesterday.

Rothkopf has been promoted from his post as a curator and associate director of programs. In July, he will become the deputy director for programs, as well as the Nancy and Steve Crown family chief curator.

“Now that the institution has grown, we need more firepower at the top,” Weinberg told ArtsBeat. “I wouldn’t say so much that it’s a generational change but it is about bringing that next generation into the curatorial and programmatic leadership.”

This follows the huge success of the recent Jeff Koons retrospective curated by Rothkopf at the museum. The show was one of the most best received shows in the history of the Whitney, drawing 320,000 visitors (see Critical Reduction: Jeff Koons at the Whitney).

The Koons show was the last major show at the Breuer building, before the museum moved to downtown, to New York’s Meatpacking District (see An Exclusive Walk With Adam Weinberg Through the New Whitney Museum Building and Does the New Whitney Museum Herald a Golden Age for New York Institutions?).

Rothkopf replaces Donna De Salvo, who is moving to a newly created position as deputy director for international initiatives in July. De Salvo, the Whitney’s first chief curator, leaves the role after almost a decade and will soon be in charge of sourcing and cultivating international relationships for the museum as the institution looks to extend its influence abroad.