Whitney Museum Announces New Curatorial Appointments: Dan Nadel, Jennie Goldstein, and Roxanne Smith

New York, NY — August 13, 2025 — The Whitney Museum of American Art today announced three significant curatorial appointments, marking a new chapter in the stewardship of its acclaimed collection. Dan Nadel has joined the Museum as the Steven and Ann Ames Curator of Drawings and Prints, while Jennie Goldstein has been promoted to Curator of the Collection and Roxanne Smith to Jennifer Rubio Assistant Curator of the Collection. All appointments are effective immediately.

Dan Nadel Joins as Steven and Ann Ames Curator of Drawings and Prints

Dan Nadel will oversee the Whitney’s holdings of more than 15,000 drawings and prints, develop exhibitions, guide the Museum’s Committee on Drawings and Prints, and co-lead programming for the Sondra Gilman Study Center alongside Drew Sawyer, the Sondra Gilman Curator of Photography.

Nadel has worked closely with the Whitney Museum for several years, contributing as a key member of the curatorial team for Sixties Surreal, the highly anticipated exhibition opening September 24. This landmark exhibition offers a sweeping, revisionist look at American art of the 1960s through the lens of inherited and reimagined surrealism.

“Dan’s scholarship has helped bring to light understudied narratives in U.S. art,” said Kim Conaty, Nancy and Steve Crown Family Chief Curator. “His dedication to drawing and print practices will bring fresh energy to the Whitney’s collection and programming.”

With a distinguished career that includes curatorial roles at the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art and the Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art, University of California, Davis, Nadel has organized critically acclaimed exhibitions such as Chicago Comics, 1960s to Now (MCA Chicago, 2021) and What Nerve! Alternative Figures in American Art: 1960 to the Present (RISD Museum, 2014).

Jennie Goldstein Promoted to Curator of the Collection

Jennie Goldstein will take on strategic oversight of the Whitney’s 26,000+ works of 20th- and 21st-century American art, managing acquisitions, fostering scholarship, and expanding exhibition opportunities. She will continue curating dynamic exhibitions, including Christine Sun Kim: All Day All Night (on view through September 21), and will co-curate High Wire: Calder’s Circus at 100 with Roxanne Smith, opening October 18.

“Jennie’s deep appreciation for our mission and her dedication to highlighting our holdings make her an outstanding leader for the collection,” said Conaty the Nancy and Steve Crown Family Chief
Curator.

Since joining the Whitney, Goldstein has curated or co-curated exhibitions including Shifting Landscapes (2024–2026), Natalie Ball: bilwi naats Ga’niipci (2023), and An Incomplete History of Protest (2018). She has played a pivotal role in acquisitions, loans, and cross-departmental initiatives.

Roxanne Smith Elevated to Jennifer Rubio Assistant Curator of the Collection

Roxanne Smith, a key member of the Whitney’s curatorial staff for more than seven years, will support acquisitions, gift processes, and collection displays, and will co-curate High Wire: Calder’s Circus at 100.

Smith’s past curatorial projects include Shifting Landscapes (2024–2026), Raque Ford: A little space for you right under my shoe (2024–2025), and Wanda Gág’s World (2024). She also contributed to the Museum’s 2023 Collection Strategic Plan.

“Roxanne’s energy and insight are integral to our curatorial vision,” said Conaty. “Her enthusiasm for the Whitney’s collection is truly contagious.”