Marcela Guerrero was named a curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art in February 2023. In her new role, she is focusing on acquiring and exhibiting contemporary and historical Latinx artists in the museum’s programme and collection. She is also expanding the Whitney’s engagement with Latinx audiences and community partners.
Guerrero has worked at the Whitney for six years and was the museum’s first curator to specialise in Latinx art. She previously served as an associate curator and has curated landmark exhibitions such as ‘no existe un mundo poshuracán: Puerto Rican Art in the Wake of Hurricane Maria’. The show explored the impact of the hurricane on contemporary Puerto Rican art and was the first survey of Puerto Rican art at a major US art museum in 50 years.
Guerrero is responsible for many major acquisitions of work by prominent Latinx artists to the Whitney’s collection, including Laura Aguilar, Patrick Martinez and Freddy Rodriguez. She has also been active in the museum’s digital and on-site Spanish language initiatives.
Before joining the Whitney, Guerrero worked as curatorial fellow at the Hammer Museum in LA, and in the Latin American and Latino art department at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. She holds a PhD in art history from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
“Marcela is a visionary curator who has truly transformed the field of Latinx art not just at the Whitney but internationally through her passionate advocacy for living artists, brilliant scholarship, groundbreaking exhibitions, and care for our audiences,” said Scott Rothkopf, senior deputy director and chief curator at the Whitney. “Her new senior role demonstrates the Whitney’s growing commitment to Latinx art, artists, and audiences as one of our core priorities.”