Richard Kurin is the Smithsonian’s Under Secretary for History, Art, and Culture. He is responsible for most of the Institution’s museums, including the Anacostia Community Museum; Arthur M. Sackler Gallery and Freer Gallery of Art; Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum (New York City); Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden; National Museum of African American History and Culture; National Museum of African Art; National Museum of American History; National Museum of the American Indian and its George Gustav Heye Center (New York City); National Portrait Gallery; National Postal Museum; and the Smithsonian American Art Museum and its Renwick Gallery.
Kurin also oversees several of the Smithsonian’s research and outreach programs, including the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, the Archives of American Art, the Smithsonian Latino Center and the Asian Pacific American Center. He also has responsibilities for the Smithsonian Libraries, Smithsonian Institution Archives, the Office of Fellowships and Internships, the National Collections Program, the Office of International Relations and the Institution’s major international education and training initiatives.
In addition, Kurin is responsible for the programmatic aspects of the Smithsonian Channel, the Institution’s cable television partnership with Showtime.
Kurin first worked for the Smithsonian in 1976 for the Bicentennial of the United States. For decades he directed the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage and was responsible for the Smithsonian Folklife Festival held every summer on the National Mall, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings and other cultural programs and products that have won Grammy, Emmy, Academy and Webby awards.
Kurin has served as the executive producer for several major special events, including the National World War II Reunion on the Mall to mark the dedication of the World War II Memorial (2004) and the grand-opening celebration and six-day festival on the Mall for the National Museum of the American Indian in 2004. He also co-produced the Smithsonian’s 150th Anniversary "Birthday Party on the Mall," presidential inaugural festivals and the Southern Crossroads Festival in Centennial Olympic Park for the Atlanta Olympics in 1996.
Kurin represents the Smithsonian on the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, the White House Historical Association and other boards. He led U.S. and international efforts to rescue Haiti’s cultural and artistic heritage following the devastating 2010 earthquake, which was the subject of his recent book, Saving Haiti’s Heritage: Cultural Recovery after the Earthquake.
