Former director Stephanie Stebich is now a senior adviser at the Smithsonian after employees described a tumultuous tenure at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
By Kriston Capps, Special to The Washington PostStephanie Stebich, former director of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, greets visitors in 2019.
Members of the board of commissioners at the American Art Museum didn’t learn about the extent of dissatisfaction among staff until this year; the board began looking into the allegations in late spring, according to a board member and staff members who spoke with The Washington Post. Within a few months, the board asked the Smithsonian to remove Stebich from her position as director, according to the board member and museum staff.
Museumgoers in 2020 view Nam June Paik’s “Electronic Superhighway” at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Museum workers and managers who spoke to The Post described an atmosphere of fear and recrimination under Stebich. She publicly rebuked staff, according to employees who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they feared retaliation. Stebich gave contradictory instructions, they said, and at times changed them abruptly, disrupting routines and processes. Staff said she blamed them for her mistakes, berating people in meetings.
Museum employees said that Stebich created intra-staff rivalries and drove away talent. In 2019, Stebich effectively demoted Mecklenburg - a veteran curator who departed this year after 45 years at the American Art Museum - from chief curator to senior curator, staff said, a title change reflected on the Smithsonian website. In her place, Stebich elevated E.
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