Ebony L. Haynes Joins Marian Goodman Gallery as Its First Senior Director

Marian Goodman Gallery has hired Ebony L. Haynes as its first-ever senior director, global head of curatorial affairs, with a start date in late November. The announcement, paired with a broader leadership reshuffle, marks the gallery's first major change since the death of founder Marian Goodman earlier this year.

Haynes is best known for running 52 Walker, the Kunsthalle-style Tribeca exhibition space that operated under the David Zwirner umbrella with full curatorial autonomy and an all-Black staff. Opened in 2021, the space mounted 17 exhibitions, including solos for Kandis Williams, Nikita Gale, Bob Thompson, Arthur Jafa, Sara Cwynar, and Nicole Eisenman. Her shows there drew consistent critical praise.

The Eisenman exhibition closed the 52 Walker chapter. ARTnews reported earlier this year that, after Haynes's promotion to global head of curatorial projects at David Zwirner in late 2025, the space became simply another David Zwirner location. Its first show under that model was an Isa Genzken solo, which opened in March.

Why Marian Goodman?

"How do I say this? It's Marian Goodman," Haynes said of her decision to join. "For a long time, it's been a gallery that I've been truly inspired by [in terms of] the kinds of exhibitions they've done over the decades, and a lot of their artists have inspired my own practice."

Her connection runs deeper than admiration. While devising the blueprint for 52 Walker, down to its letterhead, Haynes drew on Schema (March 1966), Dan Graham's series of conceptual poems. Graham has shown with Marian Goodman since the late 1980s. "Schema influenced a lot of my decision-making in how I wanted to frame materials," she said, noting that the numbers on the letterhead were meant to help visitors "think about the ways the space is helping you process information."

What changes at the top?

Rose Lord and Junette Teng will now serve as co-presidents, sharing responsibility for the gallery's strategic direction and leading a management team that includes Haynes. Emily-Jane Kirwan, managing partner and head of sales, will leave to focus on cultural philanthropy after a 15-year tenure.

"As we approach the Gallery's 50th anniversary, we are excited to lead it together—building on what has made the Gallery distinctive while creating new opportunities for our artists and program," Lord said in a statement. She credited Kirwan with expanding sales and institutional and patron relationships and called her "instrumental in the establishment of our Tribeca flagship."

Leslie Nolen continues as a partner and member of the management team. Philip Kaiser, the longtime museum curator who joined in 2019 and served as president until 2025, exited following that year's LA wildfires. In 2021, Goodman herself had taken the chief executive role and set a five-person partnership as her succession plan.

"Ebony is a natural fit for the Gallery," Teng said in a statement. "She brings a strong curatorial vision, intellectual rigor, and deep engagement with artists, which aligns with our approach."

What does this change for the program?

Per the gallery's release, Haynes will work on "exhibitions and special initiatives that deepen and expand its international program." She put it more simply: "I hope to support the direction of the gallery in this new moment. I don't think this gallery needs a huge paradigm shift. It's just so elegant and steeped in canonical history."

Since Marian Goodman moved to Tribeca in 2024, Haynes has known the team through mutual visits; the galleries sit around the corner from each other. She said she looks forward to programming the Tribeca space and listening to what the gallery's artists want.

"Having the space to be a vessel or the catalyst to translate an artist's intentions as best as possible is hard to do well, but it's the most rewarding kind of exhibition to do," she said. "I was privileged to do so many at 52 Walker and within David Zwirner globally. I'm looking forward to doing that with the Marian Goodman artists."

She added: "It's a very unique experience to have people like Rose and Junette, who worked with Marian for so long, bring me along to continue stewarding her vision with them. It just feels really special—I'm not taking that opportunity lightly."