MOCA LA Names Former Public Media Executive as New Director

For its next director, the Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles has gone with a figure whose expertise lies outside the art world.

Jonathan Abbott, the former head of the public media organization GBH, was announced as the institution’s new director on Thursday, formally filling a post that was held in an interim capacity by curator Ann Goldstein. She had taken the leadership role after Johanna Burton left in 2025 to lead the Institute of Contemporary Art Philadelphia.

It is an unconventional choice for this museum, which, like most major art institutions in the US, has given the directorship to people well-known to industry insiders.

Abbott, who begins in his new role as director and CEO at MOCA today, was president and CEO of GBH from 2007 to 2022, the year he resigned. GBH is a Boston-based public broadcasting group that helps distribute a number of well-known PBS programs, including Masterpiece and Frontline.

In a statement, Abbott said, “I want to help bring broader support and audiences to work that is urgent and thought-provoking. Los Angeles is one of the world’s most vibrant cultural centers, with an extraordinary sense of possibility. I grew up thinking of cultural institutions as public places that belonged to everyone. MOCA was built here by artists and civic leaders, and I’m energized by the opportunity to help it remain deeply of this community and for this community.”

Carolyn Clark Powers, MOCA’s board chair, said in a statement, “Jon is a builder of mission-driven institutions and a deeply collaborative leader who understands that great creative work depends on trust, resources, discipline, and a clear sense of purpose. He brings the experience and imagination to help MOCA extend its reach, deepen its relationship with Los Angeles, and give artists and curators the strongest possible platform for their ambitious work. As we look toward our 50th anniversary in 2029, I can think of no better partner for this next chapter.”

His appointment makes him the seventh person to lead MOCA since 2008. Other recent past directors include Philippe Vergne, who departed in 2018, not long after Helen Molesworth was fired as chief curator, and Klaus Biesenbach, who exited the museum in 2021, having initially shared the top role with Burton.

Under Goldstein’s interim leadership, MOCA opened what may count as its most widely acclaimed exhibition in recent history: “MONUMENTS,” a show co-organized with the Brick that featured decommissioned Confederate monuments and works by contemporary artists who responded to them, whether directly or obliquely.