Telfair Museums Names Caitlín Doherty as Its Next Executive Director

Telfair Museums in Savannah, Georgia, has named Caitlín Doherty as its next executive director, with the appointment taking effect in October 2026. The announcement was confirmed by the museum on 19 August 2025 via its Instagram account and first reported by ARTnews.

Doherty will take the helm of one of the oldest public art institutions in the American South. Telfair Museums comprises three sites — the Telfair Academy, the Owens-Thomas House & Slave Quarters, and the Jepson Center — and has served Savannah's visitors and residents since its founding in the 1880s.

The new role marks a return for Doherty. According to the museum's own announcement, she previously worked on the Guggenheim's dedicated Abu Dhabi Project beginning in 2009, before moving to the North Carolina Museum of Art (NCMA). Her career has spanned curatorial work, institutional planning, and international museum development — experience that covers both building collections and building the buildings that house them. Details of her specific tenure at the NCMA were not included in the announcement materials.

Doherty's start date of October 2026 was confirmed in a Business Insider release published on 18 August 2026. No immediate statement was available from Doherty herself regarding her priorities for the institution.

The appointment fills a leadership role at a museum that balances historical stewardship with contemporary programming. Telfair's three campuses range from a Regency-style mansion designed by English architect William Jay to a modern building by Moshe Safdie, giving any incoming director a unusually broad portfolio — from period rooms and decorative arts to rotating exhibitions of contemporary work.

What makes Doherty's path stand out is the circle it closes: she helped lay groundwork for the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, a still-developing project on Saadiyat Island, more than fifteen years ago. Now she returns to lead an institution with its own deep historical layers — including the Owens-Thomas House, whose preserved slave quarters are among the most visited historic sites in Savannah. The job pairs international museum-building experience with the demands of running a civic institution rooted in a specific American city and its complicated past.

Doherty's formal installation will follow in October, after which the museum's incoming and outgoing leadership are expected to coordinate the handover.