NEW YORK, NY.- Louise Mirrer, president and CEO of the New-York Historical Society, announced that Margaret “Margi” Hofer will be leaving at the end of 2023, completing an illustrious 30-year career at the institution. Hofer joined New-York Historical in 1993 and rose to become vice president (later senior vice president) and Museum director in 2015.

“Margi has been instrumental in the evolution of New-York Historical over the past three decades,” Louise Mirrer said. “From her pivotal work on the permanent Gallery of Tiffany Lamps to her achievements as Museum director, she has crafted outstanding exhibitions, expanded our collections, and enriched the historical narrative for our audiences. We are immensely grateful for the legacy she leaves.”

During her tenure as Museum director, New-York Historical secured landmark acquisitions including the promised gift in 2020 of the Elie and Sarah Hirschfeld Collection and works by artists such as Betye Saar, Kara Walker, Augusta Savage, Simone Leigh, and Sana Musasama. She spearheaded the presentation of blockbuster exhibitions such as Harry Potter: A History of Magic (2018) and “I’ll Have What She’s Having”: The Jewish Deli (2022). During the pandemic, she maintained the Museum’s presence by organizing exhibitions outdoors in New-York Historical’s courtyard, including Hope Wanted: New York City Under Quarantine (2020) and Safe/Haven: Gay Life in 1950s Cherry Grove (2021). Among her notable recent exhibitions are Crafting Freedom: The Life and Legacy of Free Black Potter Thomas W. Commeraw (2023), which revealed the unknown story of a stoneware entrepreneur and abolitionist, and Black Dolls (2022), which shed light on the lives of Black women in the Reconstruction and Jim Crow eras.

As curator of decorative arts, Hofer was responsible for significant acquisitions including a sampler stitched in 1820 by New York African Free School student Rosena Disery and a massive Tiffany & Co. silver punch bowl presented by Frank Woolworth to architect Cass Gilbert upon the opening of the Woolworth Building in 1913. Her groundbreaking exhibition A New Light on Tiffany: Clara Driscoll and the Tiffany Girls (2007), co-curated with Nina Gray and Martin Eidelberg, inspired the creation of the Museum’s Gallery of Tiffany Lamps, designed by Eva Jiřičná, which opened in 2017.

Hofer said: “It has been an honor to direct New-York Historical’s Museum over the past eight years and work with a talented and dedicated team to bring compelling exhibitions to our visitors. I’ve also been privileged to work with such extraordinarily rich collections—from silver and furniture to board games and folk art—and reframe them for today’s audiences. I am looking forward to the next chapter in my career with a renewed focus on curatorial research. I’m excited to bring to light more stories of artists and makers whose contributions have remained in the shadows.”