The Phillips Collection Announces Two New Key Appointments: Tiffany McGettigan as Chief of Education and Responsive Learning and Clarisse Fava-Piz as Curator of Modern Art
WASHINGTON, DC—The Phillips Collection is pleased to announce the appointments of Tiffany McGettigan as Chief of Education and Responsive Learning and Clarisse Fava-Piz as Curator of Modern Art. These two new hires underscore the museum’s continued commitment to inclusive learning, scholarship, and community engagement. McGettigan will begin her role on May 5, 2025, and Fava-Piz will join the Phillips on July 28, 2025.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Tiffany and Clarisse to The Phillips Collection,” said Vradenburg Director & CEO Jonathan P. Binstock. “Tiffany’s innovative approach to education and Clarisse’s curatorial vision will bring fresh energy to the museum. Their leadership will deepen our connections with diverse audiences and advance our mission to foster relationships between art, people, and ideas through learning and discovery.”
Tiffany McGettigan, Chief of Education and Responsive Learning
As Chief of Education and Responsive Learning, Tiffany McGettigan will lead the museum’s educational vision, programs, and community initiatives. She will oversee inclusive learning experiences that serve audiences of all ages and will play a key leadership role on the Senior Leadership Team. McGettigan will guide a wide-ranging portfolio that includes school partnerships, public programs, and Phillips@THEARC, as well as initiatives connecting art and wellness. She will also provide strategic direction for the museum’s library and archives, fostering deeper interactions with the collection through innovative interpretation and resource development.
McGettigan brings over 20 years of experience in museum and classroom education. She joins the Phillips from the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, where she served as Head of Education and launched the acclaimed Hirshhorn Art School, a hands-on, all-ages art-making space. There, she helped develop the Smithsonian Institution’s first Professional Learning Standards and Competencies and was recently honored with the 2025 Smithsonian Education Achievement Award.
A former DC Public Schools teacher, McGettigan earned her master’s degree in museum education from The George Washington University and has dedicated her career to advancing educational excellence across the DC metro area through innovation and public service.
“It’s an honor to join The Phillips Collection, a museum that truly values community, creativity, and curiosity,” said McGettigan. “I’ve always believed in the power of art to help people—especially young people—see themselves, connect with others, and explore big ideas. I’m excited to work alongside such a thoughtful team to build meaningful, inclusive learning experiences that welcome people of all ages and backgrounds into the museum.”
Clarisse Fava-Piz, Curator of Modern Art
As Curator of Modern Art, Clarisse Fava-Piz will help steward the Phillips’s internationally recognized modern art collection and collaborate across departments to create dynamic exhibitions and fresh scholarship that foster more inclusive narratives about modern art within a global context. Clarisse’s work will focus on expanding the modernist canon through transnational and interdisciplinary approaches that resonate with contemporary audiences.
Fava-Piz comes to the Phillips from the Denver Art Museum, where she served as Associate Curator of European and American Art Before 1900 and co-curated The Honest Eye: Camille Pissarro’s Impressionism (2025) in collaboration with the Museum Barberini, Potsdam. She has also held roles at the Musée du Louvre, the National Gallery of Art, and the Getty Research Institute. From 2021 to 2023, she was a Mellon Curatorial Fellow at the Meadows Museum, where she curated In the Shadow of Dictatorship: Creating the Museum of Spanish Abstract Art and edited its accompanying catalogue. Among her recent publications, she contributed to the Camille Claudel exhibition catalogue (Getty Publications, 2023), which earned the Alfred H. Barr Jr. Award from the College Art Association.
Fava-Piz holds a PhD in the history of art and architecture from the University of Pittsburgh and an MA in art history from the Université Paris Ouest Nanterre-La Défense.
“I’m excited to welcome Clarisse to our dedicated curatorial team at the Phillips. Her community-centered practice and rich transatlantic perspective will contribute significantly to the museum’s engaging exhibition and collection program, expanding how we think about modernism at the Phillips,” said Chief Curator Elsa Smithgall.
“I’m honored to join The Phillips Collection, a museum that has long shaped how we understand and experience modern art in the US,” said Fava-Piz. “I’m particularly excited by the Phillips’s commitment to expanding the stories we tell about modernism, across geographies, disciplines, and identities. I look forward to working with this incredible team to create exhibitions and experiences that invite people to think critically and connect deeply with art.”
QUESTIONS
For press inquiries, please contact Lauryn Cantrell, lcantrell@phillipscollection.org.
IMAGES: Tiffany McGettigan; Clarisse Fava-Piz, Photo: Eric Stephenson. DAM Photography.
ABOUT THE PHILLIPS COLLECTION
Founded in 1921, The Phillips Collection is a welcoming home for all where the vision and spirit of artists thrive in intimate settings. As the first museum of modern art in the United States, the Phillips houses one of the world’s most celebrated Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, and modern art collections, and continues to grow its permanent collection with the work of important living artists. Its distinctive domestically scaled architecture combines three structures built over more than 125 years, among them the former home of the founders, Duncan and Marjorie Phillips. The Phillips’s impact extends nationally and internationally through its diverse, scholarly exhibitions; award-winning education programs for educators, students, and adults; and renowned Phillips Music series. Popular and impactful programs include those focused on art and wellness, its festive monthly Phillips after 5 events, and intimate Living Room talks. Through authentic programs and partnerships at Phillips@THEARC, the museum’s satellite location in Southeast DC, the Phillips extends its reach into Wards 7 and 8 and Prince George’s County, Maryland. The Phillips Collection is a private, non-government museum, supported primarily by donations.