Nancy Spector is set to make a swift return to the Guggenheim museum, after leaving the institution in 2016.

Spector who left to become deputy director and chief curator of the Brooklyn Museum, rejoins her former employer under the role of chief curator and artistic director – a new position created to offer her a greater say in programming and acquisitions at Guggenheim sites worldwide.

“Over the past year, we have given fresh thought to the way the Guggenheim creates and manages its artistic programme in New York and abroad,” said Richard Armstrong, director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Foundation.

“This exploration has identified the need for an individual who provides leadership and strategic vision for collections, exhibitions and programs across all aspects of the foundation and all the museums in our international constellation. During her many years at the Guggenheim, Nancy Spector shaped our institution in singular and significant ways. She is the ideal person to take on this new role working with the Guggenheim to realise and reimagine the radical purpose its founders gave it 80 years ago.”

Spector previously served at Guggenheim for more than 29 years, with her most recent roles at the institution being deputy director and then chief curator. She joined the Brooklyn Museum in April 2016, rejoining Guggenheim less than a year after her departure.

“I’m grateful to the Brooklyn Museum for giving me the opportunity to work with them and learn from them in their great institution,” said Spector. “It has been a privilege to participate in the museum’s vital engagement with its community and to address the possibilities of its encyclopaedic collection.

"But when Richard Armstrong approached me with the new position of Artistic Director at the Guggenheim, I simply could not let this extraordinary opportunity – which is truly unique to the Guggenheim – pass me by. I look forward to working with my Guggenheim colleagues in New York and around the world in envisioning the many innovative programmes and initiatives we will create together in the coming years.”