Smithsonian Names John K. Lapiana Director and Heran Sereke-Brhan Deputy Director of the National Museum of African Art

John K. Lapiana has been named director of the National Museum of African Art and Heran Sereke-Brhan has been named deputy director. Lapiana has served as interim director of the National Museum of African Art for the past two years, guiding the museum through a transition phase, hiring staff and leading plans for the museum’s 60th anniversary this year. Sereke-Brhan is the author of many publications on Ethiopian social and political history, arts and material culture. She was most recently vice president of the Washington, D.C.-based Arts Consulting Group. The new director and deputy director began Nov. 4.

As interim director, Lapiana increased focus on visitor experience, initiated an ambitious fundraising effort and continued implementation of the Smithsonian’s Shared Stewardship and Ethical Returns policy that began with the repatriation of Benin bronzes in the museum’s collections to their place of origin, Nigeria.

Lapiana has served in a variety of leadership positions since joining the Smithsonian in 1998 as an attorney in the general counsel’s office. For six years, until 2013, he served as chief of staff for the Smithsonian Board of Regents. He also served as Deputy Under Secretary for Finance and Administration, followed by additional roles in finance and administration leadership. For two years (2015–2017), he was the Acting Assistant Secretary of Communication and External Affairs. Lapiana then took on the position of Senior Advisor to the Under Secretary for Museums and Culture, and since March 2023, he has concurrently served as interim director of the National Museum of African Art.

Before joining the Smithsonian, Lapiana was a trial and appellate attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice, civil division. He served as a clerk for the chief judge in the U.S. Court of Appeals and as an associate at Wilmer, Cutler and Pickering law firm. Lapiana earned his bachelor’s and juris doctorate degrees from the University at Buffalo, State University of New York.  

“The National Museum of African Art is one of the Smithsonian’s little-known gems,” said Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III. “In a year celebrating its storied past, bringing in a strong new leadership team combining John’s deep knowledge of the museum and the Smithsonian with Heran’s fresh ideas and perspective rooted in African artistic tradition will help ensure the museum’s brilliant future.”

“I have gotten to know the museum well during my nearly two years as interim director,” Lapiana said. “I’m very excited to work with the museum’s dedicated staff and advisory board to share African arts, cultures and knowledge with audiences across the nation and around the world.”

Sereke-Brhan was executive director of the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities from 2019 to 2022 after serving as senior grants officer for two years. While there, she oversaw agency operations and personnel, managing a budget of over $42 million with nearly 1,000 grant awards for Washington artists and arts and humanities organizations. Sereke-Brhan also guided the development of a comprehensive plan for artistic projects and programs.

She previously served as deputy director for the D.C. Mayor’s Office on African Affairs (2014–2017), overseeing programmatic initiatives and ensuring access to social services for immigrant African diaspora residents. Sereke-Brhan was also on the advisory committee for Art Forward Fund, a funding collaborative of the Greater Washington Community Foundation to promote inclusion and equity for arts organizations.  

Sereke-Brhan has spent over two decades conducting research on African histories and cultures; she also has produced several stage performances and the short film Ethiopia in Movement in addition to writing books and articles. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Mills College (now part of Northeastern University in Oakland, California) as well as a master’s degree and a doctorate in history, focusing on African, African American and Caribbean history, both from Michigan State University. She was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and lived there through high school.

“This is an incredible opportunity,” Sereke-Brhan said. “My studies and travels throughout Africa and my personal experience of growing up in Ethiopia taught me the depth and strength of Africa’s cultural and artistic diversity and its connection to the rest of the world. The museum honors and showcases this breadth and complexity.”

About the National Museum of African Art

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art is the only museum in the world dedicated solely to the collection, conservation, study and exhibition of Africa’s arts across time and media. The museum’s collection of over 13,000 artworks spans more than 1,000 years of African history and includes a variety of media from across the continent. 

Beginning as a private educational institution in Washington, D.C., in 1964 to promote cross-cultural understanding, the museum is now celebrating its 60th anniversary. Founded by Warren M. Robbins, a former U.S. Foreign Service officer, the museum opened with Robbins’ personal collection in a Capitol Hill townhouse that had once been the home of Frederick Douglass. Robbins was inspired by the Civil Rights Movement and motivated by a desire to share how African art inspired Western art. The museum joined the Smithsonian Institution in 1979 and has continued to expand its vision and collection for six decades.

The museum’s collection of 12,000 artworks represents the diversity of the African continent and includes a variety of media—from jewelry to painting, photography, pottery, sculpture, textiles, and video and sound art—dating from ancient to present times.

Recently, the National Museum of African Art added seven new members to its advisory board, bringing the total to 17 members.

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