Michael Wellen has been appointed as chief curator, and Regan Pro will serve as chief of learning, engagement and research. (photo courtesy of the Hammer Museum)

The Hammer Museum at UCLA announced two key appointments to its leadership team on Feb. 3. Michael Wellen was appointed as chief curator of the museum, and Regan Pro will assume the newly created role of chief of learning, engagement and research.

Reporting to museum director Zoë Ryan, Wellen and Pro join a leadership team that also includes Naoko Takahatake, director and chief curator of the Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts, who has been with the Hammer Museum since 2023.

Wellen is currently senior curator of international art at Tate Modern, where he has worked since 2016. Wellen has organized critically acclaimed exhibitions at Tate Modern, including Philip Guston (2023), Lubiana Himid (2021) and Takis (2019, co-curated with Guy Brett). He is currently finalizing an exhibition on Ana Mendieta, scheduled to open at Tate Modern in July 2026. As chief curator at the Hammer Museum, Wellen will lead the contemporary exhibitions and collections programs, Hammer publications and the museum’s registrar and preparator teams.

An experienced arts leader and educator, Pro most recently served as the inaugural deputy director of public programs and social impact at the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art. Prior to that role, she served as the Kayla Skinner Deputy Director of Education and Public Engagement at the Seattle Art Museum, where she worked for more than a decade. In both roles, she developed key community partnerships, learning initiatives and inclusive experiences. At the Hammer Museum, Pro will take on a newly created position leading the strategic vision for the museum’s public programs and community partnerships, as well as K-12, family and university initiatives.

“I am delighted to welcome Michael and Regan, two recognized leaders in the field, to the Hammer,” Ryan said. “Their deep commitment to artists and audiences, as well as to experimentation, scholarship and learning, will have a tremendous impact on the museum and the communities we serve.”

Pro will begin on March 2. Wellen will officially join the Hammer Museum on April 6. The Hammer Museum is located at 10899 Wilshire Blvd. For information, visit hammer.ucla.edu.