The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts has named Wai Yee Chiong, Ph.D., as its new E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Curator of East Asian Art, following an international search. She began her new role on Oct. 10. 

Chiong joins the VMFA from the Rhode Island School of Design Museum, where she served as Curator of Asian Art for seven years. There, she managed a collection of about 4,300 objects and organized several notable exhibitions, including “Being and Believing in the Natural World” and “Take Care!” the museum’s first staff-curated exhibition on climate change and sustainability. 

At the VMFA, Chiong will oversee more than 2,500 works from China, Japan and Korea, a collection that includes bronzes, ceramics, glass, jades and paintings. She succeeds Li Jian, who retired in August 2024 after 17 years with the museum. 

“We are delighted to have someone with Wai Yee’s deep knowledge, thoughtful vision and extensive experience joining the curatorial team,” said VMFA Director and CEO Alex Nyerges. “As an accomplished curator with an international reputation in the field, she will advance the curatorial vision for the museum’s renowned collection of East Asian art.” 

Chiong said she looks forward to expanding how visitors engage with the museum’s holdings. 

“I am excited to join VMFA and work with its esteemed collection of East Asian art,” she said. “I look forward to organizing engaging exhibitions that welcome new audiences and foster different ways of looking at art.” 

Before joining the RISD Museum, Chiong held positions at the Harvard Art Museums and the Princeton University Art Museum and taught in Princeton’s Department of Art and Archaeology. She earned her doctorate in art history from Princeton University, where she specialized in Japanese art, and conducted research in Tokyo as a Japan Foundation Fellow.