After more than three years at the helm, William S. Smith will depart Art in America as editor. He will leave the publication, where he has worked for much of the past decade, this Friday to take up a new editorial position at the soon-to-open M+ museum in Hong Kong.
“I’m really proud of having revitalized this title, which is more than a century old,” Smith said in a phone interview on Monday. “Bringing in dozens of new writers and a more diverse writer base is the legacy I’m proudest of.”
He also singled out themed issues focused on Indigenous art and realism, from 2017 and 2020, respectively, as being some of the greatest achievements of his tenure at Art in America. “I really see Art in America in print as not just responding to a conversation that is happening in the art world, but really driving that conversation, and our big thematic issues were maybe the biggest ways that we were able to do that,” he said.
Smith first began at Art in America in 2013 as associated editor, and was ultimately promoted to editor in 2017. Prior to Art in America, he became a founding editor of Triple Canopy, a magazine that hosts digital artworks and writings, in 2007.
Smith’s next move will see him taking a newly created position at a museum that is yet to open. He will take up the role of head of digital and editorial content at the M+, which is currently set to open in the fall of this year. In his new post, Smith work within the museum’s curatorial department, and he will be based in Hong Kong.
“I’m really excited about this publishing, and digital publishing in particular, is going to be a crucial way of bringing the scholarship, knowledge, and art that is in M+ to a global audience,” he said.