sheena wagstaff
sheena wagstaff is the new curator of contemporary art at the Met reuters

Changes are coming for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In the hopes of becoming a serious contender in the arena of contemporary art, the museum is bringing prominent London curator Sheena Wagstaff on board to head the museum's Modern and Contemporary Art Department.

The Board of Trustees formally approved the decision on Tuesday. Wagstaff, currently chief curator at Tate Modern in London, will begin her position in he spring.

Wagstaff's employment is part of a mass reorganization that is coming to the Met. When he became director of the Met in 2008, Thomas Campbell vowed to bring greater focus to the museum's contemporary art department, which has long been considered a weakness of the museum.

Reversing a decision made by previous director Phillipe de Montebello, Campbell has decided to remove the 19th-century paintings from the Modern and Contemporary Art Department and revert them back to the Department of European paintings.

Last May, the museum also announced its plan to take over the Whitney Museum of American Art's Breuer Building, where it will house many of its contemporary art collections.

No comment so far on what direction the new curator plans to take...