She organized the first major North American retrospectives of artists Yayoi Kusama (1989), Daido Moriyama (1999), Yoko Ono (2000), Mu Xin (2001), Cai Guo-Qiang (2008), and Lee Ufan (2011), among others, and has brought such historic avant-garde movements as Gutai, Mono-ha, and Chinese conceptual art, as well as Japanese otaku culture, to international attention.
[8] Prior to her academic training, Munroe served as a resident lay disciple at Yotokuin, a subtemple of Daitoku-ji (大徳寺) monastic compound in Kyoto, a historic center of Rinzai Zen from 1977 to 1980.
[9][10] Munroe organized the first retrospectives in America of several Asian-born artists, including Yayoi Kusama: A Retrospective (Center for International Contemporary Arts, New York, 1989); YES Yoko Ono (Japan Society Gallery, New York, 2000; traveled to 13 venues in U.S., Canada, Japan, and Korea through 2003); Cai Guo Qiang: I Want to Believe (Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 2008); and Lee Ufan: Marking Infinity (Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 2011).The Third Mind: American Artists Contemplate Asia, 1860–1989 (Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 2009) was among the largest exhibitions of Asian influence on American culture to date and received the inaugural Chairman's Special Award of $1,000,000 from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
[13] In this role, she guides the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation's exhibitions, acquisitions, and public programs relating to Asian art for its museums worldwide.
With broad support from the International Council on Museums (ICOM), AAMD, and PEN America, the petition garnered over 145,000 signatures worldwide on the activist website Change.org.
[28] Launched in May 2020, this project offered face coverings hand-printed with iconic images of the artist’s lifelong campaign for free speech and individual rights.
Ai donated the artworks to be sold exclusively through eBay for Charity to benefit the COVID-19 emergency humanitarian efforts led by non-governmental organizations.
Munroe is a trustee of the American Academy in Rome,[29] Aspen Music Festival and School,[30] Intelligence Squared US,[31] LongHouse Reserve,[32] and PEN America.