About a month ago, beloved New York nonprofit Creative Time announced this Jean Cooney would serve as its new executive director. Cooney replaces Justine Ludwig, who has served as executive director of Creative Time since her appointment in 2018and arrives from the Times Square Alliance, another major institution staging ambitious public art in the city. Cooney worked at Creative Time before Times Square Arts, and we caught up to hear more about her new work and thoughts on public art in general.
You’re returning to Creative Time after nearly seven years at Times Square Arts. I can see the ways in which the two jobs are similar, in that they both program ambitious public art, but what would you point to as the main differences between the two organisations?
Creative Time and Times Square Arts are each icons in their own right! Both programs are built around inviting artists to think big, push the boundaries of their practices, and respond to our city’s landscape and contemporary cultural moment. I feel grateful that in these very diverse organizations, I have been able to work with artists and advocate for the realization of bold, ambitious and timely projects for the broad and diverse public of New York City.
Times Square is an incredible place that sees an average of 250,000 people a day, where you really can’t make assumptions about anyone’s interest in art, which really inspired me to expand my thinking about audience and access. Alternatively, Creative Time follows artists, moving across the city and occasionally beyond (and in one case, even into outer space), to bring their visions to life—a practice I’m excited to dig back into, push even further, and interweave with my lessons from Times Square.
At Creative Time you helped make it happen Nick CaveS ‘ HEARD•NY (2013) at Grand Central Terminal, Kara WalkerS ‘ A detail (2014) in the former Domino sugar factory and Duke RileyS ‘ Fly at night (2016) at the Brooklyn Navy Yard – three of the most beloved pieces in recent memory. What makes a great piece of Creative Time?
A very Creative Time project is when you can really feel the alchemy between a visionary artist, a bold idea and the space in which their project is set. Our artists’ projects can take many shapes and forms, but ultimately they are unexpected, involve risk and experimentation, and push us to see ourselves and our world in new ways. And they leave an indelible mark – I can still smell the sugar melting in that giant warehouse; hear the sounds of raffia and booming drums in Vanderbilt Hall; and watch the lights take shape in the night sky over the East River, with the jingle of the bell calling the birds home.
Last year Thomas J Price sculpture in Times Square turned into a lightning rod after Fox News went after it. How has that controversy shaped the way you think about public art in these recent political times?
This experience only reaffirmed to me the necessity of public art and artists opening dialogue about our most pressing, unresolved social and political issues, especially in this divisive climate. Artists like Thomas J Price create space for difficult conversations, forcing us to confront the tensions between multiple truths and find new entry points to take on the most polarizing topics. The presentation of his work in Times Square, and the response it received, ultimately became a psychological portrait of our ongoing and historical relationship with race, gender, and identity, and held an insight into who we are and what we value, as individuals and as a society.
The experience also crystallized the challenges and potential of a public dialogue online and in person, and how the two can intersect. In this case, hate-fueled conversations online sparked an explosion of solidarity and celebration around the work, which ultimately resulted in rational, critical dialogue on social media, in the press, and on the ground. Along the way, our public art ambassadors were having thoughtful and increasingly meaningful conversations with visitors to Times Square.
You have worked with both Anne Pasternakwho was artistic director and president of Creative Time, and Born Thompson as chief curator, each of them a major figure in the art world. What did you take from each of them as a leader and where do you intend to leave them?
Those were incredibly formative years for me, and really shaped who I am and how I see the world. Working under such charismatic leadership and with the visionary artists of that period of the Creative Age opened my eyes to the possibilities of public art, the ways in which artists can become agents of change within our society at large, and how to foster an artist-led organizational culture. My lessons from each of them and so many of my talented colleagues from that time period continue to inspire me and drive my mission to take on the full spectrum of Creative Age magic in this next chapter—from the bold, beautiful, and arresting to the socially engaged and subversive.
I have no doubt that a tremendous amount of red tape goes into running Times Square Arts and Creative Time. Does dealing with bureaucracy empower you, or is it something you’ve just learned to navigate with a little sweat?
Is it strange to say that I am enlivened by bureaucracy? Because at this point I really like a challenge, and at the core of any seemingly impossible project is some kind of bureaucratic success—from navigating the municipal codes and civic structures of our city to the negotiations and strategic partnerships that can expand them, and the subtle politics and nerve-wracking moments that live in between.
Since Creative Time is often reactivating or opening up spaces in new ways for our artists to commission—whether it’s bringing the public into a 130-year-old abandoned sugar factory or staging a politically-themed haunted house in a former army terminal—the process usually involves a lot of behind-the-scenes stamps and approvals, and a very high-profile behind-the-scenes tour. discovery. I am still traumatized by my colleagues who worked to secure all our temporary collection permits; and I’ll never forget getting a call from the Federal Aviation Administration on opening night Fly at night to discern whether the aerial performance of the pigeons would interfere with the flight paths at LaGuardia; or the many hours spent at the Health Department’s mobile food vending inspection facility in Maspeth, Queens to certify Spencer Finchsolar powered ice cream truck. Ultimately, through all of these experiences, you build relationships and a group of people to call upon when you face your next challenge.
You started doing one-night art installations at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. What do you remember from that experience?
That was such a special time, and in retrospect, it had all the makings of what I continue to love about my work now. We were dreaming with artists, bending the rules a bit, and thanks to the bureaucratic navigation of my friend, collaborator and Episcopal priest DJ, we were organizing temporary site-specific installations inside a Gothic cathedral every month, playing music and throwing parties. At the time I remember thinking, “I don’t know exactly what this is, but I know I like it and I need to do more.”
Creative Time has been around since 1974. How do you think it manages to stay fresh? How do you intend to position it so that it remains relevant in the coming decades?
Letting artists lead is how Creative Time has continued to stay relevant and chart new paths forward. By lifting up visionary artists who are talking about the issues of our time and letting them dream big, you will always find yourself ahead of the curve. As we prepare to continue that work for another 50 years, Creative Time will need to remain nimble, responsive, ready to embrace the unexpected and game to take real risks with our artists, partners and audiences.
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