Creative Time, a New York-based arts nonprofit known for commissioning and presenting large-scale public art projects, has appointed Jean Cooney as its executive director, the organization announced Thursday.
Cooney has served as vice president of arts and culture for the Times Square Alliance, a nonprofit that promotes the major tourist destination, and as director of Times Square Arts since 2019. Prior to that, she spent seven years at Creative Time in various roles, culminating in deputy director from June 2018 to April 2019. Cooney worked on many of Creative Time’s most high-profile projects, including A Subtlety, or the Marvelous Sugar Baby, Kara Walker’s monumental sugar sculpture at the Domino Sugar Factory in Brooklyn. Last year, ARTnews named the work as one of the 100 best artworks of the 21st Century.
“Jean has a deep commitment to public art and exceptional relationships with artists and the broader artistic community,” Jon Neidich, Creative Time Board Chair said in a statement. “Jean truly is the ideal candidate to lead the organization into its next decade as a pioneer in groundbreaking public art.”
“I’m thrilled to join Creative Time, an organization that continues to define the field of public art and its limitless possibilities, and champion artists in the creation of the seemingly impossible, completely unexpected, undeniably powerful, and deeply engaging,” Cooney said in a statement. “Drawing on my seven formative years at the organization, and nearly seven more leading Times Square Arts, engaging with the broad and diverse public audiences in Times Square, I couldn’t be more excited to work with staff, board, artists, and the broader Creative Time community to bridge the past, present, and future of the organization’s incredible legacy.”
During her time at Times Square Alliance, the non-profit has presented large-scale public art projects by Yvette Mayorga, Maia Chao, Shantell Martin, and others. Last year, the organization presented Thomas J. Price’s 2023 sculpture Grounded in the Stars, a 12-foot-tall statue of a Black woman that ignited a right-wing firestorm online.
In September, Justine Ludwig announced that she would step down from her role as Creative Time’s executive director, a post she had held for over seven years, to join PST ART as its inaugural creative director. PST Art is an initiative held every five years that sees the Getty provide dozens of Southern California institutions with funds to stage shows on a common theme.
Cooney starts in her new role at Creative Time on February 23. The organization will celebrate Cooney’s return at its annual spring gala on April 28.
