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| CreativeTime | |
|---|---|
| Name | CreativeTime |
| Formation | 1974 |
| Headquarters | New York City, New York, United States |
| Founders | Francis J. FitzGibbon |
| Type | Nonprofit arts organization |
| Focus | Public art, contemporary art, site-specific commissions |
CreativeTime CreativeTime is a New York City-based nonprofit organization known for commissioning and presenting contemporary public art projects that intervene in urban spaces, cultural institutions, and civic life. It has collaborated with a wide range of artists, municipal agencies, museums, and cultural festivals to produce temporary and permanent works that engage broad publics. The organization operates at the intersection of urban policy, visual art, performance, and cultural history, frequently partnering with institutions and figures from across the arts and civic sectors.
Founded in 1974 by Francis J. FitzGibbon, CreativeTime emerged amid shifts in the late 20th-century art world involving artists such as Joseph Beuys, Marina Abramović, Sol LeWitt, Yoko Ono, and Robert Rauschenberg. In the 1970s and 1980s its activities intersected with venues and movements associated with SoHo, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Whitney Museum of American Art, and Artforum-era debates about urban space and public programming. The organization’s trajectory connects to municipal policies under mayors like Ed Koch and Rudolph Giuliani, events such as New York City blackout of 1977, and redevelopment initiatives including Battery Park City and High Line (New York City). Through the 1990s and 2000s CreativeTime worked alongside institutions such as Brooklyn Museum, P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, The Public Theater, Guggenheim Museum, Museum of Modern Art, and festivals like Venice Biennale and Performa. Leadership transitions involved figures linked to Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, and private patrons connected to Metropolitan Museum of Art donors.
CreativeTime’s stated mission emphasizes commissioning contemporary artists for public presentation, aligning with funding sources such as Ford Foundation, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Kresge Foundation, and municipal arts councils including New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. Programmatic activities have included the annual CreativeTime Summit, site-specific commissions, and artist residencies in collaboration with organizations such as Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), Tate Modern, MoMA PS1, Smithsonian Institution, and university programs at Columbia University and New York University. The organization’s model integrates curatorial practices seen at Documenta, Whitney Biennial, and Serpentine Galleries, with partnerships leveraging infrastructure from Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and civic platforms like Times Square Alliance.
CreativeTime has commissioned projects by artists including Jenny Holzer, Kara Walker, Ai Weiwei, JR (artist), Olafur Eliasson, Kiki Smith, Theaster Gates, Tania Bruguera, Neri Oxman, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Walid Raad, Santiago Sierra, Christo, Jeff Koons, Anish Kapoor, Shirin Neshat, Laurie Anderson, Tony Oursler, Vivian Maier, Laura Poitras, Nan Goldin, Adrian Piper, Cindy Sherman, Barbara Kruger, Sherrie Levine, Ai Weiwei, Cornelia Parker, Yayoi Kusama, Rachel Whiteread, Antony Gormley, Doris Salcedo, Marina Abramović, Bruce Nauman, Jenny Holzer, Gordon Matta-Clark, Hank Willis Thomas, Maya Lin, Swoon, Rashid Johnson, Cecily Brown, Tauba Auerbach, Katherine Bradford, Shahzia Sikander, Caro Niederer, Mernet Larsen, Chantal Akerman, Bill Viola, Lorna Simpson, David Hammons, Isaac Julien, Hans Haacke, Mark Dion, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Allora and Calzadilla, Paul Chan, Santiago Calatrava). Projects have appeared in locations from Times Square and Brooklyn Bridge to Governor's Island (New York City) and along waterfronts next to Hudson River Park.
Public initiatives have connected CreativeTime to community organizations including Make the Road New York, Urban Arts Partnership, Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, International Center of Photography, New York Public Library, Harlem Stage, Apollo Theater, Queens Museum, Bronx Museum of the Arts, El Museo del Barrio, New York Foundation for the Arts, and neighborhood coalitions in Harlem, Bushwick, Williamsburg, Astoria, and Red Hook. Educational programs have involved partnerships with universities such as Pratt Institute, Cooper Union, Parsons School of Design, Yale School of Art, and secondary schools in collaboration with Department of Education (New York City). The organization has also worked with activist and civic groups during events like Occupy Wall Street, Black Lives Matter, and disaster response efforts following Hurricane Sandy.
CreativeTime’s governance structure has included boards and trustees drawn from patrons and leaders affiliated with Rockefeller Foundation, Carnegie Corporation of New York, Bloomberg Philanthropies, and corporate partners such as Bloomberg L.P., Con Edison, Parker Foundation, Google Arts & Culture, and major galleries including Gagosian Gallery and Hauser & Wirth. Staff leadership historically interacted with curators and administrators from Tate Modern, Guggenheim Foundation, Smithsonian American Art Museum, and with legal counsel experienced in partnership agreements with agencies like New York City Department of Parks and Recreation and regulatory entities such as New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.
Critical responses to CreativeTime have ranged across publications and commentators including The New York Times, Artforum, Art in America, The Brooklyn Rail, Frieze, Hyperallergic, The Guardian, Los Angeles Times, The Atlantic, and scholars from Columbia University, New York University, Pratt Institute, and University of California, Los Angeles. Reviews have discussed tensions similar to debates around museum accession policies, public monuments controversies exemplified by debates over Confederate monuments in the United States, and questions raised in relation to cultural policy instances like NEA funding controversies. Its impact is cited in urban studies texts addressing placemaking initiatives, comparative analyses with Public Art Fund, Art in General, and international programs such as Creative Time Summit-adjacent events and metropolitan cultural planning in cities like London, Berlin, São Paulo, Mexico City, Seoul, Tokyo, and Beijing.
Category:Arts organizations based in New York City