Creative Time announces appointment of Jean Cooney as Executive Director
January 22nd, 2026
Cooney joins the organization from the Times Square Alliance where she serves as the Director of Times Square Arts and Vice President of Arts and Culture
January 22, 2026 – New York, NY – Creative Time is pleased to announce that Jean Cooney has been appointed as the organization’s new Executive Director. Cooney, who currently serves as the Director of Times Square Arts and Vice President of Arts and Culture at the Times Square Alliance, returns to Creative Time, where she previously held multiple roles over seven years including Deputy Director. In her new role, Cooney will lead the development and implementation of Creative Time’s institutional vision. Her start date will be February 23, 2026. Creative Time will celebrate Cooney’s arrival on April 28, 2026 at the Spring Gala. Cooney succeeds Justine Ludwig, who served as Creative Time’s Executive Director since her appointment in 2018.
“I couldn’t be more excited to welcome Jean back as she takes the role of Executive Director. She has an extensive history with Creative Time and has played a key role in some of our most important projects. Jean has a deep commitment to public art and exceptional relationships with artists and the broader artistic community. Jean truly is the ideal candidate to lead the organization into its next decade as a pioneer in groundbreaking public art. Her vision and dedication to the future of Creative Time are as inspiring as anything I’ve witnessed in my twelve years with the organization,” said Jon Neidich, Creative Time Board Chair.
Jean Cooney shared, “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. 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.”
At Times Square Arts, Cooney worked with hundreds of artists to present engaging and powerful public works to millions of visitors in one of the world’s most iconic and visited urban spaces, curating bold, engaging, and timely projects that responded to both the cultural moment and the communities that shape Times Square. Cooney also played a key role in expanding Times Square Arts’ nightly Midnight Moment presentation to more than 90 synchronized billboard displays, and led the program’s first major publication, Midnight Moment: A Decade of Artists in Times Square. She launched a socially engaged Public Artist-in-Residence program, and forged meaningful partnerships with leading organizations across the cultural landscape of New York City and beyond. During her seven-year tenure, Cooney presented works by artists including Shantell Martin, Pedro Reyes, Pamela Council, Charles Gaines, Marta Minujín, Yvette Mayorga, David Hockney, Jenny Holzer, Mierle Laderman Ukeles, Laurie Simmons, Shahzia Sikander, Rashaad Newsome, Jeffrey Gibson, and Joan Jonas.
Tom Harris, President of the Times Square Alliance, shared, “Jean has taken Times Square Arts to the next level, elevating Times Square as an aspirational place for artists to present their work and for audiences to enjoy public art, and she has forged strong relationships with the district’s diverse communities and stakeholders along the way. We applaud Creative Time for recognizing her exceptional talent, and while she will be sorely missed at the Times Square Alliance, we look forward to collaborations between both organizations in the future.”
In her seven years at Creative Time, Cooney played a lead role in the organization’s major artist commissions, public programming, engagement initiatives, and cultural partnerships. She helped realize Nick Cave’s HEARD•NY, 2013, in Grand Central Terminal; Kara Walker’s A Subtlety, 2014, at the former Domino Sugar factory; Duke Riley’s Fly By Night, 2016, at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, as well as commissions by artists Trevor Paglen, Suzanne Lacy, Simone Leigh, Bradford Young, Otabenga Jones & Associates, Xenobia Bailey, Spencer Finch, Karyn Olivier, Lauri Stallings, Pedro Reyes, Sophie Calle, and Phil Collins.
ABOUT JEAN COONEY
Jean Cooney is an arts leader, cultural producer, and curator with over 14 years leading ambitious public art programs in New York City. Cooney is currently the Vice President of Arts and Culture for the Times Square Alliance and the Director of Times Square Arts, the public art program that invites contemporary artists to engage with Times Square and the district’s broad and diverse audiences. Times Square Arts commissions and presents sculpture, installation and performance in the district’s public plazas, as well as Midnight Moment, a video program synchronized nightly on over 90 of the district’s iconic billboards from 11:57pm to 12am. Prior to Times Square Arts, Jean spent seven years at the public arts non-profit Creative Time supporting the realization of large scale site-specific artist commissions across New York City. Jean holds an M.A. in Visual Arts Administration from New York University, and a B.A. in International Relations from Boston University.
ABOUT CREATIVE TIME
Since 1974, Creative Time has commissioned and presented over 350 ambitious public art projects in partnership with thousands of artists and organizations throughout New York City, across the country, around the world—and even in outer space. Our work is guided by three core values: art matters, artists’ voices are important in shaping society, and public spaces are places for creative and free expression.
We are acclaimed for the innovative and meaningful projects we have commissioned, from Tribute in Light, the twin beacons of light that illuminate lower Manhattan annually on the anniversary of 9/11, to Kara Walker’s powerful sugar-sphinx at the Domino Sugar Factory (2014), Pedro Reyes’s Doomocracy (2016), a theatrical haunted house of political nightmares at the Brooklyn Army Terminal, Chloë Bass’s If you hear something, free something (2025), a sound work in MTA subway stations throughout NYC, and so much more. Though based in New York City, our organization touches millions, both nationally and internationally, through initiatives like the Creative Time Summit, which has been presented in a variety of locations including Venice, Stockholm, Washington, D.C., and Miami. We are committed to presenting important art for our times and engaging broad audiences that transcend geographic, racial, and socioeconomic barriers.
IMAGE: Portrait available on request. Photo © Claudia Lucia
MEDIA CONTACT
THIRD EYE
Van Lundsgaard | van@hellothirdeye.com | 212-355-9009
CREATIVE TIME
Gloria Celeste Perez | gloriap@creativetime.org
PRESS:
The New York Times “A Public Art Veteran Will Lead Creative Time”
