Creative Time
Encyclopedia
Creative Time is a New York-based nonprofit arts organization. It was founded in 1973 to support the creation of innovative, site-specific, socially engaged works in the public realm, especially in vacant spaces of historical and architectural interest. Creative Time focuses on presenting artworks that both create inspiring personal experiences and foster social progress, while pushing artists beyond their normal boundaries.
Creative Time produces, presents, and sponsors programs in both the visual and performing arts, programs that encourage a dialogue between the artist and the community. Creative Time's projects expand the definition of public art
by employing artists concerned with enhancing the viewer's perception of a particular environment, sharing the creative process with the public, and using densely populated locations lacking in cultural amenities.
Instead of having a readily identifiable home, Creative Time focuses on having a well-defined programming philosophy, which requires that it move around to take advantage of the city's richness of resources.
Early Creative Time programs took over abandoned storefronts and neglected public spaces, such as the Brooklyn Bridge Anchorage and the Great Hall of the Chamber of Commerce in Lower Manhattan. Both landmarks had been unused for years before Creative Time reinvigorated them, through programs like Art in the Anchorage (1983-2001) and Projects at the Chamber (1982).
Creative Time initially gained widespread recognition for organizing ‘’Art on the Beach’’, a project which brought together practitioners of many mediums and allowed for the creation of large scale public works in Battery Park City between 1978 and 1985. For three months each summer ‘’Art on the Beach’’ offered site-specific sculpture and performances that were open to the public and free of cost.
Throughout the duration of ‘’Art on the Beach”, Creative Time was led by co-founder Anita Contini, who served as director until Cee Scott Brown took over in 1987. Anne Pastnernak took the reins in 1993 and continues to serve as director. To this day, Creative Time continues to grow and prosper, each year giving both emerging and established artists unmatched opportunities to broaden their repertoires and explore the practice of art in the public realm. With these artists’ creations, Creative Time also allows millions of people of all ages and backgrounds to come in contact with contemporary art, enlivening the city around them.
The vast array of notable projects in recent years include skywriting over Manhattan in ‘’Clouds’’ (a collaboration with Vik Muniz
) and Tribute in Light
. Creative Time has also collaborated with such artists as Vito Acconci, Diller + Scofidio, David Byrne
, Felix Gonzalez-Torres
, Red Grooms
, Jenny Holzer
, Takashi Murakami
, Shirin Neshat
, Sonic Youth
, Elizabeth Streb
, Tania Bruguera
, Temporary Services
, and Superflex
, among thousands more.
In addition to these artists, Creative Time often partners with other cultural institutions in New York City and elsewhere, like the Dia Art Foundation
, the Queens Museum of Art
, Lincoln Center, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art
.
History
Creative Time came to life during a period of artists testing out new forms and media that forced their works out of galleries and into the public sphere. The deterioration of New York City prompted response from its citizens, joining together around the common goal of improving city life. The federal government established the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to promote the role of artists in society and introduce new audiences to contemporary art. This climate heavily influenced Creative Time's values of fostering artistic experimentation, enriching public space and the everyday experience, and bringing artists to the forefront as key contributors to a democratic society.Creative Time produces, presents, and sponsors programs in both the visual and performing arts, programs that encourage a dialogue between the artist and the community. Creative Time's projects expand the definition of public art
Public art
The term public art properly refers to works of art in any media that have been planned and executed with the specific intention of being sited or staged in the physical public domain, usually outside and accessible to all...
by employing artists concerned with enhancing the viewer's perception of a particular environment, sharing the creative process with the public, and using densely populated locations lacking in cultural amenities.
Instead of having a readily identifiable home, Creative Time focuses on having a well-defined programming philosophy, which requires that it move around to take advantage of the city's richness of resources.
Early Creative Time programs took over abandoned storefronts and neglected public spaces, such as the Brooklyn Bridge Anchorage and the Great Hall of the Chamber of Commerce in Lower Manhattan. Both landmarks had been unused for years before Creative Time reinvigorated them, through programs like Art in the Anchorage (1983-2001) and Projects at the Chamber (1982).
Creative Time initially gained widespread recognition for organizing ‘’Art on the Beach’’, a project which brought together practitioners of many mediums and allowed for the creation of large scale public works in Battery Park City between 1978 and 1985. For three months each summer ‘’Art on the Beach’’ offered site-specific sculpture and performances that were open to the public and free of cost.
Throughout the duration of ‘’Art on the Beach”, Creative Time was led by co-founder Anita Contini, who served as director until Cee Scott Brown took over in 1987. Anne Pastnernak took the reins in 1993 and continues to serve as director. To this day, Creative Time continues to grow and prosper, each year giving both emerging and established artists unmatched opportunities to broaden their repertoires and explore the practice of art in the public realm. With these artists’ creations, Creative Time also allows millions of people of all ages and backgrounds to come in contact with contemporary art, enlivening the city around them.
The vast array of notable projects in recent years include skywriting over Manhattan in ‘’Clouds’’ (a collaboration with Vik Muniz
Vik Muniz
Vicente José de Oliveira Muniz, known as Vik Muniz , is a visual artist living in New York City.-Early career:Muniz began his career as a sculptor in the late 1980s after relocating from Brazil to Chicago and later to New York. His early work grew out of a post-Fluxus aesthetic and often involved...
) and Tribute in Light
Tribute in Light
The Tribute in Light is an art installation of 88 searchlights placed next to the site of the World Trade Center to create two vertical columns of light in remembrance of the September 11 attacks. It is produced annually by The Municipal Art Society of New York...
. Creative Time has also collaborated with such artists as Vito Acconci, Diller + Scofidio, David Byrne
David Byrne
David Byrne may refer to:*David Byrne , musician and former Talking Heads frontman**David Byrne , his eponymous album*David Byrne , Irish footballer*David Byrne , English footballer...
, Felix Gonzalez-Torres
Félix González-Torres
Felix Gonzalez-Torres was an American, Cuban-born visual artist."For Felix it was much more powerful to assume that the gay and straight audience was the same audience, that being a Cuban-born American is the same as being an American. And being American was something he was extremely proud of."...
, Red Grooms
Red Grooms
Red Grooms is an American multimedia artist best known for his colorful pop-art constructions depicting frenetic scenes of modern urban life...
, Jenny Holzer
Jenny Holzer
Jenny Holzer is an American conceptual artist. Holzer lives and works in Hoosick Falls, New York.-Education:...
, Takashi Murakami
Takashi Murakami
is an internationally prolific contemporary Japanese artist. He works in fine arts media—such as painting and sculpture—as well as what is conventionally considered commercial media —fashion, merchandise, and animation— and is known for blurring the line between high and low art...
, Shirin Neshat
Shirin Neshat
Shirin Neshat شیرین نشاط is an Iranian visual artist who lives in New York. She is known primarily for her work in film, video and photography.-Background:Neshat's parents were upper middle-class...
, Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
, Elizabeth Streb
Elizabeth Streb
Elizabeth Streb is an American choreographer, performer, and teacher of contemporary dance.-Background:Streb was born and raised in Rochester, New York and, after graduating from the dance program of State University of New York at Brockport in 1972, she was interested in experimental works and...
, Tania Bruguera
Tania Bruguera
Tania Bruguera is a Cuban installation and performance artist, trained at the Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana and at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Bruguera's work pivots around issues of power and control....
, Temporary Services
Temporary Services
Temporary Services is an artist collective of three people based in Chicago, Illinois, USA. They have been collaborating on art projects, public events, publications, and exhibitions since 1998....
, and Superflex
Superflex
SUPERFLEX is a Danish artists' group founded in 1993 by Jakob Fenger, Rasmus Nielsen and Bjørnstjerne Christiansen. Superflex describe their projects as Tools, as proposals that invite people to actively participate in and communicate the development of experimental models that alter the prevailing...
, among thousands more.
In addition to these artists, Creative Time often partners with other cultural institutions in New York City and elsewhere, like the Dia Art Foundation
Dia Art Foundation
Dia Art Foundation is a non-profit organization that initiates, supports, presents, and preserves art projects. It was established in 1974 as the Lone Star Foundation by Philippa de Menil, the daughter of Houston arts patron Dominique de Menil and an heiress to the Schlumberger oil exploration...
, the Queens Museum of Art
Queens Museum of Art
The Queens Museum of Art is an art museum and educational center located in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in the borough of Queens in New York City, United States.-Overview:...
, Lincoln Center, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
.
Further reading
- Pasternak, Anne and Ruth A. Peltason, ed. Creative Time : the book : 33 years of public art in New York City (New York : Princeton Architectural Press, 2007) ISBN 9781568986968; ISBN 1568986963