What was it like being at Creative Time in 1994, when you first started?
What was it like being at Creative Time in 1994, when you first started?
I like to say that when I joined, Creative Time was a twenty-year-old start up. It had worked with some fantastic artists, and it had a fabulous mission, but few people outside of an inner circle of artists in New York City had heard of Creative Time. Our annual budget had never grown beyond $375,000, and I was the only full-time employee.
So it’s come a very long way, since you first joined.
I wanted to be very mindful of the history of Creative Time and its role as an alternative arts organization, whatever that may mean. At that time, public art wasn't really an idea or notion anybody was giving any attention to, like they do today. If anyone even thought about what public art might be, they thought of heroes on horseback, or just sculptures plopped in public plazas.
So my first question was, how can we engage a wider public? What role can art play in the public realm and society? How can I break away from traditional notions of public art? Those were very, very big challenges that I had to face while doing this. Creative Time had worked with great artists, and it had a great mission and great values, but it was like I was building it from scratch.
