Doris Chanin Freedman (1928–1981) was a pioneer in the field of
public art, active in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. She was the daughter of architect
Irwin Salmon Chanin and his wife Sylvia Schofler.
Freedman graduated from
Albright College, Pennsylvania in 1950, where she would later help fund the creation of the school's art gallery. Founded in 1975, Freedman Gallery's primary aim is to represent living American contemporary artists. Freedman also received a master's degree in social work from Columbia University.
From 1971 to 1980 Freedman was the president of
City Walls Inc., a
not-for-profit organization, established in 1969 which worked with artists and communities to revitalize New York City through public art and had sponsored more than fifty
mural
A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage.
Word mural in art
The word ''mural'' is a Spani ...
s. In 1971, she founded the
Public Arts Council; “both organizations provided technical assistance and financial support for a wide variety of projects, and developed programs to explore the potential of urban public spaces”. In 1977 she founded the
Public Art Fund of the City of New York by merging City Walls and the Public Arts Council.
Freedman served as New York City's first Director of Cultural Affairs during the
Lindsay Administration, and as President of the
Municipal Art Society
The Municipal Art Society of New York (MAS) is a non-profit membership organization for preservation in New York City, which aims to encourage thoughtful planning and urban design and inclusive neighborhoods across the city.
The organization was ...
. Greatly through her efforts New York City introduced
Percent for Art legislation in 1982, which requires civil construction projects to spend a portion of their budgets on art. Freedman also hosted the radio show Artists in the City on
WNYC
WNYC is the trademark and a set of call letters shared by WNYC (AM) and WNYC-FM, a pair of nonprofit, noncommercial, public radio stations located in New York City. WNYC is owned by New York Public Radio (NYPR), a nonprofit organization that di ...
.
The southeast entrance of
Central Park in Manhattan, located at the corner of the Park at
60th Street and
Fifth Avenue
Fifth Avenue is a major and prominent thoroughfare in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It stretches north from Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village to West 143rd Street in Harlem. It is one of the most expensive shopping stre ...
was dedicated to Freedman by Mayor
Edward I. Koch
Edward Irving Koch ( ; December 12, 1924February 1, 2013) was an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, film critic, and television personality. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and was mayo ...
in 1981.''The Doris C. Freedman Plaza'' in her honor. It is the site of rotating sculptural art installations presented by the Public Art Fund.
In 1982 the ''Doris C. Freedman Award'', dedicated to her memory was established by Executive Order by Mayor
Koch. The Award honors “an individual or organization for a contribution to the people of the City of New York that greatly enriches the public environment”.
Her daughter
Susan K Freedman is currently president of the Public Art Fund.
See also
*
Public art
*
Culture of New York City
*
Venus (mural)
References
External links
publicartfund.org Public Art Fund official website
1928 births
1981 deaths
Public Art Fund
American people of Polish-Jewish descent
Culture of New York City
Activists from New York City
Albright College alumni
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