Susan K. Freedman is a leading supporter of contemporary

public art Public art is art in any Media (arts), media whose form, function and meaning are created for the general public through a public process. It is a specific art genre with its own professional and critical discourse. Public art is visually and phy ...

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 ...

. Since 1986, she has been the President of the

Public Art Fund Public Art Fund is an independent, non-profit arts organization founded in 1977 by Doris Freedman, Doris C. Freedman. The organization presents contemporary art in New York City's public spaces through a series of highly visible artists' projects, n ...

, which was founded by her mother Doris Chanin Freedman in 1977. Growing up in New York, Freedman attended the

Ethical Culture Fieldston School Ethical Culture Fieldston School (ECFS), also referred to as Fieldston, is a private independent school in New York City. The school is a member of the Ivy Preparatory School League. The school serves approximately 1,700 students with 480 facult ...

and was in Rabbi

Sally Priesand Sally Jane Priesand (born June 27, 1946) is America's first female rabbi Semikha, ordained by a rabbinical seminary, and the second formally ordained female rabbi in Jewish history, after Regina Jonas. Priesand was ordained by the Hebrew Union Co ...

’s first confirmation classes at

Stephen Wise Free Synagogue Stephen Wise Free Synagogue is a Reform Judaism, Reform synagogue located at 30 West 68th Street in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan. The congregation was the first of multiple "free synagogue" branches in the early ...

. She graduated from

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

in 1982 with a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in studio art and American civilization. Freedman was assistant to 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 ...

, and director of special projects and events for the Art Commission of the City of New York from 1983 to 1986. She was formerly a member of the City of New York Department of Cultural Affairs Advisory Commission, a jury member for the

Lower Manhattan Development Corporation The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation was formed in November 2001, following the September 11 attacks, to plan the reconstruction of Lower Manhattan and distribute nearly $10 billion in federal funds aimed at rebuilding downtown Manhattan. ...

World Trade Center Memorial The National September 11 Memorial & Museum (also known as the 9/11 Memorial & Museum) is a memorial and museum in New York City commemorating the September 11 attacks of 2001, which killed 2,977 people, and the 1993 World Trade Center bomb ...

competition, and Mayor

Michael Bloomberg Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman, politician, philanthropist, and author. He is the majority owner, co-founder and CEO of Bloomberg L.P. He was Mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013, and was a ca ...

's Representative on the

Board of Trustees A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

at the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

. According to David Patrick Columbia′s

New York Social Diary New York Social Diary is a website that publishes photographs of "the rich and powerful" socialites and a social calendar of events that they might attend. It is maintained by David Patrick Columbia, who founded it in 2000. History The ''Diary'' ...

, she is “known as a fearless public art crusader.” Freedman currently serves on the board 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 ...

, and as vice chair of the board for the

City Parks Foundation The City Parks Foundation is the only independent, nonprofit organization to offer programs in parks throughout the five boroughs of New York City. The organization works in over 750 parks citywide, presenting a broad range of free arts, sports ...

. Previously she served on the boards of

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and the Eldridge Street Project. Freedman is a recipient of the 1999 Associates of the Art Commission Annual Award and was honoured with the 2005 Municipal Art Society's Evangeline Blashfield Award for her contributions to New York City’s urban landscape. Freedman is married to Rabbi Richard Jacobs, who became president of the

Union for Reform Judaism The Union for Reform Judaism (URJ), known as the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (UAHC) until 2003, founded in 1873 by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, is the congregational arm of Reform Judaism in North America. The other two arms established ...

(URJ) in June 2012, and was formerly the senior rabbi at

Westchester Westchester most commonly refers to Westchester County, New York, immediately north of New York City. __NOTOC__ It may also refer to: Geography Canada *Westchester Station, Nova Scotia, Canada United States *Town of Westchester, the original seat ...

Reform

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

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. The couple has three children, and resides in New York.

Publications

* Susan K. Freedman (ed.) (2004). Plop: Recent projects of the Public Art Fund. Merrell Publishers, London in association with Public Art Fund, New York * Roxy Paine, Susan K. Freedman, Tom Eccles (2004). Roxy Paine: Bluff. Public Art Fund, New York, N.Y. Whitney Museum of American Art

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Freedman, Susan Living people Public art in the United States Culture of New York City Activists from New York City Brown University alumni American Jews Year of birth missing (living people)