Urban Gallery: The Role and Influence of Public Art in New York City

Public art expresses our values, transforms our cities, raises awareness, questions what is possible, and enriches the lives of those who experience it. Join the Museum of the City of New York for a panel discussion about the importance of Public Art with Sandra Bloodworth, Former Director of MTA Arts & Design, Jean Cooney, Director of Time Square Alliance, along with artists Saya Woolfalk and Derrick Fordjour. Moderated by Cecilia Alemani, Donald R. Mullen, Jr. Director & Chief Curator of High Line Art. 

This program is part of our new series, The Menschel Lecture Series @MCNY. 





About the Speakers:
Sandra Bloodworth is the former Director of New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Arts & Design, the program responsible for visual and performing arts throughout the transit system. In three decades as Director, Bloodworth worked to transform New York’s century-old transportation network into a first-rate museum, adding permanent works by Nick Cave, Elizabeth Murray, Yoko Ono, Jacob Lawrence, Kiki Smith, Yayoi Kusama, Ann Hamilton, Firelei Báez, Vik Muniz and Alex Katz to the distinguished roster of more than 400 public artworks in subway and rail stations. She has co-authored three books on the transit system’s public art collection, most recently Contemporary Art Underground, co-authored with Cheryl Hageman. In 2024, she founded Bloodworth Arts International, an arts consultancy providing public art advice and services. Bloodworth was awarded the 2024 Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Medal for her extraordinary contribution to New York City. Predominately known as a leader in the field of public art Bloodworth is also a practicing artist, working in oil, watercolor, and mixed media. 

Jean Cooney is the Vice President of Arts and Culture for the Times Square Alliance and Director of Times Square Arts, the public art program presenting work by contemporary artists in one of the world's most iconic urban places. Over the course of the program’s fourteen-year history, Times Square Arts has worked with hundreds of emerging and established artists across a diverse range of disciplines to engage the district's electronic billboards, public plazas, and vacant spaces with video work, installations, and performance. Prior to her role at Times Square Arts, Jean spent seven years at the public arts non-profit Creative Time, primarily supporting major artist commissions. During her tenure there, Jean had the opportunity to work on some of Creative Time’s most celebrated public projects, including Nick Cave’s HEARD•NY in Grand Central Terminal, Kara Walker’s A Subtlety… at the former Domino Sugar factory, and Duke Riley’s Fly By Night at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. She holds a Master’s Degree in Visual Arts Administration from New York University, and a B.A. in International Relations from Boston University. 

Cecilia Alemani is an Italian curator based in New York City. Since 2011, she has been the Donald R. Mullen, Jr. Director & Chief Curator of High Line Art, the public art program presented by the High Line in New York City. She is also the curator of the upcoming 12th SITE Santa Fe International, scheduled to open in June 2025. From 2020 to 2022, she served as artistic director of the 59th Venice Biennale, where she curated the acclaimed exhibition The Milk of Dreams, which was visited by over 800,000 visitors. 

Derek Fordjour was born in Memphis, Tennessee to Ghanaian parents. He was awarded 2016 Sugarhill Museum Artist-in-Residence, the 2017 Sharpe Walentas Studio Program in New York City, and named the 2018 Deutsche Bank NYFA Fellowship Award. He was appointed The Alex Katz Chair at Cooper Union and served as a Core Critic at Yale University School of Art. In 2018, he was awarded commissions for the Whitney Museum of American Art Billboard Project and the Metropolitan Transit Authority Arts & Design program. Recently, he was the inaugural artist for the Building Art Series on the façade of MOCA Grand Avenue in Los Angeles. His work has been reviewed in The New York Times, Financial Times, The Los Angeles Times, and Hyperallergic. He has also been featured in several publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Juxtapoz, Vanity Fair and Forbes Magazine. He is a graduate of Morehouse College in Atlanta Georgia, earned a Master’s Degree in Art Education from Harvard University and an MFA in painting from Hunter College.  His work is held in the private and public collections of The Studio Museum of Harlem, Guggenheim Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, SFMOMA, Brooklyn Museum, Perez Museum, The Whitney Museum and LACMA. Fordjour is the founder of Contemporary Arts Memphis Summer Fellowship program.