CHARLOTTE COHEN has worked in the nonprofit cultural sector and the public art field for over 30 years. Before joining the Association for Public Art in 2023, she was Executive Director of Brooklyn Arts Council, where she designed and implemented the agenda and vision of Brooklyn’s foremost nonprofit cultural organization supporting artists.
As Fine Arts Officer and Urban Development Manager for the U.S. General Services Administration, Charlotte managed new commissions in the New York City metropolitan region, across NY State, the Caribbean, and elsewhere, including Robert Mangold’s large-scale stained-glass window project for the U.S. Robert H. Jackson Federal Courthouse in Buffalo, New York. In addition to her work with living artists, she also managed the collection and conservation of the historic Fine Arts Collection in the region.
In 1996, she became the Director of New York City’s Percent for Art Program, Department of Cultural Affairs. There she commissioned dozens of artists—including Alison Saar, whose Swing Low, a memorial to Harriet Tubman in Harlem was the first public monument to a Black woman in New York City and worked with Mierle Laderman Ukeles on the master plan for Fresh Kills Landfill. She was responsible for developing policy and planning in partnership with many city agencies and community partners.
Prior to these roles, Charlotte was a Project Director at the Smithsonian Institution’s Traveling Exhibition Service, and Program Director and Curator at Maryland Art Place, a contemporary art center in Baltimore, Maryland. Charlotte has taught at NYU and the School of Visual Arts and serves on the board of CEC ArtsLink.