The New York arts non-profit Creative Time has appointed Katie Hollander as its new executive director. She will fill the vacancy left by former director Anne Pasternak who was named director of the Brooklyn Museum in May 2015.

Having worked at Creative Time for eight years, Hollander was promoted to the top job after becoming acting director in the wake of Pasternak’s departure, having previously served as deputy director of the organization.

Before joining Creative Time she worked as Executive Director of ArtTable, a non-profit for professional women in the visual arts.

“Over the last eight months as Acting Director Katie has proven herself to be a dynamic and visionary leader,” Dana Farouki, co-chair of Creative Time’s board of directors, said in a statement. “We are very fortunate to have had the best executive director candidate coming from right here at home.”

The New York arts non-profit was founded in 1974.
Photo: Creative Time

Hollander oversaw the conceptualization and execution of some of Creative Time’s most successful projects, including Kara Walker’s wildly popular, and critically acclaimed monumental Sphinx-like sculpture A Subtlety (2014), which was shown at Brooklyn’s Domino Sugar Factory in 2014.

She also initiated Creative Time Reports, an ongoing editorial collaboration with the British daily the Guardian.

“I’m thrilled to lead Creative Time into its next era,” Hollander said. “For more than 40 years, Creative Time has lead the public-art field, challenged the status quo and forged new opportunities for artists. Now we look towards the future and working with artists to inspire, challenge, reflect, motivate, and make a difference in our city, our communities, and our world.”

Kara Walker A Subtlety (2014).
Photo: Jason Wyche, Courtesy Creative Time.

There will be little time for a honeymoon period for Hollander, as the organization’s next project gets underway. In May, the non-profit is due to present Duke Riley’s Fly By Night in partnership with Brooklyn’s Navy Yard. The ambitious event will feature “flocks of pigeons flying in elegant harmony in the evening sky above the East River.”

Hollander will also coordinate the realization of the Creative Time Summit, an annual public forum which will be held in Washington DC shortly before the upcoming US Presidential Election in the fall.