Susan K. Freedman is a leading supporter of contemporary public art

Public art

The term public art properly refers to works of art in any media that have been planned and executed with the specific intention of being sited or staged in the physical public domain, usually outside and accessible to all...

 in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

. Since 1986, she is the president of the Public Art Fund

Public Art Fund

The Public Art Fund is a non-profit organization founded in 1977 by Doris Freedman , a Director of New York City's Department of Cultural Affairs, and the President of the Municipal Art Society. They have organized highly visible artists' projects, new commissions, installations and exhibitions in...

, founded by her mother Doris Chanin Freedman in 1977. Freedman graduated from Brown University

Brown University

Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...

 in 1982 with a B.A. in Studio Art and American Civilization. She was Assistant to Mayor Edward I. Koch, and Director of Special Projects and Events for the Art Commission of the City of New York from 1983 to 1986. She serves on the Boards of the Municipal Art Society

Municipal Art Society

The Municipal Art Society of New York, founded in 1893, is a non-profit membership organization that fights for intelligent urban planning, design and preservation through education, dialogue and advocacy in New York City....

, WNYC Radio, and as Vice President of the Board for the City Parks Foundation

City Parks Foundation

City Parks Foundation is the only independent, nonprofit organization to offer programs in parks throughout the five boroughs of New York City...

. She is also a member of the City of New York Department of Cultural Affairs Advisory Commission, and was a jury member for the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation

Lower Manhattan Development Corporation

The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation was formed in July 2002, after the September 11 attacks to plan the reconstruction of Lower Manhattan and distribute nearly $10 billion in federal funds aimed at rebuilding downtown Manhattan....

's World Trade Center Memorial

World Trade Center Memorial

- Fundraising :The Foundation has fundraising responsibilities because of the tasks assigned to it by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation...

 competition, and serves as Mayor Michael Bloomberg

Michael Bloomberg

Michael Rubens Bloomberg is the current Mayor of New York City. With a net worth of $19.5 billion in 2011, he is also the 12th-richest person in the United States...

's Representative on the Board of Trustees at the Museum of Modern Art

Museum of Modern Art

The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...

. According to David Patrick Columbia′s New York Social Diary, she is “known as a fearless public art crusader.”

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

Richard Jacobs (Rabbi)

Richard J. Jacobs is a Reform rabbi, currently the senior rabbi at Westchester Reform Temple in Scarsdale, New York. Nominated in March 2011, he was elected in June 2011 to succeed rabbi Eric Yoffie in 2012 as president of the Union for Reform Judaism , the congregational arm of the Reform...

, elected to become president of the Union for Reform Judaism

Union for Reform Judaism

The Union for Reform Judaism , formerly known as the Union of American Hebrew Congregations , is an organization which supports Reform Jewish congregations in North America. The current President is Rabbi Eric H...

 (URJ) in 2012, and currently the senior rabbi at Westchester

Westchester

Westchester may refer to:*Westchester, Connecticut*Westchester, Florida*Westchester, Illinois*Westchester, Indiana*Westchester, Los Angeles, California*Westchester County, New York*The Westchester, a shopping mall in White Plains, New York...

 Reform

Reform Judaism (North America)

Reform Judaism is the largest denomination of American Jews today. With an estimated 1.5 million members, it also accounts for the largest number of Jews affiliated with Progressive Judaism worldwide.- Reform Jewish theology :Rabbi W...

 Temple

Synagogue

A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...

 in Scarsdale, New York

Scarsdale, New York

Scarsdale is a coterminous town and village in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the northern suburbs of New York City. The Town of Scarsdale is coextensive with the Village of Scarsdale, but the community has opted to operate solely with a village government, one of several villages...

. The couple has three children, and resides in Scarsdale, NY.

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 ISBN 1858942489
• Roxy Paine, Susan K. Freedman, Tom Eccles (2004). Roxy Paine: Bluff. Public Art Fund, New York, N.Y. Whitney Museum of American Art ISBN 0960848819