About Janet T. Langsam
Achievements (Continued from first About Page)
Among her many achievements as CEO of ArtsWestchester, Ms. Langsam spearheaded the purchase and reimagining of an abandoned historic bank building into an arts incubator for artists, architects and creative businesses in White Plains, NY. As a proponent of public art, Ms. Langsam recently collaborated with the N.Y. Thruway Authority to commission sculptures and murals for the Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge and also installed 20 works of public art in the City of White Plains during the 2022 five-day Serious Fun Arts Fest. In her career, she has fostered artist residencies in schools, housing projects, mental health facilities and developed contemporary art installations in hospitals, shopping centers and housing developments. She has been named amongst 914 INC’s Most Influential Women and Top CEOs of Westchester.
Prior to her current position, Ms. Langsam se rved as President and CEO of the Boston Center for the Arts and held positions in three NYC Mayoral Administrations (Mayors John Lyndsay, Abraham Beame and Ed Koch). As Deputy Commissioner of the NYC Dept. of Cultural Affairs, she convened the first meeting in 1978 of the cultural leaders of the fifty largest US cities, which became the USUAF. As Assistant Commissioner of the NYC Dept. of Housing Preservation and Development, she pioneered the conversion of city-owned vacant properties to cultural sites and artist housing. A Queens native, and former Chairman of Planning Board 7, Langsam was instrumental in getting the Queens Museum off the ground and funded in Flushing Meadows Park, (Queens was the only borough at that time without an art museum). She is both a founder and former Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Museum. She holds a Master’s degree from New York University’s Graduate School of Public Administration.
Ms. Langsam was a recipient of the Americans for the Arts (AFTA) Michael Newton Award and in 2020 she was honored by AFTA with the Selina Roberts Ottum Leadership Award. She has also been recognized by the Mental Health Association of Westchester, Today Media, Westchester County Federation of Women’s Clubs, the Westchester Jewish Council, the Hudson River Museum, the Emelin Theatre and the Association of Development Officers. She was honored by the Neuberger Museum of Art and the Hudson River Museum in 2024.
