Janet Langsam

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Janet Langsam (born March 22, 1935) is an American cultural activist, artist and journalist with more than 50 years in arts administration. She advocates for artist housing in New York City and works to decentralize city government. She served as deputy commissioner of cultural affairs in New York City’s Department of Cultural Affairs under Mayors Abe Beame and Ed Koch, where she organized a 1975 symposium that brought together cultural leaders from 50 U.S. cities. The event still continues today as USUAF, run by Americans for the Arts.

Langsam was born and raised in Far Rockaway, Queens. She studied at Syracuse University and earned a B.S. from New York University and an M.P.A. from NYU’s Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. She studied painting in the 1960s at NYU, guided by Gregorio Prestopino and Leo Manso, and has shown abstract work at NYU’s Loeb Student Center.

Her early career was in journalism, working as a reporter for The Long Island Press and as a copy editor for House Beautiful Magazine. She then moved into public service, serving as chair of Community Board 7 in Northern Queens and later as district manager for the Rockaways in the Office of Neighborhood Government during Mayor Lindsay’s administration.

Langsam was president and CEO of the Boston Center for the Arts before joining ArtsWestchester (formerly Council of Arts in Westchester). She joined ArtsWestchester in 1991, helping grow the organization to about $6 million in annual programs. She also worked with the New York State Thruway on a public-art project for the Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge.

As Queens Community Board chairman, she held the first local budget hearings that led to funding for the Queens Museum, where she later served as board chairman. She has been recognized by the Queens Museum and the Queens Theatre in the Park, and she received national awards including the Michael Newton Award from Americans for the Arts and the Selina Roberts Ottum Leadership Award.