Brooklyn Museum

Savoring our final weeks of Nico Williams: Aaniin, I See Your Light. 🏛️

Nico Williams’s prismatic patterns and iridescent jingles have served as a beautiful backdrop for so many activities, morning meditations, community celebrations, and more over the last few months.

“It was fun to be working with the scale on the outside of the museum,” Williams says. “It’s wonderful to see that support and encouragement because art is important—it’s our culture. In my Montreal studio, we’re always trying to put good intentions into the work because it is meditative and the work really reflects that.”

Williams’s work, which celebrates Anishinaabe ways of being, is on view throughout through December 1 on the Iris Cantor Plaza.

📷 → Installation view, Nico Williams: Aaniin, I See Your Light, May 31, 2024 - August 18, 2024. Brooklyn Museum. (Photo: Danny Perez) → 200th Birthday Bash at the Brooklyn Museum, October 5, 2024. (Photo: Evan Angelastro) → First Saturday: Fruitful, 06/01/2024. Brooklyn Museum. (Photo: Kolin Mendez Photography) → Yoga on the Stoop, 08/10/2024. Brooklyn Museum. (Photo: Kolin Mendez Photography)

If walls could t̶a̶l̶k̶ trick-or-treat. 🖼 🎃

Our Education Fellows took costume inspiration from Brooklyn Abstraction: Four Artists, Four Walls and the results are fit to frame!

Kaylin Dodson, Teen Programs Fellow
Trinity Lee, Family and Community Programs Fellow
Henry Wahlenmayer, School Programs Fellow
Emily Cigorroa, Public Programs Fellow

Happy Halloween, everyone!

📷 Photos courtesy of Henry Wahlenmayer

If walls could t̶a̶l̶k̶ trick-or-treat. 🖼️ 🎃

Our Education Fellows took costume inspiration from Brooklyn Abstraction: Four Artists, Four Walls and the results are fit to frame!

Kaylin Dodson (), Teen Programs Fellow
Trinity Lee (), Family and Community Programs Fellow
Henry Wahlenmayer (), School Programs Fellow
Emily Cigorroa (), Public Programs Fellow

Happy Halloween, everyone!

📷 Photos courtesy of Henry Wahlenmayer

Wishing you a beautifully haunted Halloween! 🌚💫

The scenes, stories, and symbolism at The Green-Wood Cemetery are spot-on for spooky season.

This watercolor by Rudolph Cronau features the iconic Gothic-style entrance to the 478-acre cemetery, the tomb of John Anderson (a wealthy tobacconist and philanthropist), and New York Harbor in the distance.

Did you know that some of New York’s most famous artists are permanent residents of Green-Wood Cemetery? Jean-Michel Basquiat, Leonard Bernstein, and Charles Ebbets… just to name a few!

🖼️ Rudolph Cronau (American, born Germany, 1855–1939). View from Greenwood Cemetery, Brooklyn, 1881

Scott Albrecht’s work asks viewers not just to receive the message, but to discover it.

Through the abstracted forms, typography, and colors of his wood relief works, such as “Searching for the Shadow of the Sun” (2023), he obscures letterforms “as they take on different scales, overlap on top of one another, and become segmented and color-blocked until ultimately filling the space entirely offering the title in a reconsidered visual language.”

This particular work by Albrecht was inspired by his experience with a family member’s dementia diagnosis. The title implies a universal perspective, and the letter forms are abstracted as a metaphor for futile searching. The dozens of individually cut and assembled wood components underscore the complexity and nuances of arriving at acceptance.

See the details of Albrecht’s work up-close in The Brooklyn Artists Exhibition through January 26, 2025.

🖼️ Scott Albrecht. Searching for the Shadow of the Sun, 2023. Acrylic on wood relief. Courtesy of the artist. © Scott Albrecht. (Photo: Courtesy of the artist) → Courtesy of the artist (Photo: Brad Devins)

In her own words, Elizabeth Catlett discusses her approach to creating art in service of her people.

“I work from dual necessities—social as well as aesthetic, political as well as physical, emotional as well as intellectual. Sculpture is my connection between nature and society. When I physically transform raw material—wood, clay, or stone—into an aesthetic expression of the life of my people, I feel complete as a human being.”

Visit Elizabeth Catlett: A Black Revolutionary Artist and All That It Implies through January 19, 2025.

Elizabeth Catlett: A Black Revolutionary Artist and All That It Implies In her own words, Elizabeth Catlett discusses her approach to creating art in service of her people.“I work from dual necessities—social as well as aesthetic...

Category is... GOLD! 👑 ✨

On November 14, you’re invited to a dance party to celebrate the opening of our new special exhibition, Solid Gold.

Come dressed in your most dazzling gold look, and expect a sparkling evening of live music, performances, and dancing with:

🎶 DJ Sha Savage
👯 The Illustrious Blacks
💿 Lollise

As well as a gold runway hosted by Spindarella and Civilization.

This event was co-organized with Good Judy and C'mon Everybody.

Learn more and get your tickets for $30 ($40 at the door) or $18 ($24 at the door) for Members: https://bit.ly/3BKHWoZ

📷 Image by Bob Bottle

Ain't no party like a Salsa Party and the Salsa Party is back! 💃

Join us for dance-filled evenings hosted by Balmir Dance Society on the second Thursday of the month, from November 7 through March 6.

Start the night with a class led by professional dancers, followed by live music, social dancing, and performances by Brooklyn’s best Latin dance teams.

Salsa Party is free to join, but we ask that you save your spot: https://bit.ly/3AmonD8

📷 Salsa Party, 11/10/2022. Brooklyn Museum. (Photo: Kolin Mendez Photography)

On our way back from the WNBA Championship Parade with Ellie on the mind…🐘

Congratulations to Brooklyn’s own 2024 WNBA Champions, New York Liberty!🗽🏆

📷 George Bradford Brainerd (American, 1845–1887). Elephant, Central Park, New York, ca. 1872–1887

Young book lovers, this one’s for you! 📖 👓

On November 10, meet more than 40 of your favorite Brooklyn authors and illustrators at the Eighteenth Annual Brooklyn Children’s Book Fair. Explore everything from storybooks, picture books, and chapter books, to graphic novels—fiction and nonfiction—for preschoolers to middle schoolers.

You’ll get to listen to readings and watch artists sketch, get books signed, and participate in art projects. Keep an eye out—you might meet Maxine the Fluffy Corgi—the star of the children’s book, “Maxine Gets a Job.”

Learn more and RSVP: https://bit.ly/3YC9kPl

📷 Children's Book Fair, 11/12/2023. Brooklyn Museum. (Photo: Elena Olivo) → Photo of Maxine: Courtesy of Bryan Reisberg

We are The Anthem Awards finalists!

Vote for our Meet the Giants video series in the “Education, Art & Culture” category through October 31. 📥

https://bit.ly/3BTCosy

In 1923, we presented a groundbreaking exhibition that presented African objects as art (a first in a U.S. museum), highlighting their aesthetics.

As we prepare to open our Arts of Africa galleries in 2026, we want to hear from you.

❓ What inspires you most about African Art?
❓ How familiar are you with African Art?
❓ What would you like to learn more about?

Take the short survey through December 31: https://bit.ly/4dNX56l

The first 500 respondents receive a discount on tickets for our upcoming exhibition .

🖼️ Bamileke. Kuosi Society Elephant Mask, 20th century.

When Melissa Joseph pulls inspiration from her bi-racial family photo archive, she creates [heart]felt portraits.

“The materials I use; the people, interactions, and moments I represent; occupy these crevices and perimeters” says Joseph in regard to her focus on centering BIPOC communities and women in her work. “They are humble and quiet, yet constant.”

Her fiber artwork, “Olive’s Hair Salon” (2023), which is shown in The Brooklyn Artists Exhibition recreates a photograph of Joseph’s niece, Olive, and her brother during the COVID-19 pandemic. In their backyard, Olive is captured while giving her father a haircut. The source material itself—a selfie sent via WhatsApp—invokes the juxtaposition of connectedness made possible via technology during a time of physical isolation.

See Joseph’s work along with over 200 other Brooklyn-based artists in The Brooklyn Artists Exhibition through January 26, 2025.

🖼️ Melissa Joseph. Olive's Hair Salon, 2023. Wool and felt. © Melissa Joseph. Courtesy of the artist and REGULARNORMAL → Melissa Joseph. Courtesy of the artist. (Photo: Lucas Hoeffel)

The Kwakwaka'wakw have hosted potlatch ceremonies since a time beyond memory.

This mask represents Kwankwanxwalige’—or Thunderbird, the mythical ancestor of the ʼNa̱mgis clan of the Kwakwa̱ka̱’wakw people—and holds a central role in a powerful community tradition.

Dancers wear masks like this during potlatches, important ceremonies for the Kwakwa̱ka̱’wakw and other Indigenous communities in the Pacific Northwest. During such gatherings, a dancer would emerge wearing this mask in its closed state, showing Thunderbird’s head with its penetrating eyes and elongated beak. Later, attendees witnessed the mask transform as the dancer pulled internal strings to reveal the figures within. There, a human face is flanked by sisiutl (a double-headed lightning snake), with a small human figure above and another bird below.

See this mask—which is also one of our 200 Brooklyn Icons—on view in Toward Joy: New Frameworks for American Art on the 5th floor.

🎨 Namgis. Thunderbird Transformation Mask, 19th century. Brooklyn Museum, Museum Expedition 1908, Museum Collection Fund, 08.491.8902. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)

Tag yourself or a friend: Birthday Bash edition! 📸

The party may be in the past, but we’re taking the gratitude and these great moments with us into the future.

Thank you all for making our 200th anniversary one to remember.

📷 200th Birthday Bash at the Brooklyn Museum, October 5, 2024. (Photo: Evan Angelastro)

Nice to see you, South Carolina! 👋

French Moderns: Monet to Matisse, 1850–1950 is now open at the Columbia Museum of Art!

In the exhibition, you can see more than 50 works from our collection by iconic artists such as Cézanne, Degas, Matisse, and Monet. The exhibition encompasses key avant-garde movements that emerged in and around Paris during this period.

Learn more about French Moderns, on view through January 5, 2025, and plan your visit: https://www.columbiamuseum.org/view/french-moderns-monet-matisse-1850-1950

📷 Claude Monet (French, 1840–1926). Rising Tide at Pourville, 1882. Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mrs. Horace O. Havemeyer, 41.1260. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)

Supervillain a.k.a DOOM a.k.a. MF Doom! 🎤

During a very special Brooklyn Reads on Halloween night, join us to honor the legacy of hip-hop artist MF Doom with the release of The Chronicles of DOOM: Unraveling Rap’s Masked Iconoclast.

The Chronicles of DOOM, the definitive biography of the reclusive and revered hip-hop artist written by journalist S.H. Fernando Jr. (also known as SKIZ), provides a history of East Coast rap alongside DOOM’s compelling life story.

We’ll start the night off with a set by DJ Rob Swift. Afterward, poet, essayist, and cultural critic Hanif Abdurraqib moderates a conversation between SKIZ, illustrator LAmour Supreme, and MF Doom’s former assistant Courtney Franco about the artist’s indelible impact on musical culture. Stay for the book signing after their conversation.

Save your spot and learn more about : https://bit.ly/4823Xfi

Brooklyn Reads: Chronicles of DOOM The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At 560,000 square feet, the museum is New York City's second largest in physical size and holds an art collection with roughly 1.5 million works.

Elizabeth Catlett used the same fabric in multiple compositions, suggesting that her subjects were metaphorically “cut from the same cloth.”

The patterning of textiles was a creative source for Catlett. She used cloth in collages, like this, which served as maquettes (models) for prints.

The use of fabric also recalls her early days of teaching dressmaking and the communities of working women that she met who inspired her. The textiles take on symbolic resonance as part of the weave and weft of her chosen female community.

See Catlett’s work up-close in Elizabeth Catlett: A Black Revolutionary Artist and All That It Implies through January 19, 2025.

🖼️ Elizabeth Catlett. Harlem Woman, 1992. Color lithograph with fabric collage. Gabriel Tenabe and Monilola Tenabe. © 2024 Mora-Catlett Family / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY

Where is the Museum on Wheels headed next? 🚌

Catch us rolling into Bay Ridge for an afternoon filled with engaging art activities.

🗓️ Friday, October 11, 1–5 pm
📍 8929 Shore Road, Brooklyn, NY 11209
👪 All ages are welcome

These activities are free and open to the public, but space is limited for all art-making activities; first come, first served.

This program is created in partnership with Family Health Centers at NYU Langone Health.

📷 Brooklyn Museum on Wheels, 09/09/2024. Brooklyn Museum. (Photo: Paula Abreu Pita)

We’re accepting applications for our Spring 2025 Internships!

As an intern, you’ll participate fully in day-to-day workplace activities and projects with the guidance of full-time staff members. We’ll have internships available in the following departments:

🔍 Archives
🖼️ Curatorial
📚 Education
⚖️ Finance
☎️ Visitor Experience

Learn more about these paid positions and submit your application by November 3: https://form.jotform.com/242694582026158

📷 Summer 2024 Interns, 07/02/2024. → Intern Convening, 07/24/2024. Brooklyn Museum. (Photos: Danny Perez)

200 years of history at 200 Eastern Parkway… 🏛️

Why are we celebrating 200 years in 2024?

The Brooklyn Apprentices’ Library Association was incorporated in 1824. It was the first public circulating library in Brooklyn—and evolved into the Museum we know and love today.

This weekend, alongside our beloved community and New York City neighbors, we kick-off our 200th anniversary with a two-day long Birthday Bash. Only Member tickets remain for Saturday, but you can still save your spot for festivities on Sunday: https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/calendar/tag/birthday-bash

📷 West wing of the Brooklyn Museum, 1898. → Brooklyn Museum: exterior. View of Eastern Parkway facade from the northeast, showing completed Grand Staircase, ca. 1907-1908. → Brooklyn Museum: exterior. View of the Eastern Parkway facade from the northeast, showing Eastern Parkway in the foreground, 05/1975. → Brooklyn Museum banners with new logo, 09/06/2024. Brooklyn Museum, (Photos: Brooklyn Museum, Adrianna Glaviano; Adam O'Reilly)

Now Open… Toward Joy: New Frameworks for American Art 🖼️

When you think of “American art,” what comes to mind?

In this reinstallation of our American Art collection, Black feminist and BIPOC perspectives act as through lines in this vast presentation of more than 400 works. Featuring both collection highlights, such as Laura Wheeler Waring’s Woman with Bouquet, and brand-new acquisitions, such as works by Japanese American artist Hisako Hibi, the galleries reflect the beauty, wonder, and complexity of American art through the ages.

Myriad voices—of curators, artists, Brooklyn Botanic Garden staff, and NYC drag queens, to name a few—add to the many conversations and questions that the reinstallation surfaces. While grappling with heavy histories, the display emphasizes joy, celebrating American art and artists in all their forms.

We marked the end of the millennium in 1999 with SENSATION. No, literally.

in 1999, we opened our galleries to the controversial and acclaimed exhibition SENSATION: Young British Artists from the Saatchi Collection.

Even before it opened to the public on October 2, people were upset that the Brooklyn Museum was hosting this exhibit. It was controversial due to art that was considered shocking and offensive, particularly The Holy Virgin Mary by Chris Ofili (third image), a painting depicting a Black Madonna with real elephant dung and images of female genitalia.

Amid calls for the show to be canceled, the Museum refused. As a result, for the month of October, the Museum did not receive its allocated city funding, and the City of New York sent the Museum a letter stating that it was in violation of its lease. The Museum then countersued the City and the mayor. Because of the controversy, SENSATION went viral: hundreds of national and international newspaper articles were written about it, thousands of opinionated letters poured into the Museum, and at least 225,000 people visited to see the works for themselves. Ultimately, the Museum and the City settled.

📷 Sensation: Young British Artists from the Saatchi Collection, exhibition opening celebration. 09/30/1999. Brooklyn Museum. (Photo: Patrick McMullan) → First Saturday. 12/04/1999. Brooklyn Museum. (Photo: Neil Schneider)