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For the Brooklyn Museum, it's nothing new to spotlight artists from the borough. But the museum's new Brooklyn Artists Exhibition will be the largest showcase of Brooklyn artists in the museum's two centuries of history.
The newly opened exhibition, which coincides with the renowned museum's 200th birthday, features more than 200 artists reflecting the range of creativity in the borough. From a documentary photograph of the Brooklyn waterfront by Tracie Dawn Williams to a stunning sculpture by Richard Haining made of reclaimed wood from the city's water towers, the show is a celebration of the borough and the artists who make Brooklyn a place unlike any other.
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Across seven galleries, plus a video room and two entrance spaces, the sprawling exhibit highlights artists at all stages of their careers working across the full range of disciplines—from drawing, painting, collage, and photography to sculpture, video, and performance. To be eligible for inclusion, artists had to have lived in or maintained a studio in Brooklyn during the last five years (2019–2024). While some works pay homage to the borough, that was certainly not a requirement.
"The Brooklyn Artists Exhibition honors the borough's dynamic present, storied past, and bright future," museum officials said. "Their creations tackle themes that resonate on both local and global levels—migration and memory, identity and history, uncertainty and turbulence, healing and joy. Together these works capture the vibrancy of both Brooklyn and its artists, who are bound by deep-rooted connections and a shared love of this singular place."
To curate the exhibit, the museum's team first held and open call for artists which garnered nearly 4,000 applications. Featured artists were selected by a committee led by esteemed artists Jeffrey Gibson, Vik Muniz, Mickalene Thomas, and Fred Tomaselli, who drew upon the open call as well as by inviting artists by invitation.
These artists create a portrait of what makes Brooklyn uniquely 'Brooklyn.'
"The works presented here examine collective care, healing, joy, solidarity, uncertainty, and turbulence, often incorporating experimentation with various materials," the museum said. "Together, these artists create a portrait of what makes Brooklyn uniquely 'Brooklyn': a vastly diverse community pulsing with energy, resilience, inventiveness, and innovation and connected by mutual love and respect as collaborators, neighbors, friends, and family."
Other pieces in the exhibit include a textile sculpture of a cow carcass by Tamara Kostianovsky; a bronze sculpture of a hand by E.V. Day titled Digital Bondage; an oil painting of a typewriter by Sam Messer; and a mixed media piece titled The Brooklyn Follies made up of materials collected in Brooklyn by artist Damien Olsen Berdichevsky. See all the pieces here.
The museum's support of Brooklyn's artists stretches back decades, from the Fence Art Show in 1966, which spotlighted 66 amateur and professional Brooklyn-based artists, to the Working in Brooklyn exhibition series that showcased the works of hundreds of Brooklyn artists from 1980 to 2004, and many more. But this exhibition is the largest of all; it's on view through January 26, 2025.
Also as part of the museum's birthday celebrations, an exhibit called Solid Gold will open in November. This show will explore the majesty of gold through 6,000 years of artwork, fashion, and design. In 2025, the ongoing bicentennial lineup includes Breaking the Mold: Brooklyn Museum at 200, a show with three chapters showcasing longtime favorites plus brand-new gifts. Here's the full lineup of birthday events.