Drink and Draw, July 2021. (Photo: Kolin Mendez).
Virtual and outdoor in-person programming welcome community members to the Museum
The Brooklyn Museum presents a robust lineup of programming for adults and children this fall, starting with a Community Appreciation Weekend that celebrates its full public reopening with gallery talks, art activations, and family fun. Other programs this season include talks, classes, and tours that amplify the Museum’s exhibitions and collection, serve the surrounding community, and support learning through the visual arts.
Some programs will take place outdoors. Participants for these programs will be socially distanced on the Museum’s plaza, and all visitors to the Museum’s indoor and outdoor programs who are 12 and older must show proof of vaccination and a valid I.D. Masks are required, regardless of vaccination status, for all adults and children over the age of 2, in accordance with procedures and guidelines laid out by the CDC and local health officials. All other programs will take place online and through the Museum’s social media channels.
Museum Members enjoy complimentary or discounted tickets and early access to public programs by emailing membership@brooklynmuseum.org with full name and Membership I.D.
The full schedule is as follows:
Thursday, September 16, 7–9 pm
Drink and Draw: The Obama Portraits Tour
Biergarten
Tickets are $35 and include after-hours admission to The Obama Portraits Tour.
Honor Black portraiture and power in this month’s life drawing class focusing on the vibrant and groundbreaking depictions of President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama by artists Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald. Learn multimedia techniques and try your hand at various approaches to depicting the human form in a casual class open to all levels and led by Museum teaching artist James Antwine. Plus, enjoy a refreshing beverage and a musical set by DJ InO.
Hablemos de Arte
Thursday, September 17, 6:45–7:30 pm
Meet in the Rubin Lobby, 1st Floor
This program is free, but registration is required to receive the Zoom link.
Join us for an informal conversation inspired by a work of art, and practice your Spanish by exchanging ideas with other participants. All levels of Spanish proficiency are welcome.
Outdoor Yoga on the Stoop
Saturday, September 18, 10–11 am
Museum Plaza
Tickets are $16 and include Museum general admission.
Meet us on the plaza steps for a morning of socially distant yoga and meditation, open to all levels and led by local instructors. Open your hips and your heart in this gentle flow class, followed by a guided meditation with plenty of time to rest.
Sunday, September 19, 2–4 pm
Pop-Up Performance: Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra
Museum Plaza
This program is free.
Drop by our plaza to hear string players from the Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra perform a festive, family-friendly selection of music by Vivaldi, Mozart, Copland, and Tchaikovsky, led by Associate Conductor Felipe Tristan.
Thursday, September 23, 7–9 pm
Brooklyn Talks: SENSATION with Arnold Lehman and Darren Walker
Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Auditorium, 3rd Floor
Tickets are $16 and include after-hours admission to The Slipstream.
Join Arnold Lehman, former director of the Brooklyn Museum, and Darren Walker, President of the Ford Foundation, for a timely conversation about Lehman’s longawaited book Sensation: The Madonna, the Mayor, the Media, and the First Amendment (2021). The book presents Lehman’s personal account of the controversy that surrounded the lightning-rod exhibition SENSATION: Young British Artists from the Saatchi Collection (1999–2000), which took place during his time as director.
Saturday, September 25, 2–4 pm
Artist Talk: Judy Chicago
Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Pavilion, 1st Floor
Tickets are $25. Member tickets are $20. Tickets including a signed copy of The Flowering are $65.
Judy Chicago discusses her latest memoir, The Flowering: The Autobiography of Judy Chicago, with Museum Director Anne Pasternak and Catherine Morris, Sackler Senior Curator, Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art. The influential feminist artist reflects on her trailblazing career spanning over five decades—including her magnum opus The Dinner Party, which shifted the field of Western art history—and her ongoing commitment to the power of art as a tool for social change.
Sunday, September 26, 11 am–4 pm
Fifteenth Annual Children’s Book Fair
Museum Plaza
This event is free.
The annual Brooklyn Children’s Book Fair has returned! Thirty of your favorite Brooklyn authors and illustrators join us outdoors on the plaza to share their latest books. This free event features storybooks, picture books, and graphic novels—including fiction, nonfiction, and poetry—for book lovers from preschool through the middle grades. Throughout the day, children can enjoy a chat with an author or illustrator, get a book signed, and have fun with chalk drawing.
Art History Happy Hour: Ancient Egyptian Art
Thursday, September 30, 6–7:30 and 8–9:30 pm
Egyptian Galleries, 3rd Floor
Tickets are $45 and include after-hours admission to the Egyptian galleries.
Explore our world-renowned collection of ancient Egyptian objects in a special afterhours curator tour and sip from a range of wines selected by Marquis Williams of Highly Recommended, a Brooklyn-based members-only wine club. Learn about the significance of wine in the everyday lives of ancient Egyptians with Yekaterina Barbash, Associate Curator, Egyptian Art, and enjoy four contemporary wines chosen by Williams to evoke the flavor profiles discussed in the talk.
Brooklyn Talks: Amy Sherald and Kehinde WiIley
Thursday, October 14, 7–9 pm
Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Auditorium, 3rd Floor, and online
Tickets are $25 and include after-hours admission to The Obama Portraits Tour. Tickets to access the event live on Zoom are $5 for the general public and free for Members.
In honor of the Obama portraits’ first visit to Brooklyn, get a behind-the-scenes look at their creation in a rare conversation between official portrait artists Amy Sherald and Kehinde Wiley. The two reflect on the impact of their culture-shifting portraits and discuss their unique, collaborative approaches to representing the first African American President and First Lady. Sherald and Wiley will also talk about their canon-expanding practices.
Art History Happy Hour: The Obama Portraits Tour
Thursday, October 21, 6–7:30 and 8–9:30 pm
The Norm Restaurant and Bar, 1st Floor
Tickets are $45 and include after-hours admission to The Obama Portraits Tour.
Treat yourself to a curator talk inspired by The Obama Portraits Tour, and enjoy a wine tasting hosted by Marquis Williams of Highly Recommended, a Brooklyn-based, members-only wine club. Curators Jane Dini and Eugenie Tsai delve into the history of presidential portraiture and explore the ways in which artists Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald paid homage to–and broke from–tradition in their portrayals of President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama. Then, visitors are invited to The Obama Portraits Tour for an exclusive after-hours viewing of the portraits.
