Brooklyn Museum

Infobox_nrhp | name =Brooklyn Museum
nrhp_type =


caption =Brooklyn Museum, June 2008
location= Brooklyn, NY
lat_degrees = 40 | lat_minutes = 40 | lat_seconds = 13.64 | lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 73 | long_minutes = 57 | long_seconds = 51.45 | long_direction = W
area =
built =1895
architect= McKim, Mead & White; French,Daniel Chester
architecture= Beaux-Arts
added = August 22, 1977
governing_body = Private
refnum=77000944 cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2007-01-23|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service] The Brooklyn Museum, located at 200 Eastern Parkway, in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, is the second-largest art museum in New York City, and one of the largest in the United States. Arnold L. Lehman is the museum's Director.

One of the premier art institutions in the world, its permanent collection includes more than one-and-a-half million objects, from ancient Egyptian masterpieces to contemporary art, and the art of many other cultures. Housed in a 560,000 square foot (52,000 m²), Beaux-Arts building, approximately 500,000 patrons visit the museum each year. Located in Central Brooklyn, the museum is a half-hour from midtown Manhattan and about 15 minutes from downtown Brooklyn. It is served by the Eastern Parkway–Brooklyn Museum subway station on the IRT Eastern Parkway Line (NYCS Eastern west local), and the nearby Botanic Garden station of the Franklin Avenue Shuttle.

The Museum is located on Eastern Parkway, at Washington Avenue. It is co-located with the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Mount Prospect Park, and the Central Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library. The museum sits at the border of the Prospect Heights, Crown Heights, and Flatbush neighborhoods. It is near Brooklyn's Prospect Park.

History

Opened in 1897, the Brooklyn Museum building is a steel frame structure—built to the standards of classical masonry—designed by the famous architectural firm of McKim, Mead, and White and built by the Carlin Construction Company. Daniel Chester French, the noted sculptor of the Lincoln Memorial, was the sculptor of two allegorical figures, "Brooklyn" and "Manhattan" (carved in 1916, and relocated to the museum in 1963), and of the figures on the pediment.

The Brooklyn Museum changed its name to Brooklyn Museum of Art in 1997. On March 12, 2004, the museum announced that it would revert to its previous name.

Funding

The museum hosted the Charles Saatchi exhibition "Sensation" in 1999, resulting in a court battle over New York City's municipal funding of controversial art.

In 2005, the museum was among 406 New York City arts and social service institutions to receive part of a $20 million grant from the Carnegie Corporation, made possible through a donation by New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg. [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/06/nyregion/06donate.html?ex=1278302400&en=93a1beabd4ede5b8&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss City Groups Get Bloomberg Gift of $20 Million] ] [ [http://carnegie.org/sub/news/anon2005.html CARNEGIE CORPORATION OF NEW YORK ANNOUNCES TWENTY MILLION DOLLARS IN NEW YORK CITY GRANTS] ]

Major benefactors include Frank Lusk Babbott.

Art and exhibitions

The Brooklyn Museum exhibits collections that seek to embody the rich artistic heritage of world cultures. The museum is well-known for its expansive collections of 17th, 18th, and 19th century paintings, throughout a wide range of schools of art.

In 2002, the museum purchased the work "The Dinner Party" by feminist artist Judy Chicago, funded by a gift from The Elizabeth A. Sackler Foundation. Its permanent exhibition began in 2007, in the museum's Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art.

In 2008, curator Edna Russman announced that a third of the Coptic art held in the museum's collection-- second-largest in North America-- is fake.cite news
title = New York museum admits third of its Coptic art is fake
work = "The Independent"
date = 2008-07-02
url = http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/new-york-museum-admits-third-of-its-coptic-art-is-fake-858345.html
accessdate = 2008-07-07 ] Of 30 works of art, Russman believes 10 are faked. The fake artworks will be displayed in an exhibition starting in 2009.

Contemporary artists have also been showcased in various exhibitions, such as the work of Patrick Kelly, Chuck Close, Denis Peterson, Ron Mueck, Takashi Murakami, Kiki Smith, Jim Dine, Robert Rauschenberg, Sylvia Sleigh, and William Wegman.

Programs

In 2000, the Brooklyn Museum started the Student Museum Apprentice Program in which the museum hires teens ages 13-17, to give tours in the museum's galleries during the summer, assist with the museum's weekend family programs throughout the year, participate in talks with museum curators, serve as a teen advisory board to the museum, and help plan teen events.

The first Saturday of the month in the summer, the Brooklyn Museum stays open late with free family events, which include arts and crafts, live music and a dance party.

ee also

*Education in New York City
*Floyd Abrams and the Brooklyn Museum case
*List of museums and cultural institutions in New York City

References

External links

* [http://www.brooklynmuseum.org Brooklyn Museum website]