The Brooklyn Museum Announces Public Programs in December for Visitors of All Ages
The Brooklyn Museum announces its lineup of December programming, including Joy to the Borough, the Museum’s sixth annual toy drive and giveaway; a poetry workshop inspired by Monet and Venice; and a screening of Ernest Cole as part of a film series presented in tandem with Seydou Keïta: A Tactile Lens. Additional programs and special events amplify the Museum’s exhibitions and collections, serve the surrounding community, and support learning through the visual arts.
Museum Members enjoy complimentary or discounted tickets and early access to public programs.
For accessibility accommodations, including ASL interpretation, email access@brooklynmuseum.org .
Highlights from the full schedule are listed below.
Winter Concert: Brooklyn Conservatory Community Orchestra
Saturday, December 6, 3–5 pm
Auditorium, 3rd Floor
Tickets are available through the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music at $25 for adults, $15 for ages 18 and under, and include Museum admission.
As winter’s chill sets in, warm up with music by Antonín Dvořák and William Schuman, performed by the Brooklyn Conservatory Community Orchestra. Led by Music Director Dorothy Savitch, the orchestra returns to the Brooklyn Museum for an all-ages concert featuring Dvořák’s Symphony no. 9, “From the New World,” and Schuman’s “New England Triptych.”
Poetry Workshops: Monet and Venice
Sunday, December 7, 11 am–1:30 pm
Schapiro Wing and Cantor Gallery, 5th Floor
Tickets are $35 and include admission to Monet and Venice.
Join Brad Vogel, author of Find Me in the Feral Pockets and organizer of the NYC Poets Afloat Residencies, in a generative writing workshop inspired by Monet and Venice. Vogel draws a parallel between Brooklyn’s own Gowanus Canal and Venice’s storied waterways, providing prompts for your original writing. The workshop begins with an overview of the exhibition by Lisa Small, Senior Curator of European Art.
Beyond Keïta’s Frame: Ernest Cole
Saturday, December 13, 2–4 pm
Auditorium, 3rd Floor
Tickets are $16 and include Museum general admission.
Seydou Keïta, the premier studio photographer of 20th-century Africa, recorded Mali’s evolution with his camera. Delve deeper into the country’s and diaspora’s stories with this expansive film series, presented in partnership with African Film Festival and in tandem with Seydou Keïta: A Tactile Lens.
While Keïta worked inside the studio to capture his sitters’ style and construction of a postcolonial identity, other photographers went into the field to document the lived realities of African society. Ernest Cole: Lost and Found (Raoul Peck, 2024, 105 min.) chronicles the life and work of Ernest Cole, one of the first Black freelance photographers in South Africa, who took to the streets to reveal life under apartheid.
Joy to the Borough: Sixth Annual Toy Drive and Giveaway
Sunday, December 14, 11 am–2 pm
Throughout the Museum
Free and open to the public.
’Tis the season! To help spread the holiday cheer, we’re hosting our sixth annual toy drive. Through December 13, stop by the Admissions Desk in the lobby to drop off new, unwrapped toys for children ages 0–14 in the designated bins.
On Sunday, December 14, 11 am–2 pm, pick up toys along with clothing, coloring books, and other holiday gifts for children (while supplies last). During the giveaway, enjoy a festive lineup of art-making activities and seasonal fun for all ages.
Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra: Shostakovich, Frank, Beethoven
Sunday, December 14, 2–4 pm
Auditorium, 3rd Floor
Advance tickets are available through the Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra at $25, or $20 for adults 65+; same-day tickets are $30 at the door. Free for ages 16 and under.
Experience a joyful, global celebration of music performed by the Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Artistic Director Felipe Tristán. Dmitri Shostakovich’s exuberant Festive Overture gives way to Gabriela Lena Frank’s rhythmic Three Latin American Dances. Beethoven’s immortal Fifth Symphony crowns the program with its iconic drive from darkness to triumph.
Pop-Up Performances: VocalSouL Carolers
Sundays, December 14, 12:30–2 pm,and December 21, 2:30–4 pm
Schapiro Wing, Cantor Gallery, and American Art Galleries, 5th Floor
Free with Museum admission . Tickets to Monet and Venice are required to access performances held in the exhibition (at 12:30–1 pm on December 14 and 2:30–3 pm on December 21).
Don’t miss VocalSouL as the acapella group brings its signature Motown stylings to the Museum! Enjoy a range of holiday classics set to soulful melodies.
