Take a moment to think about 2025. What were the best parts?
We’re guessing they center on your favorite friends and family. Consider this your sign to get everyone together again. In the coming weeks, we’ve got a toy drive, live music, a film screening, and a poetry workshop—all great excuses to gather.
Mark your calendars
Joy to the Borough: Sixth Annual Toy Drive and Giveaway
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. All who donate can enjoy 20% off in the Shop as a gesture of thanks.
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. Afterward, any remaining toys will be donated to local family shelters.
Beyond Keïta’s Frame: Ernest Cole
Saturday, December 13, 2–4 pm
While Seydou 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.
Pop-Up Performance: VocalSouL Carolers
Sunday, December 14, 12:30–2 pm
Sunday, December 21, 2:30–4 pm
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.
Poetry Workshop: Monet and Venice
Sunday, January 11, 11 am–1:30 pm
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 will begin with an overview of the exhibition by Lisa Small, Senior Curator of European Art.
From the top: First Saturday, 2025. (Photo: Kolin Mendez); Share the Toy, 2024. (Image: courtesy of Kinnect Foundation); A photograph by Ernest Cole, from Ernest Cole: Lost and Found, a Magnolia Pictures release. © Ernest Cole. (Photo: courtesy of Magnolia Pictures); VocalSouL performs in the galleries, 2023. (Photo: Lauren Zelaya); Claude Monet. Venice, Palazzo Dario, 1908. Oil on canvas. The Art Institute of Chicago, Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Larned Coburn Memorial Collection, 1933.446. (Photo: The Art Institute of Chicago / Art Resource, NY)
