BROOKLYN MUSEUM
Some nice news out of Kings County, New York, to conclude one of the worst weeks on record: the Brooklyn Museum announced that it will waive its standard $16 suggested donation and offer free admission this weekend, “as people search for a sense of national unity,” it said in a statement, clearly alluding to Tuesday’s very divisive election.
The note continued, “We hope that visitors will explore the museum as a great and timely learning resource, especially our newly installed American Art galleries, which embrace an inclusive view of history and recognize the shifting demographics of our richly diverse country.” (For more on those galleries, give a read to this recent Rachel Wetzler column.)
As it happens, I was at the Brooklyn Museum last night to see the retrospective of the too-little-known artist Beverly Buchanan (1940–2015), and it is absolutely wonderful—moving, elegant, and timely. I felt a bit better while inside it, and even for a while afterward. I recommend it. There was also a wild salsa party happening in the museum’s lobby, which was a delight to watch.
In short: there’s great stuff at the Brooklyn Museum right now—a major Marilyn Minter exhibition, nude drawings of Iggy Pop (a Jeremy Deller project), and Philippe Parreno’s hypnotic balloon aquarium installation—and this policy switch means you won’t have to have that awkward conversation with a ticket teller explaining that you would prefer not to pay the full $16 fee.