Brooklyn Museum Education Division

The gut renovation of the Brooklyn Museum’s Education Division wing provides a welcoming and inspiring environment to help all visitors form meaningful personal connections with art and the Museum. The Education Division is a hub of activity and central to the Museum’s mission, offering a variety of year-round programs to more than 65,000 children and adults annually. Housed in a 1970s addition to the Museum’s Beaux-Arts building, the Division required a design that would solve orientation, security, and privacy challenges.

The new facility includes state-of-the-art studios, a gallery, and offices. The plan concept is two centers: a civic art-making/ gallery center and a collaborative office space. This layout creates a clear public/private separation which was previously lacking. The design of the civic art center is focused on a refined and social gallery surrounded by a cluster of art studios that are highly functional and flexible. The office area is a loft-like open work space with a casual seating area that welcomes and encourages social interaction between staff, interns, and volunteers.

To create a friendly, accessible feeling in an elegant museum setting, the overall aesthetic is composed of pristine white spaces with exposed waffle slab ceilings punctuated with bright color accents. The design creates a sophisticated and inspiring environment that feels inviting to people of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities.