The Greater Downtown Brooklyn area is home to some of the most avant-garde arts and cultural institutions in New York City. While the highly acclaimed Brooklyn Academy of Music is one of the best-known cultural venues located in Downtown Brooklyn, scores of other organizations add to the area’s unique character and quality of life, including the Mark Morris Dance Group, St. Ann’s Warehouse, 651 Arts, and the Rotunda Gallery. In addition, dozens of performing and visual arts groups are taking hold in DUMBO, Fort Greene and other Downtown Brooklyn neighborhoods. To find out more about Downtown Brooklyn’s art scene, click on the links below.
Mark Morris Dance Group
Concertgoers at MetroTech
BAM Cultural District
The growth of the cultural district around BAM is a key component of New York City’s commitment to the Downtown Brooklyn area. This initiative builds on a thriving community of established and emerging artists living and working in the surrounding Fort Greene neighborhood. The area is currently home to dozens of arts organizations including Creative Dance Outlet, Museum of Contemporary African Diasporian Arts (MoCADA), the Brooklyn Music School and Urban Glass. The James E. Davis Arts Building, known as 80 Arts and located at 80 Hanson Place, is the first completed renovation in the District. Planning presently underway includes a new home for the Theatre for a New Audience and a new choreographic center created by the Danspace Project, Inc.
DUMBO Arts Scene
An array of blossoming galleries, artists' studios, boutiques and restaurants are scattered throughout a growing residential neighborhood of converted warehouses and new condominiums. Dedicated to aiding this burgeoning renaissance, DUMBO Arts Center (dac) is a non-profit contemporary arts institution that works to preserve and enrich the identity of this area as a vital artists' community. As the lead organizer of the d.u.m.b.o. art under the bridge festival, dac also collaborates with other cultural organizations in the area to promote broader experimentation in the arts throughout the year.
Fort Greene Greenmarket
At the Fort Greene Greenmarket, local farmers sell their fresh, home-grown foods year-round, every Saturday from 8am to 5pm. The market is located at Fort Greene Park’s Washington Park & DeKalb Avenue entrance. This season the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership presents a new series of stellar music and dance performances.
Museums and Galleries
The Downtown Brooklyn area has a diverse collection of museums and galleries for every visitor, ranging from the New York Transit Museum to the Rotunda Gallery that presents contemporary art.
Performance Venues
Whether it is theater, classical music, or dance, there is no shortage of performances in a given week. These Brooklyn venues draw performing artists locally and around the world to showcase their work to people like you.
Arts Organizations
Explore the many arts organizations that thrive in Brooklyn, the creative capital of the world. These organizations are valuable resources for both artists and arts enthusiasts.