Records of the Contemporary Art Department

The Brooklyn Museum has a long history of exhibiting and collecting contemporary art. In the 1910s the Museum exhibited works by Bessie Potter Vonnoh, and featured annual series of exhibitions by the Brooklyn Society of Etchers. In the 1920s the Museum organized Georgia O'Keeffe's first solo exhibit in a museum and collaborated with Société Anonyme for the first modern art exhibit within a museum in New York. In the catalog forward for Société Anonyme's 1926 exhibit Director William Henry Fox wrote "No matter what the opinion might be regarding the permanency of the movement presented by this exhibition of paintings and sculpture, it is beyond doubt that the tendency to break away from the tradition of Raphael is not local, nor is it merely the whimiscal creation of the moment...It remains with the public, as is shown by the history of art, to arrive at its own final judgements...In the conviction, however, that the public must see in order to judge, the Brooklyn Museum admits to its galleries all types of work which show real creative talent and power of original expression."

Herbert Tschudy was appointed the first Contemporary Art curator in 1934. With the Museum completely rennovated and the galleries rearranged chronologically, Tschudy was repsonsible for curating exhibits in the 6th floor's "Living Artists Gallery". Additionally, Tschudy created a series of long-running bi-annual exhibitions for Brooklyn and Long Island Artists in 1934. He retired in 1937 and while John I. H. Baur continued to collect and exhibit contemporary art, the department was one aspect of the American and European art department.

In 1985 Charlotta Kotik was hired as the Contemporary Art curator. She curated a series of exhibits called Grand Lobby Installations from 1985-1997. Participating artists included Jenny Holzer, Alison Saar, Joseph Kosuth, and many others. The artists created installations in the lobby of the Museum. Often the artists participated in an Education department program called Children Meet the Artist in which the artist would give a tour to a class and then lead them in artmaking responding in some way. In the fall of 1985 Kotik inaugurated another exhibition series: Working in Brooklyn. Installed in the Rotunda, West Gallery, and Lobby Gallery, Working in Brooklyn featured works by mid-career, emerging, and relatively unknown Brooklyn artists in various media: painting, sculpture, installation, multimedia, photography, and artists books. The Working in Brooklyn series furthered the public's recognition of the Museum as a New York institution responsive to contemporary artists.

In 2003 the Contemporary Art Department was formally separated from European and American art departments.

Eugenie Tsai was the John and Barbara Vogelstein Curator of Contemporary Art from 2008-2023. She curated exhibits like One: Titus Kaphar in 2019 and Mickalene Thomas: Origin of the Universe in 2012. The Brooklyn Museum has continued to support local Brooklyn Artists by showing emerging artists in the 2011 exhibit series Raw/Cooked. Additionally, the Brooklyn Museum has created an annual UOVO Prize. "Since 2020, the Brooklyn Museum has recognized the work of emerging Brooklyn-based artists with the UOVO Prize. Awarded annually, the prize includes a solo presentation at the Museum, a 50-by-50-foot mural on the facade of UOVO’s facility in Bushwick, and a $25,000 unrestricted cash grant." (Found here: https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/uovo)

Kim Gant was hired as the Modern and Contemporary Curator in 2022. She has curated exhibits like Giants: Art from the Dean Collection of Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys from 2024, and organized the local presentation of exhibits like A Movement in Every Direction: Legacies of the Great Migration from 2023.

In 2026 Robert Wiesenberger was hired as the John and Barbara Vogelstein Curator of Contemporary Art.

1934-1937

Herbert Tschudy, Curator of Contemporary Art

1985-2007

Charlotta Kotik, Curator of Contemporary Art

2001-2004

Moriah Evans, Assistant for Contemporary Art

2003-2008

Tumelo Mosaka, Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art; Associate Curator of Exhibitions

2008-2023

Eugenie Tsai, John and Barbara Vogelstein Curator of Contemporary Art

2012-2017

Rujeko Hockley, Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art

2017-2019

Ashley James, Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art

2021-2026

Indira Abiskaroon, Curatorial Assistant for Modern and Contemporary Art

2022-

Kimberli Gant, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art

2026-

Robert Wiesenberger, John and Barbara Vogelstein Curator of Contemporary Art