Records of the Community Gallery

The Community Gallery was a 2,000 square foot space on the ground floor of the east wing of the Brooklyn Museum that existed from 1968 to 1986. Although small in size and duration, its historical impact on the surrounding community is undeniable in the partnerships that it fostered.

In the late 1960s and 1970s, African-American and Black artists protested the racist exclusion and segregation of their work and knowledge from Museums, and, in particular, derision by institutional leadership. In 1967 members of Federated Institutes of Cultural Enrichment (FICE), a collective of four local Black cultural institutions, demanded that the Brooklyn Museum exhibit more local, BIPOC, and non-traditional artists/arts. These actions by local activists resulted in the founding of the Community Gallery. Bolstered by the initial support of Major Lindsay, the Community Gallery was funded by a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts and anonymous donations. Originally organized under the auspices of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences (BIAS), and located within the Museum, this reporting structure caused tensions, which, in hindsight, somewhat foreshadowed BIAS’s dissolution throughout the 1970s. The 1967-1968 BIAS Annual Report stated: “The community needs its own gallery, in which various groups can exhibit what they think is important.” In contrast, the Museum’s press release announcing the Community Gallery used elitist and patronizing language, declaring that it would be for the “culturally disadvantaged” with the goal of “community improvement.” The inaugural exhibition at the Gallery consisted of members of FICE. Included in the exhibition was a manifesto statement that described the museum’s treatment of FICE and the continued lack of civic support for Black people in New York City, and especially in Brooklyn.

The Community Gallery’s exhibition calendar was made up of eight or nine group shows per year, following common themes of age, race, religion, and artistic medium. Some such exhibitions were: Contemporary Puerto Rican Artists [01/12/1969 - 02/09/1969], Art of the Elders [08/16/1970 - 09/20/1970], Twenty-Two Black Artists [09/16/1973 - 10/21/1973], Brooklyn's Comic Book Artists [10/09/1974 - 11/03/1974], Inside Outside: Art From the Brooklyn House of Detention for Men [01/29/1975 - 03/02/1975], Children's Art from Armenia [04/19/1975 - 06/08/1975], Chassidic Artists of Brooklyn [09/18/1977 - 10/24/1977], and Thread, Wool and Fabric [09/24/1978 - 10/29/1978]. Additionally, the Community Gallery hosted annual exhibitions, such as: Salute to Brooklyn’s Creative Youth, the Fence Art Show, and a juried art show that ran from 1977 to 1986 titled “Brooklyn” and the year, e.g. Brooklyn ‘84. Most of the artwork displayed in the exhibitions was for sale. Throughout its existence the Community Gallery had close working relationships with organizations or programs outside the Museum, such as the Museum Collaborative: Cultural Voucher Program, Brooklyn Arts and Cultural Association (BACA), and Brooklyn Educational and Cultural Alliance (BECA).

The Gallery had two directors whose titles vary within the archival documents, being referred to sometimes as “director” or “coordinator” and other times as “curator.” The first director, Henri Ghent, held the position from June 1968 to September 1972. He was an esteemed Black artist, writer, and consultant on civic arts programs. Ghent was hired both to manage and to shape the core concept and mission of the Community Gallery. His four year tenure cemented the role as a community liaison just as much as a gallery director. Through organizing dozens of exhibitions, Ghent demonstrated that he was committed to communication with surrounding local artist organizations. Correspondence shows evidence that he continued to go to artist walks and small gallery openings to maintain those relationships. Mr. Ghent was also an activist who fought for representation within museums and, as such, was actively involved in picketing and protesting at other New York institutions, such as the Whitney and the Met, which he protested against in direct response to the 1969 exhibit “Harlem on My Mind,” as part of the group the Black Emergency Cultural Coalition.(Wallace, Caroline V. “Exhibiting Authenticity: The Black Emergency Cultural Coalition's Protests of the Whitney Museum of American Art, 1968-71.” Art Journal, vol. 74, no. 2, 2015, pp. 5-23.).He was fired in 1972 by then Brooklyn Museum director Duncan F. Cameron, whose leadership was divisive and resulted in firings and resignations of numerous museum staff members. Ghent’s dismissal was controversial and thinly veiled allegations of racism were reported in the press and communicated in personal correspondence.

The next director of the Community Gallery was Richard Waller who had previously been Ghent’s assistant. He took the reins in 1972 and saw the gallery through to its culmination in 1986. He had a strong presence within the local Brooklyn art community, ensuring that the gallery was in touch with the local artists.

With Richard Waller as the new Director, in the mid 1970s the Community Gallery was moved from BIAS (which was the parent organization of the Brooklyn Museum) to the Brooklyn Museum's Department of Education. Waller reported to Julia Hotton and was a part of the Community Services section of the Education department. In addition to the Gallery, Waller helped with select BECA and BACA projects that can be seen in his files.

The Community Gallery closed its doors in 1986, but its legacy still lives on in the Brooklyn Museum.