About BRIC

BRIC

Since our inception in 1979, BRIC has enriched the cultural landscape of Brooklyn by presenting, producing and enabling a wide array of quality contemporary art, performing arts and community media programs. As a non-profit arts organization, we have been a leader in innovation in the arts and media, a proud participant in the revitalization of Prospect Park and a champion of arts education through our programs.

BRIC reaches upwards of a million Brooklyn residents each year with compelling and accessible programs. Individuals, non-profits, community groups, school children, educators and artists borough-wide all benefit from our exhibitions, performances, television programs, and education programs as well as the subsidized platforms we offer for artists and community members to develop and present works.

Contemporary Art

BRIC's Contemporary Art program presents contemporary art exhibitions, ongoing opportunities for artists, and free interpretive programs that engage and challenge visitors at our award-winning exhibition space, BRIC Rotunda Gallery. Recent exhibition highlights include Mystics: A Blessed Rage for Order, which brought together artists whose work was deeply process oriented, and characterized by meticulous detail and repetition; The Bricoleurs, featuring artists selected from our Artist Registry who explored the medium of collage and assemblage; and 30: A Brooklyn Salon, which celebrated the wealth of artists who have shaped the character of BRIC's exhibition program over the past three decades.

Our Contemporary Art program also presents a Contemporary Art Education initiative that introduces thousands of students in Brooklyn and beyond annually to visual art through school-based residencies, class visits to BRIC Rotunda Gallery, and our annual student art exhibition and Family Days festivities. These efforts are enhanced by ongoing professional development opportunities for artists, teachers, and administrators.

Performing Arts

BRIC’s flagship Performing Arts program, the Celebrate Brooklyn! Performing Arts Festival, was launched in 1979 to bring people back to Prospect Park after years of decline, and the festival has become Brooklyn’s premier summer cultural attraction. Now entering its fourth decade, Celebrate Brooklyn! has presented over 2,000 artists and ensembles reflective of the borough’s diversity, ranging from internationally acclaimed performers to emerging, cutting-edge artists. Celebrate Brooklyn! past presentations have included local indie heroes TV on the Radio; Grammy Award winner Philip Glass performing his gripping score to Dracula; the incomparable Burning Spear; and Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, one of the world’s great modern dance companies.

BRIC Performing Arts opens the door to the exciting worlds of theatre, dance, music and multidisciplinary performance in our intimate and engaging black box theater, BRICstudio. For an electrifying seven seasons, we have presented a dynamic blend of workshops, premieres and collaborations, including the Brooklyn debut of the critically-acclaimed company SaBooge Theatre; the annual audience favorite Danspace Out of Space @ BRICstudio; and the New York premiere of Congolese dancer and choreographer Faustin Linyekula, together with Dance Theater Workshop and MAPP International Productions. At BRICstudio, we also offer subsidized rehearsal and performance space and present BRIClab, our commissioning and residency program for the development of new works in the performing arts.

Community Media

BRIC Community Media is the main source of television for and about Brooklyn. Via Brooklyn Free Speech TV, we air over 650 hours of community-produced and community-selected television each week on our BCAT TV Network, including offerings like The Spew, Adopting Teens and Tweens, Transit Transit, and Caribbean Vibe. Our Brooklyn Independent Television initiative includes in-depth coverage of all things Brooklyn via professionally-produced programs such as Brooklyn Review, Brooklyn’s only TV news magazine; In the Zone, shining the spotlight on Brooklyn sports and athletes; and Neighborhood Beat, which introduces viewers to neighborhoods throughout the Borough.

Brooklyn Free Speech TV and Brooklyn Independent Television programs are cablecast into the homes of over 500,000 Time Warner Cable, Cablevision, RCN and Verizon subscribers throughout Brooklyn, and, streaming online, reach viewers all over the world. BRIC Community Media also cablecasts a 24/7 community calendar on our BCAT TV Network through Brooklyn Bulletin Board TV (actively used by over 2,000 organizations). Our Brooklyn Center for Media Education offers low-cost, high-quality classes such as Video Blogging 101 and Television Studio Production and free access to our state-of-the-art television production facility.