Celebrating THE EAST FLATBUSH PEOPLE’S MUSEUM OF LOVE AND WONDER

Join us at the new Shirley Chisholm Recreation Center in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, to celebrate the completion of THE EAST FLATBUSH PEOPLE’S MUSEUM OF LOVE AND WONDER, a major public art commission by artist vanessa german, commissioned by the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs’ Percent for Art program in collaboration with NYC Parks and the NYC Department of Design and Construction.

This special event will feature an artist talk and community conversation with vanessa german and East Flatbush community members who participated in the creation of the artwork through workshops, storytelling sessions, and collaborative making.

Developed during a year-long residency in East Flatbush, the project is a co-created communal museum embedded throughout the recreation center and its grounds. The artworks celebrate the stories, dreams, histories, and everyday beauty of the neighborhood and the vibrant Caribbean community that calls East Flatbush home.

Following the talk, guided art tours will be available to experience the artwork installations throughout the Shirley Chisholm Recreation Center. The building is located in Nostrand Playground.
This is an Accessible Recreation Center. For further information on accessibility or to request accommodations, please contact: [email protected] or (212) 298-8718 as soon as possible.

Please note: registration is required separately for each event.

Event Schedule

Artist Talk + Community Conversation
1:30 PM – 2:30 PM
The artist will discuss the process behind the project, followed by a conversation with community participants and Q&A with the audience.

Guided Art Tours
Tour 1 — 3:00 PM
Tour 2 — 3:30 PM
Tours will provide a closer look all components of the commission installed throughout the recreation center.
Important Registration Information
Please note that registration is required for each event.

If you would like to attend both the talk and a guided tour, you must register separately for each using the respective Eventbrite links. Due to limited capacity, please register for only one tour time slot.

About the Artist
vanessa german is a self-taught citizen artist working across sculpture, performance, communal rituals, immersive installation, and photography. Her work proposes new models for social healing and collective care, using creativity and tenderness to address histories of structural racism, injustice, and displacement.

A visual storyteller, german is known for her power figures—assemblage sculptures inspired by Congolese Nkisi traditions and folk art practices—combining found objects, beads, glass, fabric, and carved wood to create protective and spiritually charged forms.
About the Artwork
THE EAST FLATBUSH PEOPLE’S MUSEUM OF LOVE AND WONDER is a community-created art project inspired by the life and lives of East Flatbush residents.

Through workshops, storytelling sessions, and collaborative artmaking, community members contributed dreams, memories, objects, and creative gestures that helped shape the final artworks. The resulting installations celebrate the people, places, and connections that illuminate the neighborhood with love, imagination, and possibility.
About the Percent for Art Program
The Percent for Art program, New York City’s permanent public art program, administered by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, commissions permanent public artworks for city-funded construction projects across New York City. Established in 1982, the program dedicates one percent of eligible capital project budgets to public art, bringing the work of contemporary artists into civic spaces such as schools, libraries, parks, and community centers throughout the five boroughs. The program has commissioned more than 400 artworks to date and is currently developing over 120 new public art projects, representing more than $30 million in public art investment across the city.
Commissioned by the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs Percent for Art Program in collaboration with the NYC Department of Design and Construction and NYC Parks.

Photos by Matthew Lapiska / NYC DDC.

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Host or Publisher New York City Department of Cultural Affairs