About: The Director's Message

Three years have passed since our dramatically redesigned front entrance and public plaza opened. These dynamic spaces, designed by the Polshek Partnership, have radically transformed the experience of all of our visitors in a way that has far exceeded our expectations. The Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Pavilion, with its stepped glass walls and expansive lobby, featuring the Independence Community Foundation Visitor Center, is an exciting entryway to the Museum's superb permanent collections and special exhibitions. The plaza area with its ample seating, cherry trees, new subway entrance, and a spectacular fountain has become a truly "civic" space in Brooklyn—an extremely popular gathering place for members of the community, many of whom come with laptop computers, taking advantage of the free Wi-Fi.

The new public face of the Museum, along with an exciting schedule of exhibitions and public programs, has significantly broadened and diversified our visitors to the Museum each year. According to a recent audience survey, 40% of our visitors are people of color. While we are enormously proud of this exceptional achievement, through increasingly dynamic audience development, we are committed to mirroring the demographics of the population of New York City. At the same time, the average age of our audience is now 35, attracted by exhibitions such Annie Leibovitz: A Photographer's Life, 1990–2005 and Ron Mueck; our hugely successful Target First Saturdays program; and our highly visible presence on the Internet.

The Museum has increased the use of new technology to better serve our visitors. Our exciting Web site now has many new features—among them nearly daily blogs by Museum staff reporting on exciting developments, ranging from our excavation at the precinct of the Temple of the Goddess Mut in Luxor, Egypt, to the process of acquiring a major object for the collection. Many galleries now have kiosks where computers provide greater access to additional information about the art and culture. To enrich their experience and make it more convenient, visitors may now take cell phone tours of many collections and exhibitions.

Soon the Museum will begin the next phase of its physical evolution. In early 2008, the third-floor Beaux-Arts Court will close for a few months while the magnificent glass block floor, which also serves as the ceiling for the Hall of the Americas on the first floor, undergoes renovation. When this is completed, we will embark on a major multi-year project to completely climate control the entire building, which will aid in preserving our superb permanent collections and greatly increase the comfort of our visitors.

As the climate-control project progresses, floor-by-floor, it will provide us with an opportunity, unparalleled in the Museum's long history, to rethink the ways in which our permanent collections are presented to the public and to redesign all of our core collection galleries, beginning with the Native American, African, pre-Columbian, Asian, and Islamic holdings. Through sharing more of our great collections in dynamically designed and installed new galleries—exploring globalization and the continuity of cultural traditions from around the world and from Brooklyn's own neighborhoods—we will truly engage and better serve each and every one of our visitors and Members.

Arnold L. Lehman
Director