September 1, 1970
The Community Gallery of The Brooklyn Museum will mark its second anniversary with an exhibition of paintings, drawings and constructions by eight contemporary metropolitan artists, opening on Sunday, September 27 at 1:00 p.m. The show entitled Allusions will remain open through October 25th and admission is free.
Inaugurated in September, 1968, The Community Gallery is the first exhibition facility of its kind to be created within a major United States museum. Since its advent, it has presented more than twenty exhibitions involving virtually every segment of the community. These have included Afro-American arts and crafts, children's art, photography, Haitian art, the first New York museum show of works by contemporary Puerto Rican artists and the current show of arts and crafts by senior citizens which will be on view through September 20.
Artists participating in Allusions are Roberto Falfan (Manhattan), Richard Franklin (Cobble Hill), Anthony Giordano (Astoria), Jennett Lam (Manhattan), Joseph Shannon (New Jersey), Thomas Sills (Manhattan), Alvin Smith (Flushing), and Soh Suga (Park Slope). Both Mr. Franklin and Mr. Smith have previously exhibited at The Community Gallery and works by most of the participating artists are in important collections and have been shown at major metropolitan galleries.
Although the Gallery was designed principally to give visibility to local Brooklyn artists of all ages and levels of achievement, it also serves to create an awareness among its public of the variety of expressions in contemporary art through such special exhibitions as ALLUSIONS, which highlights works by artists from the greater Metropolitan area.
Henri Ghent, director of the Community Gallery, feels that the Gallery has more than fulfilled its promise. “When we opened two years ago, there were no precedents or guidelines,” he said, “and no one could predict the future of such an innovative community-oriented project. Happily, it’s proved to be just the thing for this community, and it guards the Gallery’s progress and well-being jealously.”
Brooklyn Museum Archives. Records of the Department of Public Information. Press releases, 1953 - 1970. 1970, 012-13. View Original
