Brooklyn Navy Yard Seeks Public Art Proposals

Kings County artists can submit their best ideas around the theme of "Our Brooklyn" for a temporary installation in 2025.

Brooklyn Navy Yard Seeks Public Art Proposals
An aerial view of the Brooklyn Navy Yard, a secure manufacturing and shipping compound just south of Williamsburg (all images courtesy the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation)

The Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation (BNYDC) seeks to tap the well of local talent for a large-scale public art installation along Flushing Avenue in mid-2025. Applications are now open through December 15 for artists residing and working in Kings County to submit a detailed project proposal centering the Yard's chosen theme of “Our Brooklyn.”

According to the guidelines for submissions, artists are expected to activate the public-facing fence line in front of the Yard's Building 3, spanning some 480 feet between Clermont Avenue and Carlton Avenue. Creative submissions can also incorporate the adjacent Building 92's fence and forecourt as either an extension to the Building 3 proposal or a separate idea all together, so long as artists take care to accommodate the material differences and opening and closing of the gate entry points.

The request for proposals emphasizes that the Yard "is NOT interested in historically-focused narratives, but those with a contemporary focus."

A view of the Flushing Avenue fence line activated by an art installation from 2021

"Emphasis should be placed on ways that communities come together through work, social, and cultural life," BNYDC said in a statement, highlighting that proposals should focus on "the intersection of economic growth and a community's social and cultural elements while celebrating the breadth of innovators and workers at the Yard and in Brooklyn."

BNYDC's guidelines note that the project budget is $30,000 in total for the planning, creation, installation, and deinstallation of the work. The selected artist or group can include a $1,000 honorarium for their involvement into the budget, split into two payments of $500 for their participation in two of three public programs surrounding the installation.

The winning proposal is expected to be selected by mid-February for a May 15 installation date.