BRIC, a Brooklyn-based not-for-profit organization that presents contemporary art, performing arts and community media programs, will open a 40,000-square-foot complex in the borough on October 3, 2013. The $35 million project transformed the historic Strand Theatre into a contemporary art gallery, a performance space with seating for 240-400 patrons, a public access TV studio, a glass-blowing studio and more.
BRIC’s new building will also include the BRIC House Fireworks Residency, an initiative aimed at facilitating collaborative projects by artists working in different media; the program is backed by the Rockefeller Foundation’s Cultural Innovation Fund.The exhibition Housewarming: Notions of Home from the Center of the Universe will inaugurate the building’s brand new, 3,000-square-foot gallery. The group show will present works that explore the concept of home.
Leslie G. Schultz, BRIC’s president, said in a statement, “Since 1979, BRIC has used many wonderful spaces in Brooklyn to present artistically excellent and highly accessible programming. The essence of this building’s design – an inviting public cultural space and a welcoming home for the artists in Brooklyn – is entirely consistent with, and indeed was inspired by, the mission of our organization to serve artists and the public in a welcoming and informal environment.”