Brooklyn Museum Spices Up Programming

A new Thursday series of performances, films, poetry talks and racy art tours will supplement exhibitions beginning Feb. 3 at the .

Some of the programs, which start at 7 p.m. each Thursday, feature ongoing partnerships between the museum and the Nuyorican Poets Café (every third Thursday of the month) and the PBS documentary film showcase “POV” (every fourth Thursday).

The series "highlights Brooklyn's cultural capital and Brooklyn as a cultural capital," said Radiah Harper, the museum's Vice Director for Education and Program Development. "The series is forward-thinking, builds on community, is not afraid to take risks, and has a cool Brooklyn vibe."

Themed “moonlight tours” of museum artwork each Thursday include “The Irreverent Nude” on Feb. 3, “Erotic Art through the Ages” Feb. 10, “Sex Personified” Feb. 17 and “Corsets and Bustiers: Erotic Fashion” Feb. 24.

The first Nuyorican Poets Café event on Feb. 17 features readings and discussions of African-American poetry with Mahogany Brown, Darian Dauchan, and the Mighty Third Rail.

Another poet and author of the play “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf,” Ntozake Shange, will talk about her work with critic Michaela angela Davis on Feb. 10. Shange will also read from her recent book, “Some Sing, Some Cry.”

The first film in the POV screenings on Feb. 24 will be “Off and Running,” a coming-of-age documentary about an African-American track star from Brooklyn who is raised by Jewish lesbians.

Other February attractions include a lecture (2 p.m. Feb. 18) and panel discussion (2 p.m. Feb. 19) in conjunction with special exhibition “Tipi: Heritage of the Great Plains.” Dennis Sun Rhodes, a northern Arapaho architect, will talk about “The Tipi as an Architectural Form” in his lecture, while four Native American exhibition consultants will divulge “Tales of the Tipi” during the panel discussion.

Rounding out the month’s intellectual stimulation, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s will present an evening of classical music, “Baroque Reworked,” at 2 p.m. on Feb. 26. The program showcases a landmark arrangement of Scarlatti’s “Concerto No. 9,” Bach’s “Concerto for Oboe and Violin,” and the premiere of a new work by Phil Kline. A gallery talk connecting the music with artwork in the museum will follow the program.

"Right now, Brooklyn is the place where artistic and intellectual thought is thriving," Harper said. "Why not come to the Brooklyn Museum to experience it?”

For information about tickets and other events, visit the museum’s website.