Pediment of the Brooklyn Museum, Nov. 2006

The Brooklyn Museum, located at 200 Eastern Parkway, in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, is the second largest art museum in New York City, and one of the largest in the United States. Arnold L. Lehman is the museum's Director.

Opened in 1897, the Brooklyn Museum building is a steel frame structure—built to the standards of classical masonry—designed by the famous architectural firm of McKim, Mead, and White and built by the Carlin Construction Company. Daniel Chester French, the noted sculptor of the Lincoln Memorial, was the sculptor of two allegorical figures, Brooklyn and Manhattan, and of the figures on the pediment.

One of the premier art institutions in the world, its permanent collection includes more than one-and-a-half million objects, from ancient Egyptian masterpieces to contemporary art, and the art of many other cultures. Housed in a 560,000 square foot (52,000 m²), Beaux-Arts building, approximately 500,000 patrons visit the museum each year. Located in Central Brooklyn, the museum is a half-hour from midtown Manhattan and about 15minutes from downtown Brooklyn, and is serviced by the Eastern Parkway-Brooklyn Museum IRT subway 2/3 station, and the nearby Botanic Garden station of the BMT Franklin Avenue Shuttle. The Museum is located on Eastern Parkway, at Washington Avenue, and is on the same parcel of land that contains the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Mount Prospect Park, and the Central Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library.

The Brooklyn Museum exhibits collections that seek to embody the rich artistic heritage of world cultures. The museum sits at the border of the Prospect Heights, Crown Heights, and Flatbush neighborhoods. It is near Brooklyn's Prospect Park.

In 2002, the museum purchased the work The Dinner Party by feminist artist Judy Chicago funded by a gift from The Elizabeth A. Sackler Foundation. Its permanent exhibition opened in March, 2007.

The Brooklyn Museum changed its name to Brooklyn Museum of Art in 1997. On March 12, 2004, the museum announced that it would again be called by its previous name.

Text from: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooklyn_Museum