"The art-lending program launches alongside "Department of Transformation: Letters for the Future," a sprawling, brain-sparky exhibition opening November 3 in the Central Library's Grand Lobby and second floor and running through January 25, 2026. Curated by the artist-organized collective Department of Transformation with BPL Presents, the show includes more than 40 artists and collectives working across painting, sculpture, performance, video, books and zines. Think of it as a library-meets-gallery-meets-workshop-meets-karaoke fever dream, designed to get New Yorkers thinking, reading and imagining together."
"The project isn't shy about its mission. According to organizers, "Letters for the Future celebrates the library as one of the few remaining intellectual, creative and civic commons still freely available." And the borrowable artworks? That's where things get delightfully radical. In its own words, the program offers "a simple, but radical, proposal: that art should be available to all, to live with and learn from every day.""
"Roughly 20 works from participating artists will be available to check out with a BPL card, echoing a 1970s program the library once piloted. (So, technically, Brooklyn's just dusting off a great idea and giving it a very "now" glow-up.) The library hopes to use this pilot program as an experiment, receiving feedback from cardholders to shape its art-lending program moving forward. You'll check out the artworks the same way you would a book and yes, you'll be expected to return"
Brooklyn Public Library will let cardholders borrow original artworks for three weeks to hang at home through a pilot art-lending program. The lending initiative launches alongside Department of Transformation: Letters for the Future, a large exhibition opening November 3 in the Central Library's Grand Lobby and second floor and running through January 25, 2026. Curated by the artist-organized collective Department of Transformation with BPL Presents, the show includes more than 40 artists across painting, sculpture, performance, video, books and zines. Roughly 20 works will be available to check out with a BPL card, echoing a 1970s pilot, and the library will solicit cardholder feedback to shape the program. Borrowed artworks circulate like books and must be returned.
Read at Time Out New York
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