The L10 Arts and Cultural Center, which celebrated its opening this week, is a new creative hub in Downtown Brooklyn. L10 greatly expands the impact of four local institutions, which will offer an exciting lineup of cultural programming on-site, from art exhibitions to performances to public library lectures.
Downtown Brooklyn’s New L10 Arts and Cultural Center
The L10 Arts and Cultural Center was inaugurated with an official ribbon-cutting ceremony on January 28. The new center “represents a monumental investment in the cultural vitality of Downtown Brooklyn and New York City as a whole,” said Maria Torres-Springer, First Deputy Mayor of New York City, in a statement, “This state-of-the-art facility will serve as a vital community hub and will elevate and support the incredible talents of New Yorkers. By prioritizing spaces like L10, we are ensuring that New York City remains a global hub for culture, creativity, and innovation for generations to come.”
The City of New York contributed $84 million in funding to the creation of the L10 Arts and Cultural Center. L10 provides 65,000 square feet over several floors to three non-profits: the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (MoCADA), 651 ARTS, and the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM). Additionally, L10 is home to the Brooklyn Public Library’s newest branch, which is its first dedicated exclusively to the arts, as well as new cinemas and archival space for BAM.
L10 Champions Brooklyn’s Black Artists
The L10 Arts and Cultural Center will especially support Brooklyn’s Black artists. Laurie Cumbo, New York City’s commissioner of cultural affairs and MoCADA’s original founder, led Tuesday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony and delivered an impassioned speech, saying, “We continue to make Black history, whether you like it or not.” MoCADA has expanded its exhibition space five-fold with the opening of the L10 Arts and Cultural Center. The MoCADA Culture Lab II will also operate on-site, hosting STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) activities that center on the cultures of the African Diaspora.
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L10 is also the new—and first—permanent home of 651 Arts. The institution’s executive director, Toya Lillard, said, “For 37 years, 651 ARTS has been an arts presenter of innovative performing arts from across the African Diaspora, and our new 12,500-square-foot multipurpose facility will be 651 ARTS’ first ever rooted space, our opportunity to boldly declare: the world is our stage, but Brooklyn is our home.”
“The L10 Arts and Cultural Center Is a Really Big Deal”
“Make no mistake, the L10 Arts and Cultural Center is a really big deal,” said Cumbo. “This amazing new facility has been worked toward and dreamed of by the people who made it a reality for a very long time.” L10 plans to host a variety of events and community activities that aim to further enrich Brooklyn’s already-bustling art scene. These will include exhibitions, film screenings, lectures, performances, and much more.
In a statement, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who did not attend the ribbon-cutting, said, “From music to movies to art, our city’s cultural organizations bring people together, uplift communities, and power our economy.” He added, “Alongside a record investment in the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and our commitment to expanding the city’s Cultural Institutions Group to support even more cultural organizations, this project is just one of the many ways we are bolstering our cultural sector and making New York City the best place to raise a family.”
