Brooklyn Navy Yard’s 2026 Public Art Commissions Put Local Artists on Flushing Avenue
Three temporary works by an architect, Pratt graduate students and neighborhood high schoolers turn the Yard’s edges into public galleries through early November.
By Maya Chen · October 6, 2026 · 3 min read
BROOKLYN — Three temporary public-art commissions are bringing student and professional work to the Brooklyn Navy Yard this fall, with installations along Flushing Avenue and at Building 92 scheduled to remain on view through early November. The Yard’s development corporation announced the 2026 program in June, describing it as a way to make an active industrial campus more welcoming while supporting artists at different career stages. By October, the projects were not just plans: the corporation said it celebrated the installations at a June 4 gathering attended by more than 70 artists, visitors, entrepreneurs and community members.
The largest commission, “BUILD THE FUTURE,” is by Brooklyn artist and architect Peter Miller. It stretches 350 feet along the fence outside Building 3, between Clermont Avenue and Adelphi Street. The Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation describes the work as hand-woven strips of colored aluminum arranged in a shifting three-dimensional composition. Its movement and changing colors are intended to respond to passersby, while the project’s theme connects labor, material innovation and the borough’s industrial history.
At Building 92, “Brooklyn: Layered Lenses” brings together the work of Pratt Institute graduate students Tanvi Shaha and Joris Van Helmond. It emerged from Pratt’s Project in the Public Realm course and uses layered imagery of the Navy Yard, Prospect Park and Coney Island, printed on colored vinyl and clear acrylic. The Yard says changes in light and perspective connect those distinct Brooklyn places. A third commission, “Brooklyn Becomes,” presents 19 student works selected from 33 submissions by Dr. Susan S. McKinney Secondary School of the Arts; the 100-foot photo-mesh installation lines the Flushing Avenue fence.
The program places young artists alongside a working waterfront and manufacturing campus rather than isolating their work inside a conventional gallery. Its selection process also differs by project: Miller’s commission came through a juried open call, while the student projects grew from partnerships with Pratt and McKinney. That mix is a stated feature of the Yard’s public-art program, now in its third year. The schedule makes the next few weeks a limited viewing window, but the official announcement does not promise the temporary works will remain after early November. Visitors should check the Navy Yard’s own event and access information before making a trip.