In the theater at 651 ARTS, there is dancing courtesy of the EMERGE125 dance company.

Down the hall in a rehearsal studio, musician Jordyn Davis performs with vocalist Amyra Leon, who is also playing a keyboard. It's all inside the 37-year-old arts organization's first-ever permanent home at the L10 Arts and Cultural Center, which it will share with three other Brooklyn institutions.


What You Need To Know

  • L10 Arts and Cultural Center is a new hub for arts and culture in Brooklyn 

  • It is home to new spaces for the Brooklyn Academy of Music, MoCADA, 651 ARTS and the Brooklyn Public Library   

  • It is located on Ashland Place near Flatbush and Lafayette avenues in Fort Greene 

Those are the Museum of Contemporary African Diaspora Arts (MoCADA), the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) and the Brooklyn Public Library. 

"Looking forward to all types of programmatic collaborations, where we can inspire each other, support each other, and most importantly, support the amplification of art in Brooklyn," said Toya Lillard, executive director of 651 ARTS. 

Representatives from all the institutions, plus elected officials and arts leaders from around Brooklyn and the city, were there to cut the ribbon on L10, with 65,000 square feet of space inside the building on Lafayette Avenue in Fort Greene.

It was developed and backed by $84 million in investment from the city, with the city's Economic Development Corporation and Department of Cultural Affairs. 

L10 was designed by Andrea Steele Architecture. It is housed inside a mixed-use residential tower developed by Two Trees Management that opened in 2017, which includes more than 70 units of affordable housing, retail spaces and a public plaza. 

It was a special day for Department of Cultural Affairs Commissioner Laurie Cumbo, who founded MoCADA. She says the L10 project was 25 years in the making. 

"We are making Black history, we are making women's history, we are changing the entire landscape with this incredible organization," Cumbo said. 

The building features gallery space for MoCADA; three new cinemas and archival space for BAM; and the first branch of the Brooklyn Public Library dedicated to arts and culture. Brooklyn Public Library president and CEO Linda Johnson says it wasn't an easy ride to get to the big day.

"Every project has its winding road. This one was a little more curvy than most, but it's always worth it. When you're in the trenches and you're trying to get something done, you just have to keep your eye on what the end goal is, and I can't think of a better goal than this one," Johnson said.

As Cumbo said, dreams can come true with hard work and dedication, in a place that will hopefully fulfill the dreams of many an artist for years to come.