Puffin Brooklyn

After three decades of operating out of Teaneck, NJ, the Puffin Foundation was delighted to expand in April of 2025 with the opening of a satellite office in Park Slope, Brooklyn.

In addition to being a workspace, the new office has a storefront gallery area for art exhibitions, intimate performances, and meetings of community organizations. We are thrilled to be establishing a presence in Brooklyn, NYC, where many of our grantees live, and where an excellent bagel is always within walking distance.

Wearable sculptures in window by Sunny Allis

Visit Us

Puffin Brooklyn is located at 227 5th Ave, Brooklyn, NYC, between President and Carroll.

When exhibitions are on display, visitors are welcome on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays between 12 & 5. (Check our social media or contact us directly for changes due to weather etc.)

On View Now

Gray Zones:
Unmaking the Myth of a Polarized Nation

Our summer exhibition was inspired by the semiquincentennial of the United States, which feels less united with every passing day. Yet the reality is that all of us, whether we are urban or rural, queer or straight, born in the USA or elsewhere, share similar struggles, loves, hardships, and joys. The dominant narrative is invested in dividing us, in order to concentrate wealth and power in the hands of the few while keeping the rest of us on the margins. This exhibition – an extraordinary collection of work by highly accomplished photographers – challenges viewers to reconsider traditional lines of division. It is an invitation to see ourselves in each other, regardless of race class, or other differences. It is a reminder that solidarity is not only possible but necessary if we are to continue as a nation. Curated by Danny Wilcox Frazier and featuring work by Nina Berman, Sheila Pree Bright, Danny Wilcox Frazier, Jordan Gale, Ron Haviv, Tyrel Iron Eyes, Brooklynn Kascel, Erin Kirkland, Zun Lee, Jon Lowenstein, Carlos Javier Ortiz.

On view Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, Sundays through 8/15,
11 am to 5 pm. (Note that exhibition hours start at 11 for this exhibit, not 12.)

Upcoming & Past Events

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Interested in having an event or exhibiting in our space?

Puffin Brooklyn periodically displays art, hosts performances, and allows group use of our space for projects that align with our mission and have a social justice, activist, or civil rights focus. Grantees and NYC residents are prioritized. To inquire, please fill out an interest form.

Interest Form

Catch "Gray Zones: Unmaking the Myth of a Polarized Nation" before it closes! On view in Brooklyn for just one more day. On Saturday, 8/15, we'll be open from 11-5. But if you can't see it in NYC, you'll have another opportunity when the show moves to The Puffin Cultural Forum, in Teaneck, NJ, in the fall. Don't miss this powerful exhibit, which features the work of @nina_berman @shepreebright @ista_maza @dannywilcoxfrazier @jordangalephoto @ronhaviv_vii @brooklynn.kascel @eakirklandphoto @zunleephoto @jonlowenstein @carlosjavierortiz

Puffin Brooklyn is at 227 5th Ave in Park Slope, Brooklyn.

Please join us on Thursday, August 20th for a free screening of Happy in the Bronx. Directed by Nancy Siesel @magnoliapetunia, this 27 minute documentary tells the story of a Bronx Zoo elephant named Happy who was held in captivity for 49 years.

After the screening, Nancy will lead a panel discussion and/or an audience Q&A.

This event is free and open to the public but please note that space is limited and attendees will be admitted on a first come, first served basis. Doors open at 6:!5, event begins at 6:30.

Puffin Brooklyn
227 5th Avenue (Btwn President & Carroll)

Come see Gray Zones: Unmaking the Myth of a Polarized Nation in its final days at Puffin Brooklyn!

Viewing hours are on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 11:00am - 5:00pm, through August 15th.

Gray Zones is curated by Danny Wilcox Frazier and features work by Nina Berman, Sheila Pree Bright, Danny Wilcox Frazier, Jordan Gale, Ron Haviv, Tyrel Iron Eyes, Brooklynn Kascel, Erin Kirkland, Zun Lee, Jon Lowenstein, and Carlos Javier Ortiz.

This exhibition challenges viewers to reconsider traditional lines of division. It is an invitation to see ourselves in each other, regardless of race, class, or other differences. It is a reminder that solidarity is not only possible but necessary if we are to continue as a nation. Catch it before it's gone!

The Puffin Foundation Brooklyn presents Gray Zones: Unmaking the Myth of A Polarized Nation. Curated by VII Foundation's Danny Wilcox Frazier and featuring Nina Berman, Sheila Pree Bright, Tyrel Iron Eyes, Danny Wilcox Frazier, Jordan Gale, Ron Haviv, Brooklynn Kascel, Erin Kirkland, Zun Lee, Jon Lowenstein, Carlos Javier Ortiz. We're at 227 5th Ave in Park Slope (11215), open Tues, Thurs, Sat, Sun from 11-5. Please come visit!

Gray Zones: Unmaking the Myth of a Polarized Nation

Opening Reception Sat 6/20/26, 12-5 pm
Panel discussion with photographers and curator @dannywilcoxfrazier at 1 pm

On view 6/20 - 8/15
Tues, Thurs, Sat, Sun from 11 am - 5 pm (except July 4)

At Puffin Brooklyn: 227 5th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11215

Featured here, photos by Danny Wilcox Frazier (@dannywilcoxfrazier) from Lost Nation

Slide one: John Neumann works on an old pickup, Neumann ranch, Cactus Flat, South Dakota. John shot himself on June 9, 2019. He left behind a six-month-old son, Stetson, and fiancée, Tabatha Swartz. The lack of access to healthcare in rural South Dakota was central to the cowboy’s death. Stetson will take over the ranch when he turns 18, John’s wish for his son. 2008
Slide two: Home Defense, Cowles (population 30), Webster Co., Nebraska. Webster County has lost 61% of its population over the past century. (2017)

Documentary photographer and filmmaker Danny Wilcox Frazier focuses his work on marginalized communities both in and outside of the United States. Frazier has photographed people struggling to survive the economic shift that has devastated rural communities throughout the U.S., including in his home state of Iowa.

With his photographs from Iowa, Frazier documented those individuals continuing to live traditional lives in rural communities across the state, people challenged economically but often unwavering in their conviction to stay. The project was awarded the Center for Documentary Studies/Honickman First Book Prize and was published in 2007 as Driftless. After completing the book, Frazier directed and co-produced with MediaStorm an Emmy nominated documentary by the same name.

Frazier’s photographs are in public and private collections, including: The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Philadelphia Museum of Art, George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film, Duke University’s special collections library, Honickman Foundation, and Smithsonian, National Museum of American History.

Danny will be at the opening on 6/20 and hosting the panel discussion! We hope you'll be able to join us.

Gray Zones: Unmaking the Myth of a Polarized Nation

Opening Reception Sat 6/20/26, 12-5 pm
Panel discussion with photographers & curator @dannywilcoxfrazier at 1 pm

On view 6/20 - 8/15
Tues, Thurs, Sat, Sun from 11 am - 5 pm (except July 4)

At Puffin Brooklyn: 227 5th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11215

Featured here, photographs by Sheila Pree Bright (@shepreebright)

Slide one: 2015, Students of Historically Black Colleges and Universities stand in solidarity with students of University of Missouri, demanding the resignation of President Tim Wolfe. Atlanta GA

Slide two: 2005, Untitled 12

Sheila Pree Bright is an International Lens-based artist and the mind behind the celebrated book #1960Now: Photographs of Civil Rights Activists and Black Lives Matter Protests. Bright's expansive bodies of work weave deep insights into contemporary culture. Her iconic series include Plastic Bodies, Suburbia, #1960Now, Invisible Empire, Young Americans, and an evocative portrayal of the 90s Hip Hop scene.

Her work is included in the book and exhibition Posing Beauty in African American Culture. The 2014 documentary Through the Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People and she appeared in the 2016 film Election Day: Lens Across America. Among the prestigious spaces that have exhibited her works are the Smithsonian National Museum of African American Museum in DC, High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Saatchi Gallery in London, The Art Gallery of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, MA and the International Center of Photography, New York.

Her photographic series are housed in several prominent archival collections: The Hip Hop is part of the Woodson Research Center, Special Collections & Archives at Rice University's Fondren Library; Plastic Bodies and Suburbia are held by the Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library at Emory University; and #1960Now is archived at the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Duke University.

Sheila Pree Bright will join our live panel discussion via Zoom on Sat 6/20! In conversation with Danny Wilcox Frazier, Nina Berman, Brooklyn Kascel, Jon Lowenstein, & Carlos Javier Ortiz.

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