BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke released the following statement to congratulate Brooklyn Botanic Garden and the Brooklyn Museum on earning Museums for America grants from the Institute of Museum and Library Services:

“On behalf of the people of central Brooklyn, I am proud and pleased to receive word that the Institute of Museum and Library Services has announced that three of their Museums for America grants have been awarded to two great cultural institutions in New York’s 9th Congressional district. Since the days of my childhood, I have enjoyed visiting the Brooklyn Museum, a place where the families and children of Brooklyn have an opportunity to discover and experience the artwork and artifacts of ancient and contemporary cultures from around the World. The support for this institution from both elected officials and the public demonstrates its importance and significance to the communities we share. Likewise our beloved Brooklyn Botanic Garden offers a beautiful place of respite for all who visit. Their excellence in horticultural design and diversity has been award-worthy for generations and will continue to be so for generations to come. Know that these institutions are truly worthy of such recognition and we in central Brooklyn are thrilled that what we have always known as Brooklynites has been acknowledged through such a prestigious award. I congratulate the Brooklyn Museum and Brooklyn Botanic Garden, as well as their leadership and staff, on being selected for such recognition.”

The grants will provide $150,000 to support Brooklyn Botanical Garden’s partnership with the Brooklyn Academy for Science and the Environment in Crown Heights, $76,563 for maintenance and repair of the Brooklyn Museum’s Visible Storage Study Center in the Luce Center for American Art, and a $150,000 contribution to “Shifting Focus: Looking Feminist at the Brooklyn Museum,” an examination of how feminism informs our daily experiences and our perspective on the world.

Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke, a member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade, the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, and the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, the Committee on Ethics and the Committee on Small Business in the House of Representatives, proudly represents Brownsville, Crown Heights, East Flatbush, Flatbush, Gerritsen Beach, Madison, Midwood, Park Slope, Flatlands, Prospect Heights, Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, Sheepshead Bay, and Windsor Terrace.