[title]
This week, the Brooklyn Museum’s front steps are trading stone for softness in a striking new installation.
On Friday, June 6, the museum will unveil Tender, a sweeping, site-specific mural by Brooklyn-based fiber artist Melissa Joseph. The work transforms the museum’s Iris Cantor Plaza into a vivid, contemplative tapestry of friends and family embracing, resting and laughing, everyday moments elevated into public art.
RECOMMENDED: The best outdoor art in NYC this spring, including sculpture
The installation is part of the 2025 UOVO Prize, which awards one emerging Brooklyn artist a cash grant, a solo show and not one but two public installations. In addition to the museum steps, Joseph’s work now spans a 50-by-50-foot mural on the facade of UOVO’s Bushwick facility.
Known for her needle-felted portraits made from wool and recycled sari silk, Joseph turned to personal memories to shape Tender. “Creating these images helped to guide me through a difficult time in my life and studio practice,” she told Time Out. “My intention was to give space for softness and rest, even briefly, as people passed by.”
Months of small-scale work suddenly scaled up, with emotional results. “I definitely teared up a bit when my family and friends who are featured saw themselves in the murals for the first time,” she added.
The murals mark a shift in medium, but not message. By enlarging her textured portraits into photographic reproductions, Joseph invites viewers to connect with the quiet intimacy at the heart of her work. As Kimberli Gant, curator of modern and contemporary art at the Brooklyn Museum, put it: “We’re especially excited to see Melissa Joseph’s vibrant installation—rooted in themes of connection and community—on view on our plaza, reflecting the power of public art to meet people in their everyday lives.”
Tender will remain on view at the Brooklyn Museum through Nov. 2, 2025. The Bushwick mural, located at 105 Evergreen Avenue, is up through June 2026.
