Join Prospect Park Alliance and Shirley Chisholm Cultural Institute (SCCI) for a new exhibit that explores how Brooklyn’s beloved daughter broke down gender and racial barriers to fight for her community, becoming the first Black woman elected to Congress.

The exhibit is organized around seven life lessons drawn from Chisholm’s tenacious career. It features stunning portraits of Chisholm by artist Al Johnson and rarely seen photographs and memorabilia from the Congresswoman’s campaigns, curated by Barbara Bullard, Creative Producer and President of SCCI. These materials offer inspirational insights into how Brooklyn’s beloved daughter broke down gender and racial barriers to become the first Black woman to serve in Congress. This exhibit provides visitors with a space to reflect on Chisholm’s legacy as Prospect Park Alliance welcomes the installation of a new monument in her honor at the Parkside and Ocean Avenue entrance in 2027.

The exhibit, curated by Barbara Bullard, Cultural Producer and President of the Shirley Chisholm Cultural Institute, is part of Prospect Park Alliance’s ReImagine Lefferts initiative, which is transforming the museum to explore the legacies of resistance and resilience of the Indigenous people of Lenapehoking, whose unceded ancestral lands the park and house rests upon, and Africans who were enslaved by the Lefferts family.

The Shirley Chisholm Cultural Institute (SCCI) has been at the forefront of art, culture, and justice and economic sustainability since 1977, with the official permission and participation of Congresswoman Chisholm herself in its inception and development. Its purpose is to preserve the legacy of Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm through the initiatives cultivated during her public service career with 21st century activism and innovation. SCCI is aligned with grassroots groups and frontline communities through creating substantive community-based partnership and collaboration along with strategic interoperative relationships with leaders of governmental, and mainstream organizations.

The Shirley Chisholm Way: Brooklyn’s Blueprint for Change
Exhibit Opening: Thursday, May 14, 2026 6-8 pm
On view through November 15, 2026