This fall, the Brooklyn Museum will open “Oliver Jeffers: Life at Sea” in the Museum’s Education Center.
Transporting visitors into the whimsical world of Jeffers’s bestselling 2017 children’s book, Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth (Philomel Books), the exhibition features an underwater world that begins, when the show first opens, as sparsely populated.
Over the course of the presentation, visitors will bring this ocean to life by creating and adding sea creatures to imagine an abundant future. “Life at Sea” opens on September 19, 2025, and will be on view until April 26, 2026.
Based in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and Brooklyn, Oliver Jeffers is an award-winning artist, illustrator, and writer who uses storytelling to advocate for the environment. His first nonfiction book, Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth, was written as a guide for his newborn son on how to navigate the world with kindness and an appreciation for the world around him.
Grounded in Jeffers’s signature humor and playfulness, his Brooklyn Museum exhibition similarly prompts visitors to explore their relationship with the Earth and the climate — this time by collaboratively creating an ocean environment.
Through the run of the exhibition, visitors of all ages will decorate and install fish and other sea creatures throughout the underwater landscape. During drop-in activities, attendees are invited to build coral structures using recycled sea plastics to populate the gallery’s ocean floor.
Through many kinds of community interactions, the deep blue oceanic mural — specially designed by Jeffers for the Education Center — will transform from a lonely expanse into a vibrant biome full of sea life.
The site-specific installation will include a sunken ship–inspired reading nook with a selection of books chosen by Jeffers, featuring writers who inspire imaginative thinking about the importance of caring for the environment.
In addition, the Museum’s Education team will host a series of creative workshops throughout the run of the exhibition. These workshops will focus on topics such as learning about different types of fish and birds as well as the reuse of single-use plastics.
Visitors can enhance their experience of “Life at Sea” with the Museum’s Member Kids’ Club, a brand-new Membership add-on designed specifically for families with children.
Available to both current and new Members, Kids’ Club grants access to the Museum’s monthly family-focused programming, featuring hands-on art-making, guided tours, and other interactive experiences tailored to children and their caregivers.
Kids’ Club Members receive an exclusive welcome bundle that includes an activity sheet inspired by Jeffers’s storytelling, a Junior Membership Card designed by Jeffers, and a specially designed merchandise item.
Known for his whimsical illustrations and children’s books, Jeffers incorporates painting, bookmaking, illustration, collage, performance, and sculpture to tell stories that spark dialogue about our changing world.
Following his beloved debut, How to Catch a Star (Philomel Books; 2004), Jeffers has written and illustrated a collection of award-winning and bestselling picture books that have been translated into over forty-nine languages. He is also an internationally recognized painter and sculptor.
Beyond his artistic endeavors, Jeffers uses his platform to advocate for collective action aimed at preserving and nurturing our planet. He has spoken on prominent global stages, including COP26, TED, and the Clinton Global Initiative.
“Oliver Jeffers: Life at Sea” is the second special exhibition hosted in the Education Center since its renovation was completed in 2024. The Education Center’s inaugural project, “Artland: An Installation” by Do Ho Suh and Children, welcomed visitors that same year.
“Oliver Jeffers: Life at Sea” is organized by Sharon Matt Atkins, Deputy Director for Art, and Keonna Hendrick, Deputy Director for Learning and Social Impact.
The Brooklyn Museum is home to a collection of more than 140,000 objects representing cultures worldwide and over 6,000 years of history — from ancient Egyptian masterpieces to significant American works, to groundbreaking installations presented in the only feminist art center of its kind.
Illustration from Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth, courtesy Oliver Jeffers.
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