New York City offers a dazzling abundance of world-class cultural offerings, which means one of our visitors’ biggest challenges can be deciding what to experience. (We know: cue the tiny violins.) But even today, learning about the shows, exhibitions, performances and other events that are especially attractive to visitors for whom accessibility is a guiding principle remains daunting. That’s true even though there are more fully accessible mainstream events as well as vehicles and media outlets expressly designed for these patrons than ever before.
Fortunately, there is an unbeatable calendar from the Museum, Arts & Culture Access Consortium. This nonprofit resource, now more than 30 years old, continues to reinvent itself—as it must to keep up with the continual reinvention of the cultural scene for people with disabilities and other accessibility needs.
Prompted by increasing demand from the disability community, the City’s museums, theaters, performing arts venues and attractions of all sorts are focusing more than ever on the accessibility of their showcases. The calendar is easily searchable, delivering the what, when, where and who of performances, exhibitions, tours, classes and more that might match up with a visitor’s interest.
The calendar offers 10 searchable disability categories so visitors can narrow down their choices by need—and these are pretty granular. For example, “visitors who use American Sign Language program” and “visitors with hearing loss” are both available. It’s similarly diligent in providing age-range filters, and it highlights recurring events so that visitors can see if the event they want to attend will be available on other days.
Mind's Eye. Courtesy, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
These recurring events are indicative of the commitment that mainstream museums and other spaces are making to accessibility in the arts. One favorite is the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum’s Mind’s Eye program. The museum says that the program “celebrates the ideas, people, and art at the core of its mission by offering virtual and in-person Mind’s Eye programming for participants who are blind or have low vision.” The Guggenheim has two virtual programs as well as two in-person tours each month. Whether you’re there online or in the flesh, you’ll learn about specific works with an expert and have time to discuss it with other attendees. (For questions about visiting the museum, call 212-360-4355.)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photo: Kate Glicksberg
Then there’s the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the grande dame of New York City’s cultural institutions. The Met has fully embraced accessibility and not only does its best to make its exhibitions accessible but also creates events and gatherings for people with disabilities so that they can get the most from what’s on. Consider the Met’s Discoveries series, designed for different age groups on the autism spectrum or with other intellectual or developmental disabilities. (For the most up-to-date information, email access@metmuseum.org.)
Enid A. Haupt Conservatory. Courtesy, New York Botanical Garden. Photo: Marlon Co
MAC continues to broaden its attention to the still relatively new area of making art exhibitions and other programs accessible to adults on the autism spectrum, along with the more typical programs focused on children. Most museums now offer specific dates and times each month for people who want to avoid sensory overload when visiting a museum; the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and the Bronx’s New York Botanical Garden have also featured programs for this audience.
Intrepid Museum. Photo: Christopher Postlewaite
The calendar also promotes social and recreational programs, and the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum has been a pioneer in this arena. The Intrepid’s Tea Dances, for instance, are for people with dementia and their care partners. These free events take place on select Wednesday afternoons. Who wouldn’t want to waltz and pirouette across the deck of a decommissioned US aircraft carrier? (For more information, email access@intrepidmuseum.org.)
NYC cultural institutions of all sizes are committed to MAC’s mission as a “disability-affirming organization,” striving to increase access for visitors and locals alike. MAC’s Advisory Board members hail from the Disney Theatrical Group, Cooper Hewitt, Lincoln Center and the Mark Morris Dance Company and from smaller organizations such as the groundbreaking CO/Lab Theater Group, which promotes theater produced by people with intellectual disabilities, and Hands On, which provides American Sign Language interpretation of plays by the also-represented Roundabout Theatre Company. Audience members and artists with disabilities are also among MAC’S diverse membership.
MAC makes it clear that this initiative is going to keep on going as long as there is a need for people to know what is available to them. The organization now includes job postings related to accessibility along with information on events involving professional development in the space. In other words, accessible arts and culture are here to stay, and we look forward to the next generation of arts accessibility professionals.
For more information and to search the calendar, visit macaccess.org.
