Access at The Metropolitan Museum of Art

12/14/2022

We had so much fun caroling at The Met Cloisters yesterday with The Filomen M. D’Agostino Greenberg Music School! Thanks to all who sang-a-long and helped us bring some holiday cheer to The Met!

📸: Filip Wolak

12/09/2022

Caroling with The Filomen M. D’Agostino Greenberg Music School

We're so excited to be bringing back caroling at The Met Cloisters with The Filomen M. D’Agostino Greenberg Music School on December 13 at 11:30 am!

Free with Museum admission. Note: Space is limited; first come, first served.

Sighted guides will be available at the Museum entrance to assist visitors who are blind or partially sighted. Accessibility at The Met Cloisters is somewhat limited for wheelchair users and others who need step-free access due to the building’s landmark status.
For questions or assistance, contact us at [email protected] or call 212-650-6050.

An a ca****la performance of sacred and secular winter holiday songs at The Met Cloisters.

12/08/2022

Virtual Met Signs—Chroma: Ancient Sculpture in Color

Join us for Virtual Met Signs—Chroma: Ancient Sculpture in Color on Saturday, December 10th from 2-3:30 pm with Debra Cole.

Presented in American Sign Language with live captioning.
Free; reservations are required and space is limited. Contact 212-650-2010 (voice) or [email protected] to register and receive instructions for joining us online.

https://www.metmuseum.org/events/programs/met-tours/met-tours-disabilities/met-signs/chroma-virtual?&eid=A001_%7B4205EEC4-BFBD-4C65-BBAE-9AF578382907%7D_20221027153749&fbclid=IwAR3YM0cf1eSPbKE3kaZIuyv8xYBVUPVQhgwf_I-e4P8XRZhKWPsHyssTSuM

Individuals who are deaf explore works of art online through engaging conversations in American Sign Language.

12/02/2022

Yesterday on , artist Kurt Weston contemplated the 16th-century painting "The Entombment" in The Met collection: ⁣

12/01/2022

Save the date for another great event with FMDG Music School: Tuesday, December 13, ‘The Fil’s’ Adult Choir will present Holiday Choral Favorites at the Met Cloisters Museum in upper Manhattan! This was an annual event prior to the pandemic, and we are delighted to be BACK, with bells on! 🔔
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The event is FREE with museum admission, and there will be sighted guides at the entrance to assist those with vision loss.
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Date/Time: Tuesday, December 13 at 11:30 am
Where: The Met Cloisters Museum
Fuentiduena Chapel
99 Margaret Corbin Drive, Fort Tryon Park, NYC
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Here is the link to the event on the ’s website: https://www.metmuseum.org/events/programs/met-celebrates/fmdg-music-school-caroling-at-the-cloisters
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Post features a photo of a choir wearing black with red scarves, singing in a stone chapel. There is a border of ombré red bordering the photo and Holly leaves in the upper right and lower left corners.

11/30/2022

Caroling with The Filomen M. D’Agostino Greenberg Music School

We're so excited to be bringing back caroling at The Met Cloisters with The Filomen M. D’Agostino Greenberg Music School on December 13 at 11:30 am!

Sighted guides will be available at the Museum entrance to assist visitors who are blind or partially sighted. Accessibility at The Met Cloisters is somewhat limited for wheelchair users and others who need step-free access due to the building’s landmark status.

For questions or assistance, contact us at [email protected] or call 212-650-6050.

An a ca****la performance of sacred and secular winter holiday songs at The Met Cloisters.

11/28/2022

Virtual Met Signs—Chroma: Ancient Sculpture in Color

Join us for Virtual Met Signs—Chroma: Ancient Sculpture in Color on Saturday, December 10th from 2-3:30 pm with Debra Cole. Presented in American Sign Language with live captioning.

Free; reservations are required and space is limited. Contact 212-650-2010 (voice) or [email protected] to register and receive instructions for joining us online.

Individuals who are deaf explore works of art online through engaging conversations in American Sign Language.

11/22/2022

Timeline photos

As part of our program, every month we invite Disabled and Deaf artists to respond to works in The Met collection that spark curiosity or inspiration. ⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣⁣
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⁣Today Rosemarie Garland-Thomson shares her perspective on this trompe l'oeil calendar from 1709 and the artist Mattias Buchinger:⁣

"I think of Mattias Buchinger as my ancestor. Famous during his lifetime (1674–1739) as 'The Greatest Living German,' Buchinger was an armless calligrapher whose performances and art inspired wonder and awe. ⁣
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When I witness his dignified self-portrait with its halo of hair containing intricately intertwining calligraphic lettering, I recognize a validation of my own challenges in making a life and meaningful work with what I call unusual arms and hands. ⁣
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This armless artist isn't perhaps my genetic ancestor, but he is certainly my cultural ancestor. ⁣
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His astonishing artistic legacy offers me a new story to put up against the medical narrative of deformity and defect I’ve been handed over a lifetime to describe and understand the shape of my own body. Now, I’m descended from a famous artist."

✍️ Matthias Buchinger (German, 1674–1739). Calligraphic Trompe-l'œil Calendar, 1709. Pen and red, brown, and black ink, brush and gray wash.

11/10/2022

Join us for Met Signs in the Studio in ASL—Kimono Style: The John C. Weber Collection NEXT Saturday, November 19 from 2-4 pm with educators Debra Cole and Hollie Ecker. Presented in American Sign Language.

Free, though advance registration is required. Space is limited. Contact 212-650-2010 (voice) or [email protected] to register and receive instructions for joining us online.

11/07/2022

Met Signs in the Studio in ASL

Join us for Met Signs in the Studio—Kimono Style: the John C. Weber Collection on Saturday, November 19th from 2-4 pm with educators Debra Cole and Hollie Ecker. Presented in American Sign Language.

Free; reservations are required and space is limited. Contact 212-650-2010 (voice) or [email protected] to register and receive instructions for joining us online.

Be inspired by an exhibition to create your own work of art.

11/01/2022

An unbelievable experience, I got to touch this amazing pot made by David Drake in 1857!! ​​​​​​​​
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“Hear Me Now” Exhibition: Hear Me Now includes monumental storage jars by enslaved and literate Potter and poet David Drake.​​​​​​​​
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We loved hosting Don Katz aka The Blind Potter for a touch collection session, as well as a verbal imaging tour of "Hear Me Now: The Black Potters of Old Edgefield, South Carolina"

10/13/2022

Discoveries

Join us this Sunday for our Poetic Pots Discoveries program! We'll be focusing on the new exhibition "Hear Me Now: The Black Potters of Old Edgefield, South Carolina!"

To register, please visit the link below:

These workshops welcome children and adults with a range of developmental and learning disabilities and those on the autism spectrum, together with family and friends.

10/04/2022

We're thrilled that NBC New York came to join us for our Puppy Class with the Guide Dog Foundation! Staff were excitedto join, act as distractions, and learn about the work these future guide dogs do!

The Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind is looking for puppy raisers - visit puppy.guidedog.org to learn more!

09/30/2022

Musicians from the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra will do their program, Orpheus Reflections, at CaringKind and at the Queens Botanical Garden (QBG)!

Join CaringKind on October 19th for the program in English, and on October 20th for the program with a Chinese interpreter at the Queens Botanical Garden! To RSVP, please call CaringKind at 646-744-2900.

09/16/2022

The Guggenheim Museums and Foundation

The Guggenheim will be exploring their current exhibition "Eva Hesse: Expanded Expansion" during their Mind's Eye program.

Join one of the three sessions:
- Monday, Sept 26 - 6:30-8:30pm (in-person)
- Wednesday, Sept 28 - 2-4pm (in-person)
- Wednesday, Sept 28 - 6:30-8:30pm (virtual)

To RSVP, call 212-360-4355, or email [email protected].

Visit the Frank Lloyd Wright–designed Guggenheim Museum in NYC, part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. See the renowned permanent collection and special exhibitions.

09/08/2022

House & Studio Tour

The Renee and Chaim Gross Foundation's Tactile Transmission and House & Studio Tours are back for the the Fall!

Tactile Transmissions is a free 90-minute Access Program geared toward visitors who are blind or partially sighted. It is offered in both virtual and in-person formats. All programs take place from 11 am - 12:30 pm. This fall's program focuses on Chaim Gross's work and the Foundation's current exhibition Artists and Immigrants utilizing verbal description, touch, and creation.

- Virtual Programs: Friday, September 16; Friday, November 4; Saturday, December 10

- In-person Programs: Saturday, September 17; Friday, October 7; Saturday, November 5; Friday, December 9

** RSVP by contacting Brittany Cassandra by phone 212-529-4906 or email [email protected]. If you will be bringing a guest, please let them know. **

The Foundation is open for guided one-hour House & Studio Tours on Thursdays at 3 and 6 pm, Fridays at 1 pm, and Saturdays at 1 and 3 pm. Admission is $15 per person. House & Studio Tours must be booked online a minimum of 24 hours before the tour begins. Tickets can be purchased through Eventbrite.

Tour the historic home, studio, and art collections of renowned sculptor Chaim Gross (1902-91).

09/06/2022

As part of our program, every month we invite Disabled and Deaf artists to respond to works in The Met collection that spark curiosity or inspiration. ⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣⁣
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Lizzy De Vita shares their perspective on Toulouse-Lautrec's 1890s work "The Sofa":⁣

As part of our program, every month we invite Disabled and Deaf artists to respond to works in The Met collection that spark curiosity or inspiration. ⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣⁣
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⁣Today artist Lizzy De Vita share their perspective on Toulouse-Lautrec's 1890s work "The Sofa":⁣
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“I’m chronically ill and spend lots of time in bed resting, but also working, socializing and doing a whole lot of living. Disabled writer and activist Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarsinha has written that part of 'crip emotional intelligence'...'is understanding beds are worlds.' I think about this idea a lot. ⁣
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In looking at this painting, it occurred to me that Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, who lived with chronic illness and disability, might have had his own radically expansive ideas about beds and other places of rest. Here, he transforms his modest indoor studio into a lush garden-like landscape. The scattered brushstrokes making up the studio floor and wall suggest grass and wildflowers. The 'sofa' is sprawling, deep, like a blanket or bed. ⁣
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Though the setting lends itself to interpretation, I'm drawn to how unremarkable this moment is. It is a quiet glimpse of a couple at rest--just being and being together. Rest is frequently shown as something extra. Laziness or luxury. In the world of this painting, rest is both ordinary and necessary: like breathing, like love. Ordinary and also brimming with potential for new worlds.”⁣
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🎨 Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (French, 1864–1901). The Sofa, ca. 1894–96. Oil on cardboard. On view in Gallery 817.

08/15/2022

The Academy for Disabled Journalists launches its 2nd Year of the Diploma in Journalism online course. Applications need to be submitted by 16th September 2022, and this unique inclusive online course starts Tuesday 4th October 2022. Sign up soon!

07/19/2022

In celebration of this July, we're inviting Deaf and Disabled artists to respond to a work in the The Met collection that sparks curiosity and inspiration.⁣
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Today, Professor Stephanie Jensen-Moulton () shares her perspective on 's 1938 photo:⁣
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“Sometimes in the excess of stillness after a storm, I find beauty, symmetry, and release. My chronic pain creates a tornadic aura of phrases, sounds, images in my brain, such as Emily Dickinson’s line 'The world feels dusty' repeated, refracted, and swirling like a verbal vortex. ⁣
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Lange’s photograph captures the sadness of a deserted farmhouse surrounded by drifts of Dickinson’s dust. During these episodes, I might be alone in the dark for hours or days, with dunes of sand or dirt forming outside my door, the wire fence of my low mood like a sign reading, ‘KEEP OUT!’”⁣
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📸 Dorothea Lange (American, 1895–1965). Abandoned Farm in the Dustbowl, Coldwater District, near Dalhart, Texas, June, 1938, printed ca. 1972. Printer: Library of Congress. Gelatin silver print.⁣
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ID: Silver tone photo of a farm with a square wooden house and two small outbuildings. Thick dunes of dust cover the surrounding fields.

In celebration of this July, we're inviting Deaf and Disabled artists to respond to a work in the The Met collection that sparks curiosity and inspiration.⁣
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Today, Professor Stephanie Jensen-Moulton () shares her perspective on 's 1938 photo:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CgMy8e2srCd/

07/18/2022

Drop-in Drawing

Happy Disability Pride Month! Celebrate with The Met Access team this Friday, July 20 with our public "Drop-in Drawing " prorgram during Date Night at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York!

Sign Language interpreted; Assisted listening devices will be available in the gallery

Experience The Met collection through creative drawing challenges in the galleries with expert teaching artists.

07/18/2022

Conversation with a Fellow

Happy Disability Pride Month! Celebrate with The Met Access team this Friday, July 20 with our public "Conversations with" prorgram during Date Night at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York!

Sign Language interpreted; Assisted listening devices will be available in the gallery

Natalie Prizel, Andrew W. Mellon Senior Fellow, European Paintings, The Met Join a Met fellow for a 30-minute dialogue exploring works about blindness by Rembrandt. The two pieces are currently on view in the exhibition In Praise of Painting: Free This Masks Read Assisted Sign

07/06/2022

July is ✨ ⁣
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To celebrate, we're inviting Deaf and Disabled artists to respond to a work in the The Met collection that sparks curiosity and inspiration.

We're kicking it off with the words of :⁣
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“I am inspired by this woodblock print by Utagawa Hiroshige. I love the use of color, gradation, its line quality, and overall graphic appearance. The digital high-resolution scanning and presentation on a screen at 72 dpi / RGB format may be the cause of an assumption. ⁣
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At first glance, one may not realize that this was created about a hundred years ago, in the early 20th century. To extend this analogy, not all disabilities are visible or immediately revealed. ⁣
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As a Deaf person, I often encounter people making instant assumptions about how they expect people to communicate. I still have encounters with people saying, 'You don’t look Deaf.'"⁣

Tap the link in bio to read more responses from Deaf and Disabled artists. ⁣
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🎨 Utagawa Hiroshige (Japanese, 1797–1858). 東海道五十三次　舞坂, early 20th century. Woodblock print; ink and color on paper.

July is ✨ ⁣
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To celebrate, we're inviting Deaf and Disabled artists to respond to a work in the The Met collection that sparks curiosity and inspiration.

We're kicking it off with , found out more on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/CfeeFB4OPSj/

06/10/2022

Museum Mile Festival

Kick off your summer with The Met! Check out our current exhibitions, create art, and catch a performance.

All activities are free, and no registration is required.

Stop by the welcome tables in the Ruth and Harold D. Uris Center for Education (ground floor) and the Great Hall (Floor 1) to request an assistive listening device, an American Sign Language interpreter, a sighted guide, and a large-print and Braille schedule of events, and to learn more about access accommodations, programs, and resources at The Met. You can also access The Met’s sensory-friendly resources online and take a break in the Quiet Space.

Museum Mile Festival. Check out our current exhibitions, create, catch a performance, and visit the newly opened P.S. Art exhibition featuring art by K–12 students.

05/26/2022

The 6th UnLonely Film Festival: Registration

The 6th Annual UnLonely Film Festival Virtual Launch Event will kick-off our 6th season featuring 36 new, powerful short films focused on loneliness from a diversity of perspectives. All films will be available to stream all year long on our website.

We invite you to join the launch event virtually at 7pm ET on June 5th, where the winners of the Festival will be announced. You’ll be inspired by the creative stories of our emerging filmmakers!

The Foundation for Art & Healing presents this years' UnLonely Film Festival, launching June 5th 2022.

05/12/2022

Join us for Met Signs Tour—Winslow Homer: Crosscurrents THIS Saturday, May 14 from 2-3:30pm with educator Debra Cole. Presented in American Sign Language.

Free; reservations are required and space is limited. Contact 212-650-2010 (voice) or [email protected] to register and receive instructions for joining us online.

04/19/2022

As part of our program, every month we invite Disabled and Deaf artists to respond to works in The Met collection that spark curiosity or inspiration. ⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣
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Today artist Angela Weddle () ⁣shares her perspective on "The Eavesdropper":⁣
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"As an autistic and disabled Black artist, I live in public housing. Having hyperacusis and being autistic makes me hypersensitive to sounds and an unwitting eavesdropper. Having misophonia makes it painful.⁣⁣
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In addition, the cramped urban living of apartments leaves me feeling trapped—especially those supposedly designed for the poor and disabled. If I can hear what’s happening, I feel others can. ⁣⁣
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I feel as if I can be neither intimate or free, and art is a window into the places I cannot go but aspire to. This piece reminds me of my daily life, and the maidens, of the autonomy I work towards."⁣⁣
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🎨 Artist unknown. Maulana Azhar (died 1475/76), calligrapher. Nizami (present-day Azerbaijan, 1141–1209), poet. "The Eavesdropper," Folio 47r from a Haft Paikar (Seven Portraits) of the Khamsa (Quintet) of Nizami of G***a, ca. 1430. Made in present-day Afghanistan, Herat.

As part of our program, every month we invite Disabled and Deaf artists to respond to works in The Met collection that spark curiosity or inspiration. ⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣

⁣⁣⁣This month, artist Angela Weddle () ⁣shares her perspective on "The Eavesdropper." See Instagram post for more:

https://www.instagram.com/p/Ccgu7p-Luw5/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

04/15/2022

We're With U! A Benefit Concert to Help the Blind of Ukraine | National Federation of the Blind

On Saturday, April 16, at 2 p.m. eastern time the global online blind community is joining together for a benefit concert hosted by the National Federation of the Blind to help blind Ukrainian refugees.

Join the We're With U! concert here:

Support this effort with a contribution. Depending on your location, there are several ways to help blind Ukrainians.

04/11/2022

ReelAbilities Film Festival: New York - ReelAbilities Film Festival: New York

Do you like movies and films? ReelAbilities Film Festival: New York is the largest festival in the country dedicated to promoting awareness and appreciation of the lives, stories and artistic expressions of people with disabilities.

Hybrid events April 7-13, 2022

Get tickets and find out more here:

ReelAbilities Film Festival: New York is the largest festival in the country dedicated to promoting awareness and appreciation of the lives, stories and artistic expressions of people with disabilities.

03/07/2022

As part of our program, every month we invite Disabled and Deaf artists to respond to works in The Met collection that spark curiosity or inspiration. ⁣⁣⁣ ⁣
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Today Aurora Berger () shares her thoughts on this daguerreotype by Bruno Braquehais:

"Daguerreotypes were never built to last. Every time we look at one, we destroy it ever so slightly. In order to view one, we must expose it to light. Thus a daguerreotype begins to deteriorate from the moment that it is created.

Creating a daguerreotype is in itself a risk to the health of the artist: the process requires the use of iodine and bromine vapors to sensitize the plate, hot mercury to develop it, sodium hypochlorite to fix the image, and gold chloride to tone it.

This daguerreotype was taken by Deaf photographer Bruno Braquehais and painted by his wife, Laure. I see myself in this woman, a woman whose name I do not know, a woman who has long since passed away. I see myself in the curves of her stomach and hips, in her hands searching for something to hold on to. Something that will last."

📸 Attributed to Bruno Braquehais (French, 1823–1875). [Reclining Female N**e Posed as Danae], 1850s.

ID: A daguerreotype held within a simple framing device featuring a reclining n**e woman. The woman has been painted a peachy-white tone and poses languidly on a blue-toned cloth-covered surface with one hand at her side and another gripping the blue curtain behind her. She seems to look up at an array of hand-painted dots that resemble stars.]

As part of our program, every month we invite Disabled and Deaf artists to respond to works in The Met collection that spark curiosity or inspiration. ⁣⁣⁣ ⁣
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Today Aurora Berger () shares her thoughts on this daguerreotype by Bruno Braquehais.

Check out this Instagram post to see more!
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cazn8mCMaK-/

03/03/2022

Conversations on Access and Design

Join the Bard Graduate Center for a free book talk on March 18, 10 am–12 pm and 1:30–3 pm over Zoom for a conversation on access and design!

In celebration of Bess Williamson’s Accessible America: A History of Disability and Design, leading disability history scholars, artists, and designers will discuss studies of access and design history.

Register here:

In celebration of Bess Williamson’s Accessible America: A History of Disability and Design, which was awarded the 2019/20 Mr. and Mrs. Raymond J. Horowitz Book Prize, leading disability history scholars, artists, and designers will discuss studies of access and design history.

02/24/2022

Frame of Mind: An Art & Wellness Podcast

Frame of Mind: An Art & Wellness Podcast

02/18/2022

Events - Renee & Chaim Gross Foundation

Join the Renee and Chaim Gross Foundation for the return of "Tactile Transmissions" either virtually or in-person for visitors who are blind or partially sighted.

The virtual program will take place on Saturday, March 5 from 11 am to 12:30 pm EST. The in-person programs will take place on Friday, March 11 and Saturday, March 12, both from 11 am to 12:30 pm EST.

Due to limited space, please RSVP to Brittany Cassandra by phone 212-529-4906 or email [email protected]. If you would like to bring a guest, please let Brittany know.

Please see here for more information:

The Renee & Chaim Gross Foundation preserves and interprets the historic home, studio, and art collections of American sculptor Chaim Gross. Our mission is to further the legacy of Chaim Gross through high-quality research, exhibition, and educational activities around our historic building and art....