YI Summer: Learning about Access Programs
Jul 28, 2014

On July 28, YI Summer participants learned about what the Whitney does in order to make the Museum more accessible to people who have disabilities. Danielle Linzer, the Director of Access and Community Programs, is responsible for making the Museum an accessible environment for all visitors. She spoke to us about the different measures the Museum takes in making sure everyone finds their experience at the Whitney enjoyable, from offering tours in American Sign Language to making sure the galleries are spacious enough for a wheelchair. She showed us copies of artworks created for the visually impaired, which have raised lines in order to let people “feel” what an artwork looks like. The Whitney also offers tours where the tour guide describes the art in detail to help visitors who are visually impaired create a mental picture of the work. She also told us she has to keep in mind other impairments, like not being of certain height or not being able to walk for long periods of time. 

After talking with us, Linzer assigned us a partner and took us to the Jeff Koons: A Retrospective exhibition to see Koons’s Banality series, which are sculptures of stuffed animals, gift shop figurines, and images taken from various sources including magazines, product packaging, and films. Our task was to pick a sculpture and have one person describe it in detail to the other partner, who would keep their eyes closed the whole time. Once all the partners finished their descriptions, we opened our eyes and discussed the difficulties of the activity and what we noticed while doing it. The whole group agreed that the task, and Linzer’s job, was harder than it seemed. Trying to describe the sculptures out loud made me realize how many small details I miss in my day-to-day life!

By Janice, YI Summer Participant