(Long Island, NY) Peconic Landing is excited to announce the launch of a new community outreach effort it calls “Art For Lunch.” An extension of its art accessibility program, Peconic Landing is inviting the public to visit its sculpture garden during lunch hours Monday through Thursday all summer long. Guests are encouraged to pack a picnic, stop in and enjoy its interactive sculpture garden tour featuring 18 different works of art displayed across campus.
Made possible by a newly incorporated welcome kiosk, Peconic Landing now has an official starting point for the tour where visitors will find the directives needed to take advantage of its interactive component. Visitors can also find copies of a map of the grounds at this location. Prior to the launch of “Art for Lunch,” visitors had minimal access to information about the garden without the help of a personal guide.
Peconic Landing is excited to announce the launch of a new community outreach effort it calls “Art For Lunch.” Photo Credit: Peconic Landing.
“The addition of this new technology streamlines the tour, making it possible to open it up to the greater community at their leisure,” said Robert J. Syron, president/CEO of Peconic Landing. “Feel free to sit down and enjoy lunch while taking in the sculptures scattered across campus.”
The tour is free and open to the public Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. starting July 1 through October. Guests are invited to bring their own lunch and are asked to park at Brecknock Hall where the welcome kiosk is located. Press the button on the new, solar-powered kiosk and the tour will begin.
An extension of its art accessibility program, Peconic Landing is inviting the public to visit its sculpture garden during lunch hours Monday through Thursday all summer long. Photo Credit: Peconic Landing.
The kiosk is the newest addition to Peconic Landing’s “Art Without Barriers,” a program designed to ensure people with vision loss have the opportunity to enjoy art. Made possible through grant funding provided by the Mattituck Lions Club, the tour features descriptive narration available via a free smartphone download. The descriptive audio was produced using standards developed by the American Foundation for the Blind. Visitors can listen to an audio depiction of individual pieces and are invited to touch the sculptures to get a sense of their texture and design. Braille catalogs are also available and for those without smartphones, iPods are available upon request.
This interactive technology recently earned Peconic Landing the 2015 LeadingAge New York Innovation of the Year Award, which was presented to the organization July 9 by its president/CEO James W. Clyne, Jr.
Guests are encouraged to pack a picnic, stop in and enjoy its interactive sculpture garden tour featuring 18 different works of art displayed across campus. Photo Credit: Peconic Landing.
The official “Art for Lunch” kick-off tour took place on June 29 when more than 40 guests from Suffolk Independent Living Organization and the Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind embarked on the tour, many of them for the first time. Frank Krotschinsky, director of Suffolk County’s Office for People with Disabilities, was in attendance as well as sculpture artist Robert Strimban who was also on hand to describe his inspiration behind his piece entitled “Solitude.”
“The exhibit is one of the few that allows guests to reach out and touch the art,” said Dominic Antignano, Peconic Landing’s cultural arts curator. “For those with a visual or hearing impairment, it takes the descriptive audio experience to the next level. Art is not just a visual experience.”
Peconic Landing will also be featuring a new addition to the garden knows as “Wildebeests,” which were recently donated to the organization from a private collection. All of the pieces on display were created by local and internationally recognized sculptors. Peconic Landing is proud to feature these works of art across campus.
Audio narratives are available as free downloads to any smartphone from Peconic Landing’s own iTunes channel. For more information, to reserve an iPod or to schedule personal guided tours please contact Dominic Antignano at (631) 477-3800 ext. 229.
Peconic Landing is an innovative, not-for-profit CCAC-CARF-accredited continuing care retirement community (CCRC) located on the waterfront in Greenport, N.Y., on the North Fork of Long Island. Among its long list of achievements, Peconic Landing is the only equity-based LifeCare community in the state of New York. It is a member of LeadingAge and LeadingAge New York and embraces a healthy, active lifestyle infused with a sense of exploration, creativity and generosity of spirit.
