Spanish Language, American Sign Language Tours At Art Gallery

Franklin Street Works: Stamford’s nationally-recognized contemporary art space, Franklin Street Works, continues to expand their accessibility offerings in 2019 with a recently completed ADA compliant access ramp, sign language (ADL) and English Language Learner (ELL/ESL) tours, and captioning select videos of past artist talks. These new access initiatives focus on texts and tours for Spanish-speaking visitors and improved accommodations for visitors with disabilities. Tours are made possible with the support of the Department of Economic and Community Development through their ARTE Access grant.

The tours will continue during Franklin Street Works’ fall exhibition, “Otherwise Obscured: Erasure of Body and Text,” with the addition of a printed Spanish-language, self-guided tour, and a visual description tour, among other offerings.

The permanent ADA ramp was made possible thanks, in part, to donations from individuals, First County Bank Foundation, and the Franklin Street Works board. Tours, captioning and self-guided tour translation are made possible thanks to a Connecticut State ARTE-accessible Grant FSW received in February 2019.

Committed to broad public access, Franklin Street Works has curated 33 original shows, organized more than 100 free, public educational programs, and collaborated with 30 partners from New Haven to New York City. Successfully fostering a welcoming and caring community is a reflection of Franklin Street Works’ values of inclusivity and equity. At FSW admission is always free, and thematic exhibitions create fresh points of entry that connect their mission to publics beyond the art world. Additionally the space has all gender restrooms, insures ample egress in the galleries for those using walkers, wheelchairs or canes, and, when possible, hangs works and monitors at a slightly lower center line to accommodate a wider range of viewing heights.
“We are actively adding accessibility initiatives and, thanks to the Connecticut State ARTE-accessible grant, we are able to give new types of walking tours and are able to translate the fall show’s printed, self-guided tour into Spanish,” adds Creative Director Terri C Smith, “While they are funding-dependent, some of our dream initiatives for the near future include building an ADA ramp to our back patio, captioning all of the video documentation of past events, and installing grab bars in our restroom.”

For the summer tours, Elisabeth Schifrin will give Spanish-speaking tours and Franklin Street Works Creative Director Terri C Smith will give English tours. Franklin Street Works is working with Source Interpreting for the ASL tours. Sign language tours will be available in English and Spanish.

RSVPs help Franklin Street Works plan and they encourage people to RSVP or sign up their group for tours by emailing terri@franklinstreetworks.org anytime or calling her cell (203-253-0404) Tuesday - Friday between noon and 5pm.

Thursday, July 25
Spanish: 12:15 -1:00

Thursday, August 8 - Lunch Tour
Spanish: 12:15 - 1:00

Saturday, August 10
Spanish/ASL: 1:00- 1:45
English/ASL: 2:15 - 3:00
Spanish: 3:15 - 4:00