Establishing the Schwartz-Reisman Center for Accessible Culture

These days, the “Center for Accessible Culture” is under construction in Tel Aviv: the new home of the Library for the Blind. The Library’s expansion over the last years and the development of production and service abilities, along with its efforts to make all levels of culture accessible, constituted the basis for establishing the Center. This is a construction project consisting of a single building, the first of its kind in Israel, which will serve as a rich, dynamic cultural arena for the seeing- and reading- disabled population, as well as being an architectural gem in its own right.

The Center, to be built on 2,000 square meters, will be built on Moshe Dayan Street, and will become an integral part of the community and of this up-and-coming neighbourhood. The Center will provide optimal conditions for creativity, production and lending of the entire gamut of culture – literature and press, cinema and television, theatre, music and visual arts – and will enable those working there to produce high-quality accessible works.

The cornerstone-laying ceremony was held in March 2020, with the participation of the Mayor of Tel Aviv-Yafo Mr Ron Huldai, the CEO of the Labor, Welfare and Social Services Ministry Dr. Avigdor Kaplan, the Director of the Foundation for Developing Services for the Disabled Mr Shmuel Weissglass, Rabbi Israel Meir Lau, CEO of the Managing Committee of the Library Zvi Engel, CEO of the Center for the Blind Nati Bialistok, and the poet and Israel Prize Laureate Erez Biton.

The Center will include an integrated library and café area, a learning and training center, recording studios and a post studio for producing accessible movies, a courtyard for different activities and a conference hall. The entire place is destined to serve as a visitors’ center, where visitors will be able to learn and be exposed to the unique process of making culture accessible. Construction of the Center is due to end in December 2021, and its opening will take place in 2023.

Major supporters of the project: the Municipality of Tel Aviv-Yafo; the Institute for Social Insurance; the Gerald Schwartz and Heather Reisman Foundation; the Maurice and Vivienne Wohl Philanthropic Foundation; the Clore Foundation, Israel.
Professional partners: David Raz Coordination and Supervision, OCA Architects, Yaniv Engineering.

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Establishing the Schwartz-Reisman Center for Accessible Culture