New artifi cial-reality exhibit
highlights lives of LGBT seniors
BY TAT BELLAMY-WALKER
A new, interactive LGBT+
exhibit will debut in Brooklyn
Heights on Jan. 19, bringing
the often-hidden stories
of queer elders to light with
artifi cial-reality technology,
said one of the people behind
the project.
“Over the span of decades,
LGBTQ elders have proven
what it means to be resilient
and live vibrant and full lives,
even in the face of discrimination,”
said Michael Adams,
the CEO of Advocacy & Services
for LGBT Elders. “Too
often, the achievements of
LGBTQ pioneers are pushed
aside or hidden back in the
closet as they get older.”
The project — called “Not
Another Second” — will live
at the Watermark at Brooklyn
EXHIBIT
“Not Another Second” at
The Watermark at Brooklyn
Heights 21 Clark St. between
Willow and Hicks streets in
Brooklyn Heights. www.notanothersecond.
Thursdays, and Saturdays.
Jan. 19 through March 2021.
Reservations required. Free.
COURIER L 20 IFE, JANUARY 8-14, 2021
com Tuesdays,
Heights until March,
and will use the AR technology
to make the viewer feel
a close connection with 12
highlighted LGBT+ seniors,
including a former politician,
military veteran, Stonewall
Survivor and Black Panther.
“AR allows patrons to experience
the emotionallydriven
stories of each LGBT+
senior in a new, interactive
way, adding a whole new dimension
to the already moving
photography” said Jennifer
Wallace, the co-founder
of nAscent Art, which helped
create the exhibit.
Due to either rampant
discrimination or fear, the
exhibit notes that dozen featured
seniors have lost a collective
485 years living in the
closet.
One of the seniors captured
in the interactive artwork,
navy-veteran Richard
Prescott, is featured alongside
his husband, Ray Cunningham,
and speaks about
the struggle of living as a gay
man in the 20th Century.
“In the ’80s and ’90s, everybody
was scared to death
to come out. They didn’t know
who to trust,” Prescott said in
a written statement. “I think
I lost a lot of years not being
myself. That’s why this campaign
is so important. Not
only do we get to share our
stories, but give courage to
younger generations who are
still scared of being their authentic
self.”
BY JESSICA PARKS
Bay Ridge’s Leif Erickson
Park now includes an area
named after one of the neighborhood’s
natives — Gilbert
Sorrentino, a famed postmodernist
author who died in his
hometown in 2006.
Local offi cials unveiled
“Sorrentino Square” at 67th
Street and Fourth Avenue on
Dec. 21, and one local historian
hopes the renaming will
inspire a new generation of
Sorrentino enthusiasts.
“Gilbert Sorrentino is the
best writer Bay Ridge has produced,
and someone for whom
Bay Ridge was a muse,” said
Henry Stewart, who noted
that while Sorrentino received
high praise throughout his
writing career, he is not particularly
well known in his native
Bay Ridge, which led the
local historian to recommend
the park dedication.
“Unfortunately, he’s not
especially well-known here. I
grew up loving two things —
books and Bay Ridge — and I
never heard of the guy until a
few years ago, when a poet at
a reading I was hosting mentioned
him off-hand,” he told
Brooklyn Paper.
Stewart, who himself has
authored a collection of books
about the neighborhood, said
he hopes the renaming will
both inspire his neighbors
and ensure that Sorrentino’s
literary contributions will always
be memorialized where
he grew up.
“By naming a park for
him, we honor and celebrate
a gifted native son — but we
also ensure people will hear
his name, so it won’t be forgotten.
The work is too meaningful,”
he said.
The local historian was on
hand for the square’s offi cial
unveiling at the end of December,
which came more than a
year after Community Board
10 voted unanimously to support
the renaming, and was
also attended by New York
City Parks Department Commissioner
Marty Maher and
Bay Ridge Councilman Justin
Brannan.
The rich cultural history
that has come out of Bay Ridge
is often forgotten, Brannan
told Brooklyn Paper, and keeping
names like Sorrentino’s in
the forefront might help prevent
that for future generations.
“My friend Henry said it
best: if Bay Ridge isn’t known
for a long and proud history
of arts and culture, it’s not because
the legacy doesn’t exist
but because we’ve forgotten
about it,” the councilman said.
Sorrentino was applauded
for his endeavors in metafi ction,
wherein readers are reminded
that they are reading
a fi ctional story and is
regarded for “reinventing the
ideal of the novel” in some of
his 30-plus published works.
Tales to tell
Part of Leif Erickson Park dedicated
to late Bay Ridge author Sorrentino
BROOKLYN
Honor for writer
The exhibit features intimate interviews with 12 LGBT seniors. NASCENT
Parks Department Commissioner Marty Maher and City Councilman Justin
Brannan unveiled Sorrentino Square on Dec. 21. Writer Gilbert Sorrentino
(left) once called Bay Ridge home. Councilman Justin Brannan’s offi ce
/www.notan-othersecond.Thursdays
/www.notan-othersecond.Thursdays
/www.notan-othersecond.Thursdays
