Announcing STAND BY ME, an immersive community building experience in the heart of Central Park, at precisely the right time.
After three impossible winters and amidst the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, it’s time to bring our communities together, see each other more fully and celebrate all of the good, through the arts.
Open your Heart + Mind
Collaborate + Create
Let’s join in solidarity!
Our communities of students, educators, older adults, health care experts and creative geniuses and their families across four generations are coming together to immerse visitors in science and the arts as they create collaborative poetry, music and art, explore brain health tips, navigate living with dementia, and discover the joys and benefits of creative human connection.
The Immersive Village
On May 3, 2022, Sweet Readers will transform the area in and around Central Park’s Naumburg Bandshell into an immersive, theatrical village.
The goal? For people to be inspired to see and engage with and for each other more fully, during and beyond the event.
The Village will include three special elements:
Bandshell Immersions
From 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm three special programs lodged in the Bandshell will engage visitors and amplify our voices and mission throughout the village.
• Sweet Readers Memory Singers! The first International, Intergenerational, Immersive Chorus to include adults with Alzheimer’s or some form of demential and their care partners!
• Sweet Readings Live Podcast! Exploring with experts in aging, youth and theatre, the value and impact of community on the brain and mental health.
• Drum + Poetry Circles led by our theatre and music specialists.
Central Park’s Naumburg Bandshell
Discovery Circle
At the center of the Stand By Me Village will be a circle of stands, each half circle will represent the seven planks of the Sweet Readers heart and contain important information and an interactive element to help you experience learning live!
Learn about the brain functions, how to protect your brain and the dynamic synergies between youth and the elderly, particularly those with dementia.
Above: Rendering of the interactive Stand By Me Village which will immerse visitors in science and the arts.
Interactive Stations
View Sweet Readers Artworks…Explore Thoughtful Themes…Collaborate + Create!
• Community Quilt: What grounds you?
• Collaborative Portraits: What do you value?
• Collaborative Mobiles: What brings you joy?
• Collaborative Poetry: What dream inspires you?
• Community Mural: What brings you peace?
Above: Rendering of the interactive Stand By Me Village which will immerse visitors in science and the arts.
The Sweet Readers Mission is to empower youth to engage older adults living with dementia and become catalysts for eldercare excellence through interactive programming and compelling public events.
We Build Communities
Discovering the Person
Alzheimer's Impacts Everyone!