This year, the Fragrance Garden at Brooklyn Botanic Garden celebrates its 70th birthday. Designed by Alice Recknagel Ireys in 1955, this unique sensory space—one of two areas of BBG where visitors can freely touch the plants—was the first garden in North America designed for visitors who are blind or low vision.
Nefertiti Matos Olivares, a cultural access advisor and audio description narrator, has worked with BBG for eight years as a member of the Garden’s Best Practices Working Group, a team of people with disabilities, accessibility advocates, and access professionals from cultural institutions around NYC who advise on BBG’s accessibility initiatives.
Olivares, who identifies as blind, worked with BBG and writer Laura Conglton to create a brand-new Fragrance Garden audio description tour for visitors who are blind or low-vision. The narration guides users through the area while offering useful context and sensory details about the plants and other features they’ll encounter in the space.
We spoke with Nefertiti about her audio description work in the Fragrance Garden, as well as access and inclusion in public gardens, taking a leap into a new career path, and her favorite plants.
As a person who identifies as blind, how do you experience gardens and other green spaces? What is the first thing you notice?
The first thing I notice is the beautiful interplay of scent and sound. The air carries a symphony of fragrances—floral, earthy, and herbal—that immediately draws me in. Each scent tells a story, from the sweetness of blooming flowers to the crisp, refreshing sharpness wafting from certain leaves. And then there are the sounds: the gentle whoosh of the breeze, birdsong weaving melodies through the air, and the satisfying crackle of dry leaves underfoot during my favorite time of year, autumn.
Do you have any formative experiences with plants that you’d like to share?
Early memories feel less like a single moment and more like a collection of sensations: petals brushing against my fingertips, the earthy smell of soil. Maybe it was the small vegetable patch my grandmother tended in the Dominican Republic, or plucking dandelions from the grass at my Bronx elementary school on sunny afternoons. What stays with me is the grounding, almost magical feeling of being connected to something alive.
I have vivid memories of my family elders using home-grown herbs, roots, fruits, and vegetables for medicinal remedies. Fresh aloe vera gel was gently applied to scrapes, while linden flower tea with a drop or two of honey before bed zonked me right out. These moments were more than just remedies; they were acts of love and wisdom, passed down through generations.
I went through a period where I grew plants, six of them, to be precise, right on my living room windowsill... mostly succulents. I love succulent plants. I love how resilient they feel.
I love pumpkins, too. One year I bought some baby pumpkins from Trader Joe’s, carved them, cleaned them out, took the seeds and roasted them in the oven with a little salt. I filled the carved pumpkins with dirt, and I grew microgreens in them! It was awesome, and I’m currently preparing to do something similar again!
The Fragrance Garden was the first garden in a botanic garden designed to provide a sensory experience for people who are blind or low vision (BLV). What do you think about this space?
I think the Fragrance Garden is a beautiful example of intentional design that centers the experiences of BLV visitors. It breaks the traditional “look, but don’t touch” rule by inviting visitors to interact directly with the plants.
What makes this garden remarkable is how its design transcends its original audience by emphasizing sensory exploration for everyone. This approach supports visitors who benefit from multimodal experiences—like children discovering the joy of smelling a leaf or feeling the texture of bark, or individuals with cognitive differences who may find sensory experiences more engaging than visual ones.
The Fragrance Garden shows that accessibility isn’t about creating something separate but rather enriching the experience for everyone by making it okay—expected even—to use all available senses.
As a member of BBG’s Best Practices Working Group, you helped produce an audio description tour for the Fragrance Garden. What is an audio description tour?
A descriptive tour offers blind and low vision (BLV) visitors a rich, immersive experience of a space. For the Fragrance Garden, our audio description (AD) aims to paint a vivid picture of the environment, detailing not just visual aspects but also textures, scents, and evoked feelings through sensory narration.
Our goal is to tell the garden’s story with sensory details and meaningful context, providing an enriching, immersive journey guided by a fellow blind person’s voice. We also actively promote participation through questions, encouraging visitors to engage all their senses.
Crucially, this AD tour also provides the necessary spatial awareness and navigational information, empowering BLV visitors to feel safe and comfortable exploring the garden independently. Accurate information was vital: identifying plants, path details (left or right), structure materials, and specific scents carried on the wind.
When developing our approach, we meticulously walked the grounds. I paid close attention to the terrain and the environment’s open or dense feel, constantly asking questions like, How far is that tree from us? or Is there an object we could compare that shrub’s shape to? These precise details were woven into the description to enhance both the garden’s appreciation and a visitor’s ability to traverse it independently and safely.
And since the Fragrance Garden changes year-round, we designed a flexible tour relevant in any season.
In your opinion, how can public gardens, parks, and green spaces do better to support access and inclusion for the blind and low-vision community?
Access and inclusion mean creating a space where everyone, regardless of ability, can fully experience and enjoy the environment. For me, the ideal situation would include a self-guided tour with vivid, informative audio description in multiple languages, allowing visitors to immerse themselves in the garden’s beauty through detailed, sensory-rich narratives.
Braille signage and tactile maps would provide crucial accessibility, offering touch-based information for navigation and understanding. Strategically placed rest stops with benches and water fountains ensure comfort and hydration, encouraging exploration at one’s own pace. Ideally, these areas would also feature auditory indicators, making them easier for blind and low vision visitors to locate independently.
Finally, disability-conscious staff, volunteers, and groundskeepers would be readily available to offer guidance, whether providing directions to restrooms or sharing insights about the garden.
You’ve recently transitioned into work as a cultural access advisor and audio description narrator. What prompted that career shift?
The shift was prompted by a convergence of burnout in my previous profession in the access technology field, and a period of reflection during the first year of the pandemic. I had to choose between staying in a role that felt familiar but was no longer fulfilling or braving up and taking a leap into something new.
As a blind person with chronic illness issues that sometimes force me to take time away from work, I bought into the idea of scarcity for a long time. What if I don’t find something else? Maybe it is just easier to stay… But I listened to my heart, which screamed that there was more to be had. I began believing that I could find something that would make me want to get up in the morning and would make me feel like I was continuing to contribute something of value to the communities I am a part of.
After much reflection, I chose to bet on my artistry and voice—a gift I’ve always had—and the possibility of creating meaningful change for myself and others. I’m now in my second career as a cultural access advisor and audio description narrator, one that I’m incredibly passionate about.
Do you have any advice you’d like to share with others who are interested in a related field?
My advice to anyone thinking about entering any field, but especially members of the BLV community interested in access, audio description, or translation, is to research the industry, understand expectations, and fortify your skills through education and independent practice. Mentorship can be a game-changer, so seek opportunities to learn from those doing what you aspire to.
Above all, have the courage to put yourself out there. Apply, audition, network in person and online, make inquiries, and don’t shy away from rejection—it’s an unavoidable part of the journey. Success often comes from persistence and resilience, so stay the course and trust in your ability to carve out your own space.
And remember, it’s okay if a path isn’t for you. Sometimes, discovering what doesn’t serve us is just as important as finding what does. Every experience adds to your growth, guiding you toward what truly resonates with your passion and purpose.
Check out the Fragrance Garden audio description on bbg.org or Bloomberg Connects.
