New Exhibitions Explore the Role of Video Games in the Lives of Today’s Youth and How LI Has Contributed to the History of Video Game Development, with a Special Exhibit Featuring the Most Complete Collection of Apple Computers in the US
The Long Island Museum reopened to the public on February 19th with the launch of three new exhibitions exploring the history and impact of video games, Apple computers — and Long Island’s role in both. The three new exhibitions — Video Games: The Great Connector, LI Gamers, and 50 Years of Apple Computers: The Kevin Lenane Collection — offer visitors unprecedented opportunities to view and participate in three separate immersive and engaging experiences here on Long Island, exploring the origins, milestones, and power of today’s digital world for people of all ages.
All three new exhibitions will be on view until May 24th at the LIM’s Art Museum. Video Games: The Great Connector and LI Gamers will be in the Art Museum’s Main Gallery, and 50 Years of Apple Computers will be on display in the Art Museum’s adjoining Costigan Gallery. The Long Island Museum is open on Thursdays from 11:30 a.m. until 7 p.m., and Friday through Sunday from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m.
“We are excited to be bringing Video Games: The Great Connector, which was created and launched by the Harlem Gallery of Science in 2024 and has helped to increase the public’s understanding of the important role digital games are playing in the lives of today’s youth, here to Long Island,” said Nina Sangimino, Curator at The Long Island Museum. “Each one of these three new exhibitions that we are launching here at LIM offers visitors a unique look at the role that technology has played, and continues to play, in our lives today, from exploring career opportunities in digital gaming, to learning about the very first video game created here on Long Island, to the opportunity to see the most complete collection of Apple computers in the United States.”
Video Games: The Great Connector
To increase the public’s understanding of the important role digital games are playing in the lives of today’s youth, the Harlem Gallery of Science has created this engaging, interactive exhibition that first opened in February 2024 at the Harlem School of the Arts in Manhattan, with the goal of increasing visitors’ knowledge and understanding of digital games and the expanded educational and career opportunities they provide youth from underserved communities of color. Since 2024, more than 6,000 visitors have participated in HGS’s video gaming exhibition across New York City.
The exhibition showcases that video games are more than a mode of entertainment for today’s youth; they have become a means for developing personal and professional skills, such as teamwork, complex problem solving, and building social networks. Throughout the exhibit, which features 10 fun, interactive gaming stations, visitors will play games, meet historic and contemporary figures in game design and engineering, and uncover the invisible design behind their gaming experience. There is an emphasis on celebrating the contributions made by people of color in the hope of inspiring Black and Latinx students to consider careers in the gaming industry.
The exhibition is organized into three sections:
- Connecting with Self — allows visitors to examine how youth use games to shape their identity, manage their emotions, and acquire skills.
- Connecting with Community — lets visitors investigate how youth use games to foster community and enhance their awareness of the world around them.
- Connecting with Future — gives visitors a chance to explore how youth use their interests in games to connect with careers in the gaming industry.
“Video Games: The Great Connector has had such a positive impact on the lives of so many young people who had the opportunity to experience this important exhibition during its creation and launch in New York City, and has helped show the public that video games are far more than just entertainment for today’s youth,” said Joshua Ruff, Co-Executive Director, Collections and Programming at The Long Island Museum. “The exhibit, which has received tremendous positive feedback from community leaders throughout New York City, has been inspiring to Black and Latinx youth and the adults in their lives to explore the academic and career opportunities in the rapidly expanding global digital gaming industry. We are excited to now be bringing this exhibition, along with our two complementary video game/technology exhibitions, to people of all ages throughout Long Island.”
Video Games: The Great Connector was created by Science and Arts Engagement New York, Inc./dba Harlem Gallery of Science, with support from the New York State Council on the Arts.
LI Gamers
Also in the LIM Art Museum Main Gallery, this interactive exhibition explores how Long Islanders have contributed to the history of video game development. Since 1958, Long Island has been a player in video game history. When William A. Higinbotham presented his Tennis for Two at Brookhaven National Laboratory on visitors’ day, it was the first time the general public played an interactive game with a video display. After Atari and Magnavox created the booming industry of arcade and home gaming in the 1970s and early ‘80s, Acclaim Entertainment burst onto the scene in Oyster Bay in 1987 — but after a meteoric rise, they abruptly shuttered their doors in 2004. While another major company has not yet filled the void left by Acclaim, Long Island continues to be a part of the conversation when it comes to gaming – with a new generation of game designers earning degrees at programs right here on Long Island, and perhaps the next transformative game coming from Long Island’s own gamers.
The exhibition will feature a partial replica of the groundbreaking Tennis for Two video game, historical photos of Long Island’s contributions to the gaming industry, as well as several playable gaming stations featuring popular games distributed by Long Island’s Acclaim Entertainment.
50 Years of Apple Computers: The Kevin Lenane Collection
Long Island resident Kevin Lenane is both an athlete and a computer whiz, so it was no surprise when he combined his talents to develop artificial intelligence that authenticates baseball cards. During hours spent online buying stacks of baseball cards to train his new software, he discovered the vintage Apple computers he remembered from his childhood and started making purchases. What began as a hobby has become an obsession, and Lenane has assembled one of the largest and most complete collections of Apple devices in the world. His technical prowess allows him to acquire devices in any state because he is able to repair and restore them to working, like-new condition in his basement workshop. With a coveted Apple I (which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this July), Lenane’s collection spans the entire history of this iconic company.
The exhibition will provide a unique opportunity to explore the most complete collection of Apple computers in the United States, including a rare 1976 Apple I computer and artifacts from Apple’s groundbreaking Lisa and Mac development projects of the 1980s.
For more information about Video Games: The Great Connector, LI Gamers, and 50 Years of Apple Computers: The Kevin Lenane Collection, and for a complete list of all current 2026 LIM exhibitions and programs, visit www.longislandmuseum.org.
Located at: 1200 Route 25A in Stony Brook
About The Long Island Museum
Founded in 1939 and accredited by AAM since 1973, The Long Island Museum is home to more than 60,000 artifacts and is the only Smithsonian Affiliate in the region. The Long Island Museum inspires and engages visitors of diverse ages, backgrounds, and abilities by connecting them with the region’s art and history, a world-class carriage collection, and energizing programs that foster a creative and inclusive community. For more about LIM’s exhibitions and programming, visit longislandmuseum.org.
About Science and Arts Engagement New York, Inc. (SAENY), is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization dba the Harlem Gallery of Science. Its mission is to increase the number of underrepresented Black and Latinx youth living in underserved communities like Harlem, Upper Manhattan, and the South Bronx in the STEAM (Science, Technology, Arts, Engineering and Math) fields by creating culturally relevant programs, exhibitions, and opportunities such as the Gaming Pathways Program. HGS encourages and supports their pursuit of a career in NYC’s growing technology sectors and produces a more inclusive, equitable, diverse, and multi- cultural workforce.