From Seacoast Online. Pictured is "A Gardens of All Seasons," a hand-felted wool wall hanging, by Lyn Weisman Mayewski."Art Beyond Sight" will be during the month of April at the Robert Lincoln Levy Gallery in Portsmouth, N.H. The goal of the show is "an open-juried exhibition that will demonstrate how art can be made accessible to blind and partially sighted individuals."
The show hosts more than 30 juried artists, as well as a few guest artists who are blind or low vision.
How do you create an art show for people who cannot see the artwork? This was a question that Valerie Sobel and Judy Brenner of the N.H. Art Association (NHAA) were determined to answer.The seed for the show was conceived when Brenner visited a similar show in Colorado a number of years ago. Three years ago she began setting the groundwork for this show. A year and a half ago Sobel joined Brenner as co-chairwoman of the New Hampshire Art Association's "Art Beyond Sight" show.
"I'm a real advocate for making art accessible," Sobel said. The issue of accessibility hits home for Sobel, she previously worked at the Alexander Graham Bell School in Cleveland, which serves people who are blind, deaf and autistic.
As part of the research for presenting "Art Beyond Sight," Sobel and Brenner went on a touch tour called "Feeling for Form" at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. This tour is held once a month for people who are blind and visually impaired. Participants wear white gloves and are then allowed to touch the surface of specific works of art.
Creating connections with supporting organizations became essential as Sobel's and Brenner's show ideas began to take shape. They received informational and equipment support from the N.H. Association for the Blind (NHAB) whose mission includes advancing the independence of people who are blind and visually impaired.
NHAB volunteer coordinator Stephanie Herd taught Brenner and Sobel to describe things to people who are blind using metaphors, similes and analogies. Sobel and Brenner in turn will train gallery guides who will be available at the show to assist people who are blind and visually impaired experience the visual work through verbal description.
"It's very exciting!" says Sobel.
Also supporting the show will be Dave Smart Technologies, which will provide visual aids including a magnifying machine and individual magnifiers. All artwork labels will be displayed in large print as well as Braille, courtesy of NHAB. Braille cards and visual impairment glasses will be available to sighted visitors who wish to experience the art work the way a visually impaired person might.
The University of New Hampshire, Museum of Art has provided a woodcut print by Herbert Ogden Waters called "The Little Sugar House." Waters was a N.H. artist-printmaker and teacher. The print will be accompanied by three wood blocks that were used to create it. Visitors will be able to touch these blocks.
"I'm excited to challenge artists, shake up the community and be able to offer this show for the blind and visually impaired," says Sobel. She hopes that artists will really stretch and reach outside the box when creating their work.
Examples of work she hopes to see at the show, in addition to 3D sculptures, are 2D works with touch diagrams — raised diagrams of the painting created with glue or string that accompany the painting. Also, she hopes to see paintings with raised paint and other mediums. An additional approach to add sense stimulation would be items like musical accompaniments or items with smell.
"We are creating a show that is accessible for everyone, it is also for people who are in wheelchairs, we are hanging works so they will be at the right height," Sobel says.
Valerie Burrows, the accessibility coordinator for the Boston Museum of Art, will be the juror. Cash prizes will be awarded to three artists. This show is not just for people who are blind or visually impaired, it is for everyone and children are welcome.
Sobel states, "Sighted and blind people alike benefit from exposure to the arts. Sighted persons often take for granted the ability to examine, admire or even be shocked by the abundant variety of visual images we encounter. But what about the blind, are they forever excluded from experiencing art because of their inability to see?"
The answer is "No" because of efforts of community-minded artists like Sobel and Brenner.
