From Lisa.Yayla at statped.no Mon Jul 1 07:45:34 2013 From: Lisa.Yayla at statped.no (Lisa Yayla) Date: Mon, 1 Jul 2013 09:45:34 +0200 Subject: [Art_beyond_sight_educators] Forwarding: Nfb Science and Engineering Division Meeting Message-ID: Forwarding: Hello, Please join us for an exciting line up of speakers in the Science and Engineering meeting this year. I look forward to seeing all of you at convention in Orlando. Come learn about the amazing things that blind scientists are doing. John Miller, President Science and Engineering Division of the National Federation of the Blind If you plan on attending this year's meeting, please register early by sending a note to John miller (email after agenda) with the following information: Your name Your state Your cell phone number (for contact at convention) Your interest in STEM fields Thanks, Chelsea 2013 Agenda Science and Engineering Division of the National Federation of the Blind July 3, 2013 Rosen Centre Hotel Orlando, Florida 6:30 Registration 7:00 Call to order - John Miller President 7:00 Section 508 Compliance - Gary Wunder Jernigan Institute Update - Mark Riccobono Education Program Update - Natalie Shaheen Publishing a Scientific Article - John Miller 7:55 Business Meeting: Treasurer's Report Secretary's Report Division Pledges Scholarship Stipend Pledges Survey of this year?s STEM Braille Volumes Meet Division Members 8:15 Tactile Graphing ? Michael Rosen, Easy LLD 8:25 Astronomical Model - Noreen Grice 8:35 Novel Protein Inhibitor - Mona Minkara 8:45 Succeeding in Science - Stephanie Deluca, Mark Colasurdo, Ivy Wamta, Justin Salisbury 9:25 Secondary Education Accommodation ? Mehgan Sidhu 9:40 Announcements 9:45 Adjournment Contact Information John Miller: johnmillerphd at hotmail.com -Scanned by Exchange Hosted Services- From Lisa.Yayla at statped.no Mon Jul 1 08:16:21 2013 From: Lisa.Yayla at statped.no (Lisa Yayla) Date: Mon, 1 Jul 2013 10:16:21 +0200 Subject: [Art_beyond_sight_educators] article: Tactile drawings, ethics and a sanctuary: Metaphoric devices invented by a blind woman Message-ID: Hi, Prof. John Kennedy has sent me an article that he thought the list would like. It is entitled, Tactile drawings, ethics and a sanctuary: Metaphoric devices invented by a blind woman. It is a Word document and would come as an email attachment so I thought it best to send it directly to those who would like to receive it. So, if you would like me to send you the article please send me an email and I will send it out. Thanks to Pro. Kennedy for his generous contribution to the list. Best, Lisa -Scanned by Exchange Hosted Services- From singingmywayin at gmail.com Mon Jul 1 08:39:52 2013 From: singingmywayin at gmail.com (Danielle Antoine) Date: Mon, 1 Jul 2013 03:39:52 -0500 Subject: [Art_beyond_sight_educators] article: Tactile drawings, ethics and a sanctuary: Metaphoric devices invented by a blind woman In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Hi, I would like to read it. thanks. On 7/1/13, Lisa Yayla wrote: > Hi, > > Prof. John Kennedy has sent me an article that he thought the list would > like. It is entitled, > Tactile drawings, ethics and a sanctuary: Metaphoric devices invented by a > blind woman. > It is a Word document and would come as an email attachment so I thought it > best to send > it directly to those who would like to receive it. So, if you would like me > to send you the article > please send me an email and I will send it out. > > Thanks to Pro. Kennedy for his generous contribution to the list. > > Best, > > Lisa > > > > -Scanned by Exchange Hosted Services- > _______________________________________________ > Art_beyond_sight_educators mailing list > Art_beyond_sight_educators at nfbnet.org > http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/art_beyond_sight_educators_nfbnet.org > To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for > Art_beyond_sight_educators: > http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/art_beyond_sight_educators_nfbnet.org/singingmywayin%40gmail.com > From Lisa.Yayla at statped.no Tue Jul 2 08:08:38 2013 From: Lisa.Yayla at statped.no (Lisa Yayla) Date: Tue, 2 Jul 2013 10:08:38 +0200 Subject: [Art_beyond_sight_educators] Museum experience and blindness; general issue - wonderful Message-ID: Hi All, Forwarding an email from Joan Pursley. She, Nina Levent, and Georgina Kleege (University of California, Berkeley) co-edited: a special "Museum Experience and Blindness" issue of Disability Studies Quarterly. [It] is the first half of a double issue that was published online late last week. Elisabeth Axel (Art Beyond Sight's founder and president) contributed an essay on her grandmother and the founding of Art Beyond Sight. Nina and [she] wrote an article about Sustainable Museum Access and the role of self-advocacy. Below is the Table of Contents. Here is a link to the publication: http://dsq-sds.org Joan Muyskens Pursley Art Beyond Sight Art Beyond Sight Museum Education Institute 589 Broadway, 3d floor New York, NY 10012 t: 212 334 8720 www.artbeyondsight.org www.nybeyondsight.org www.projectaccessforall.org Disability Studies Quarterly Disability Studies Quarterly (DSQ) is the journal of the Society for Disability Studies (SDS). It is a multidisciplinary and international journal of interest to social scientists, scholars in the humanities, disability rights advocates, creative writers, and others concerned with the issues of people with disabilities. It represents the full range of methods, epistemologies, perspectives, and content that the multidisciplinary field of disability studies embraces. DSQ is committed to developing theoretical and practical knowledge about disability and to promoting the full and equal participation of persons with disabilities in society. (ISSN: 1041-5718; eISSN: 2159-8371) Vol 33, No 3 (2013): Double Issue: Museum experience and blindness; general issue Table of Contents Special Topic: Museum Experience And Blindness, Introduction Museum Experience and Blindness HTML Nina Levent, Georgina Kleege, Joan Muyskens Pursley Special Topic: Museum Experience And Blindness, Part 1: Best Practices The Philosophical, Political and Religious Roots of Touch Exhibitions in 20th Century British Museums HTML Simon Hayhoe Sustainable Museum Access: A Two-way Street HTML Nina Levent, Joan Muyskens Pursley An Art History & Art Making Course for Blind Adults HTML Street Thoma Research on Methods of "Touching the World" -The Aim of the Exhibit Area of Tactile Learning in Japan's National Museum of Ethnology HTML Kojiro Hirose Museums: A Whole New World for Visually Impaired People HTML Barry Ginley Leveling the Participatory Field: the Mind's Eye Program at the Guggenheim Museum HTML Georgia Krantz Emphasizing Observation in a Gallery Program for Blind and Low-Vision Visitors: Art Beyond Sight at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston HTML Bridget O'Brien Hoyt Special Topic: Museum Experience And Blindness, Part 2: Curatorial Perspectives Blind Photographers: Vision, Accessibility, and Empowerment in the Museum HTML Douglas McCulloh A New Model for Access in the Museum HTML Carmen Papalia Talking Blind: Disability, Access, and the Discursive Turn HTML Amanda Cachia Special Topic: Museum Experience And Blindness, Part 3: Personal Accounts An Inspirational, Fashionable Force: Judith Druck, My Grandmother HTML Elisabeth Axel Getting the Picture: My Experience with Described Art HTML Craig Werner Some Touching Thoughts and Wishful Thinking HTML Georgina Kleege Hearing Architecture: A Review of Bill Fontana's "Sonic Shadows" HTML Chris Downey Notes from the Low Vision Gallery HTML Stephen Kuusisto >From the Mind's Eye: Museum and Art Gallery Appreciation for the Blind -- Canadian Perspectives HTML Ruth Bieber, John Rae A Docent's Perspective: From Tour Guide to Advisor HTML Donnelly Wilburn Shared Visions: Reflections of a Blind Docent HTML Judith Kahn Schmeidler Mission and Low Vision: A Visually Impaired Museologist's Perspective on Inclusivity HTML Joseph Wapner -Scanned by Exchange Hosted Services- From chris.richard.heckel at gmail.com Tue Jul 2 18:27:14 2013 From: chris.richard.heckel at gmail.com (Chris Heckel) Date: Tue, 2 Jul 2013 11:27:14 -0700 Subject: [Art_beyond_sight_educators] Chris Heckel Message-ID: Hi My name is Chris Heckel. I?m a student of Dr. Paul Gabias, a leader in the National Federation of the Blind who lives in Canada, and works as a professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia in Kelowna BC. I have taken two of his courses, the Psychology of Touch I and the Psychology of Touch II. In the Psychology of Touch II course, I Learned about the research to date on how blind and sighted people take lines and patterns of lines to represent objects, layouts of objects and events. During one class, I had the opportunity to meet Dr. John Kennedy, the pioneer in the field of haptic pictures of and for the blind. My respect for Dr. Kennedy and Dr. Gabias, among other things, led me to pursue this line of investigation. I am fascinated by the similarities and possible differences with respect to how blind and sighted people deal with representational systems for depicting objects, scenes and events. I?m interested in drawings, because that?s what I?ve studied so far. Dr. Gabias and I will be meeting with Dr. Al Maneki and his team at E.A.S.Y. LLC. They have the beginnings of an entire line of products that allow for the creation, editing, digital transmission and reproduction of raised line drawings. In a draft article that Dr. Maneki has sent to Dr. Gabias, entitled: *The Dawn of the Age of Tactile Fluency:* *Let the Revolution Begin!* Dr. Maneki wrote: ?Up to now, parents of every blind child have inevitably run up against this vexing problem: ?My blind child will be taking Geometry next year. Now, what do we do with all of those drawings??? Indeed, what do we do with ?all of those drawings?? And further, what meanings can lines and patterns of lines take on, in ?all of those drawings?? That?s the question that I would like to explore in my studies with Dr. Gabias So, Dr. Gabias suggested that I become familiar with the National Federation of the Blind, its people, its philosophy of blindness and its structure. That?s what I?m coming to the convention to do. I anticipate that this convention will only be my first, in a long line of future conventions. I?m writing this article, simply to introduce myself to you, and to ask for your help. Because my explorations are very preliminary, I?m wanting to have conversations with people about all kinds of things, but particularly depiction. In the course of our conversations, I hope to be able to show you a few drawings and ask you for your impressions about them. I wanted you to know a little something about me, before the convention, should I get the opportunity to meet you. Please look me up if you are interested in meeting me. I?m staying at the Rosen Centre Hotel. I?ll be arriving on the 30th of June, at around 10 PM. You just have to look me up, by asking to be connected to my room by the hotel switch board. I?m looking forward to meeting you all, Best Regards Chris Heckel From Lisa.Yayla at statped.no Fri Jul 5 07:09:38 2013 From: Lisa.Yayla at statped.no (Lisa Yayla) Date: Fri, 5 Jul 2013 09:09:38 +0200 Subject: [Art_beyond_sight_educators] UN forum adopts historic treaty to expand access to books for visually impaired Message-ID: Nice news: UN forum adopts historic treaty to expand access to books for visually impaired excerpt Negotiators at a United Nations-backed forum in Marrakesh adopted today a landmark copyright treaty to enhance access to books for millions of people who are blind or visually impaired. The treaty, approved after more than a week of intense debate among negotiators meeting under the auspices of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), is the culmination of years of work on improving access for the blind, visually impaired, and print-disabled persons to published works in formats such as Braille, large print text and audio books. "This treaty is a victory for the blind, visually impaired and print disabled, but also for the multilateral system," said WIPO Director General Francis Gurry. http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=45292&Cr=disabilit&Cr1= Regards, Lisa -Scanned by Exchange Hosted Services- From Lisa.Yayla at statped.no Fri Jul 5 08:36:49 2013 From: Lisa.Yayla at statped.no (Lisa Yayla) Date: Fri, 5 Jul 2013 10:36:49 +0200 Subject: [Art_beyond_sight_educators] Photography, gizmos and apps, artists Message-ID: Hi, Links to articles mostly about photography and other arts. Regards, Lisa ?300,000 target on cards At the age of 16 Richard Gawthorpe was told he was colour blind - putting to an end any hopes he had of going to art college. However he never lost his love of art, and over the years has become one of the area's most respected and prolific painters. http://www.dewsburyreporter.co.uk/news/local/more-local-news/300-000-target-on-cards-1-5824079 Amazing photography by colour blind artist Chris Friel What happens when a colour blind painter picks up a camera? Actually, some quite amazing things, at least if your name is Chris Friel. The British artist has a remarkable sense for the nuance of gradients and minimalist compositions. It's hard to believe that these photos are actually real. http://newswithtags.com/Photography/lostateminor-amazing-photography-by-colour-blind-artist-chris-friel An Art History & Art Making Course for Blind Adults at the Philadelphia Museum of Art Abstract The manager of the Philadelphia Museum of Art's Accessible Programs gives a history of the institution's services for people with disabilities, with particular attention to services for those who are blind and visually impaired. These include descriptive tours, touch tours, three-dimensional tactile interpretations of two-dimensional works of art, and a long standing art history and art making class for blind and visually impaired students, Form in Art. http://dsq-sds.org/article/view/3740/3275 Scene Unseen After writing the story of his movie Ship of Theseus, director Anand Gandhi visited Mahesh Ummrania, a visually impaired musician in Mumbai, to study photography at the city's Beyond Sight Foundation. In the movie, the character Aaliya Kamal, a visually impaired photographer, undergoes a cornea transplant surgery and finds it difficult to adjust to her newfound sense of sight. Seated in Ummrania's hostel room, Gandhi remembers reading out the story to him and feeling a great sense of relief when the former gave his appreciative nod. Initially, Gandhi toyed with the idea of a blind hockey player as one of the three protagonists of the movie. But when his director of photography, Pankaj Kumar, told him about Evgen Bavcar, a blind photographer from Paris, Gandhi was sold on the idea. "It was a very intriguing story. I knew I was going to take it beyond the novelty of blind photographers and raise questions about the subjectivity and objectivity of the art," says the filmmaker. http://www.indianexpress.com/news/scene-unseen/1136321/ Visually impaired chefs graduate "I wanted my independence, I don't want to depend on anyone to make breakfast for me." Vishad Paryag, 18, was beaming with pride when he graduated from a 12-week-long cooking class designed for the blind and visually impaired. Paryag lost his vision when he was eight, and has since fought to be self-sufficient. http://www.guardian.co.tt/lifestyle/2013-06-26/visually-impaired-chefs-graduate 3D Printer Photo Tech Helps the Visually Impaired See Technology has a major role to play in modern society, as it holds the power to change human life. Prevoteau Mathieu's Pentax prototype is such a technology that can be beneficial to people who are visually impaired. The new technology uses a 3D printer, so that it can make a miniature model of things you photograph. If you take pictures of a flower, just hook up the camera to the printer, and it would produce a 3D printed version of the flower you captured. Although this technology has many fun applications, it actually aims at those people with visual impairments. http://www.devicemag.com/2013/06/21/3d-printer-photo-tech-helps-the-visually-impaired-see/ http://www.yankodesign.com/2013/06/17/3d-pentax/ http://www.dvice.com/2013-6-19/visually-impaired-can-see-photos-3d-printer-hookup http://www.ubergizmo.com/2013/06/visually-impaired-gain-sight-from-3d-printed-photos/ Israeli smartphone for the blind to hit US A smartphone for the visually impaired designed by Israeli company Project RAY will be marketed and sold in the United States through Odin Mobile. The company, which received support from chipmaker Qualcomm, developed a unique technology that allows users to use intuitive touch and voice navigation to access a slew of features, including phone, email, calendar and GPS. It is also able to identify bank notes, pictures and colors with the camera. http://www.jpost.com/Business/Business-News/Israeli-smartphone-for-the-blind-to-hit-US-316492 Camera-based system designed by Israeli start-up gives visually-impaired ability to 'read' http://www.irishtimes.com/business/sectors/technology/camera-based-system-designed-by-israeli-start-up-gives-visually-impaired-ability-to-read-1.1417768 3D Printed Photos can be Seen by the Visually Impaired Amanda Ghassaei of Instructables has used an Objet Connex500 3D printer to add a sense of texture to photographs. The images are still meant to be viewed in 2D, but the printer uses different thicknesses to create a silhouette effect. http://www.psfk.com/2013/05/3d-printed-textured-photos.html Camera Tells Visually Impaired Where to Focus Dustin Adams, a PhD student from the University of California in Sta. Cruz, and his teammates have developed a camera app specifically for the visually impaired. The app provides audio instructions to a visually impaired person to help him/her focus the camera and take a good picture. Adams and his team-who all work at the Interactive Systems for Individuals with Special Needs (ISIS) Lab-ran a survey among 54 respondents between the ages of 18 and 78 and asked about the difficulties they encounter when taking photos with a camera. The respondents had varying degrees of visual impairment-some were completely blind, some were partially blind, and some had a degree of light perception. http://www.psfk.com/2013/05/camera-for-the-blind.html Researchers develop an app to help the blind take better photos http://www.techhive.com/article/2038634/researchers-develop-an-app-to-help-the-blind-take-better-photos.html A Qualitative Study to Support a Blind Photography Mobile Application ABSTRACT Both sighted and visually impaired people value having a photographic memento of a place or an event. However, due to the visually oriented nature of photography and the lack of nonvisual cues to indicate the content of the photo, the common belief is that it is difficult for people with limited vision to take, organize and share pictures. However, we did not find a structured study on the photographic practice of those with limited vision. We ran a survey among 54 totally blind, light perception, and legally blind participants to investigate their photo taking, browsing, and online sharing. Based on this survey, we developed a mobile app to help blind persons take and recognize picture content using non-visual cues. The application was tested with five legally and totally blind persons with mostly positive results. http://users.soe.ucsc.edu/~dustinadams/petra-camera-ready.pdf Researchers Create Smartphone App That Helps Blind Photographers Line Up Shots http://petapixel.com/2013/05/10/researchers-create-smartphone-app-that-helps-blind-photographers-line-up-shots/ Interview with Visually Impaired Fine Art Photographer Craig Royal Craig Royal: I'm a visually impaired fine art photographer. I'm legally blind due to a congenital form of optic nerve atrophy. I have been legally blind since birth. My vision had been 20/200 corrected up until 1992, when a white blind spot began to develop in the center of my visual field in both eyes. ... My visual reality and other health factors were resulting in a real frustration in producing 3D art. In 2007 I bought a DSLR and loved the immediacy, loved auto focus lenses, loved photo editing software. Along with a 4x monocular, which I use to edit photos, this all made up a workable platform for me and I was excited about the new creative possibilities http://petapixel.com/2013/04/15/interview-with-visually-impaired-fine-art-photographer-craig-royal/ Meet Award-Winning Visually Impaired Photographer Craig Royal In 2011, Craig won the "Best of Show Award" in the 11th Annual Members' Show, Florida Museum of Photographic Arts, with Reflection Abstract 80. Craig and his work have been featured in Slate, the Westchase Patch, the CNN Photo blog, the Like Minds blog, and Exhibitions Without Walls. http://www.visionaware.org/blog.aspx?BlogID=9&BlogEntryID=681 Craig Royal website http://craigroyal.zenfolio.com/ Sight, memory and feeling explored at Prairie Gallery Photographs that delve into the complexities of sight, memory and feeling will be on view at Prairie Gallery beginning Saturday, as Prairie hosts a selection of new photographs by the Seeing with Photography Collective, a group of blind, visually impaired and sighted artists from New York City. The artists produce photographs based on a combined awareness and experience of sight loss that are created through an elaborate staging and lighting process conducted as collaborations between blind and sighted artists http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20130412/ENT07/304120019/Sight-memory-feeling-explored-Prairie-Gallery?nclick_check=1 Arts and Crafts After Vision Loss http://www.visionaware.org/section.aspx?FolderID=8&SectionID=119&TopicID=488 Graffiti artist creates Braille graffiti for the blind! This picture shows Braille graffiti written on a wall of a church in France. A sighted French man who calls himself "The Blind" who has been creating graffiti for the blind in France, Europe and "a few in the United States." The graffiti is made with balls of plaster glued to walls. https://plus.google.com/+MikeElgan/posts/AjzhbxkSh6F#+MikeElgan/posts/AjzhbxkSh6F The Blind http://theblindtavu.wordpress.com/graffiti-pour-aveugle/ Legally Blind Artist Stephen Lapthisophon Challenges Students and Viewers to Open Their Eyes Wide Excerpt "The things I can't see now aren't the things I was never interested in," says the Oak Cliff artist, who lost his sight to nerve damage in 1994. It's those fine details, things that require narrow focus, that Lapthisophon, who's 57, has never had time for. The technical details of a piece never appealed to him as much as the big ideas. Not being able to see the minutiae only made him more strident in those beliefs. Formerly the artist in residence at the University of Texas at Dallas, Lapthisophon has been at UT Arlington for the last few years, teaching both art history and studio classes. He's one of those rare art professors who don't feel that teaching disrupts his own time in the studio. He's even taught kindergarten in Chicago and works with high schoolers in the summer. "I'm enlivened by interaction with students and rewarded by their successes," he says. http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/mixmaster/2013/06/stephen_lapthisophon_people_is.php Internationally known blind artist to speak at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine While art was always a major part of Bramblitt's life, it was not until he lost his sight in 2001 that he began to paint. "Art reshaped my life," he said. Bramblitt's paintings take their inspiration mostly from real-life events. His workshops are unique in the art world not only because they span the gap between beginning and professional artists, but also because they include adaptive techniques for artists with disabilities. Bramblitt's work has received much recognition, including the "Most Inspirational Video of 2008" from YouTube and three Presidential Service Awards for his innovative workshops. His art has been sold in more than 20 countries, and he has appeared internationally in print, radio, and television While art was always a major part of Bramblitt's life, it was not until he lost his sight in 2001 that he began to paint. "Art reshaped my life," he said. Bramblitt's paintings take their inspiration mostly from real-life events. His workshops are unique in the art world not only because they span the gap between beginning and professional artists, but also because they include adaptive techniques for artists with disabilities. Bramblitt's work has received much recognition, including the "Most Inspirational Video of 2008" from YouTube and three Presidential Service Awards for his innovative workshops. His art has been sold in more than 20 countries, and he has appeared internationally in print, radio, and television While art was always a major part of Bramblitt's life, it was not until he lost his sight in 2001 that he began to paint. "Art reshaped my life," he said. Bramblitt's paintings take their inspiration mostly from real-life events. His workshops are unique in the art world not only because they span the gap between beginning and professional artists, but also because they include adaptive techniques for artists with disabilities. Bramblitt's work has received much recognition, including the "Most Inspirational Video of 2008" from YouTube and three Presidential Service Awards for his innovative workshops. His art has been sold in more than 20 countries, and he has appeared internationally in print, radio, and television http://www.vtnews.vt.edu/articles/2013/06/062513-vtc-johnblamblitt.html Glass artist exhibit at Artist Exposure Gallery The Color of Nature," a new solo exhibit by glass artist Joe Davis, of Kingston, opens with an artist's reception from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, June 21, at the Artist Exposure Gallery, located at 26 Howland St. in Plymouth. The artist himself is color-blind. The show explores the "art of looking" at nature, a lost art that Davis argues is the reason why we have lost our connection with nature itself, because no one takes the time to look anymore. Many great artists have long been considered to have been color blind, including Van Gogh and Picasso. http://www.wickedlocal.com/plymouth/newsnow/x1002426799/Glass-artist-exhibit-at-Artist-Exposure-Gallery#axzz2Y9pYThBl Blind artist to "paint music" for Vision Awareness Days (w/ video) John Bramblitt is a nationally known artist/painter who lost his vision as a young man but developed a unique painting technique and now creates amazing paintings. He will be in Roanoke June 25-29th as part of Vision Awareness Days. http://blogs.roanoke.com/arts/2013/06/blind-artist-to-paint-music-for-vision-awareness-days-w-video/ Legally-blind Cartoonist Leads Creative Kiwi Army WHAKAPAPA: an art exhibition proving to Australians there is more to New Zealand than the All Blacks, Tolkien tourism and Flight of the Conchords. BRENT HARPUR is a legally-blind, New Zealand born cartoonist, art teacher and entertainer. To celebrate his second year living and working in Melbourne, Brent is curatingWhakapapa, an exhibition bringing together the culturally-diverse works of sixteen NZ artists. This will be the first time many of these artists have exhibited and performed their work in Australia. http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU1306/S00231/legally-blind-cartoonist-leads-creative-kiwi-army.htm Hero nomination a 'boost' for Dundee artist Derek O'Rourke took up painting just three years ago but has already wowed art lovers across the country. But the Dundonian's artistic talent is even more astonishing, as Mr O'Rourke is registered blind. Derek, who spent 10 years in the Royal Navy, has helped raise thousands of pounds for charities by selling or auctioning off his unique artwork. http://www.eveningtelegraph.co.uk/news/local/hero-nomination-a-boost-for-dundee-artist-1.102611 -Scanned by Exchange Hosted Services- From fnugg at online.no Thu Jul 25 09:37:19 2013 From: fnugg at online.no (fnugg at online.no) Date: Thu, 25 Jul 2013 11:37:19 +0200 Subject: [Art_beyond_sight_educators] Hal Lasko Message-ID: <51F0F1CF.7010405@online.no> Hal Lasko Meet 97-year-old Hal Lasko. Hal, better known as Grandpa, worked as a graphic artist back when everything was done by hand. His family introduced him to the computer and Microsoft Paint long after he retired. Now, Grandpa spends ten hours a day moving pixels around his computer paintings. His work is like a collision of pointillism and 8-Bit art. http://www.hallasko.com/ excerpt to article, video in article Legally blind artist, 97, paints in pixels Using nothing more than Microsoft Paint, artist Hal Lasko stays in tune with his favorite passion. Don't miss this video showing his inspirational story. Artists might see the world differently, but these days, 97-year-old Hal Lasko has trouble seeing much of anything. That doesn't stop him, however, from making beautiful pixel art with Microsoft Paint. Lasko, considered legally blind, has a condition known as wet macular degeneration, which causes loss of central vision. In theory, this sort of vision impairment would sound like something that could hinder an artist from creating illustrations, but it doesn't stop Lasko. http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57595142-1/legally-blind-artist-97-paints-in-pixels/ From fnugg at online.no Thu Jul 25 09:39:05 2013 From: fnugg at online.no (fnugg at online.no) Date: Thu, 25 Jul 2013 11:39:05 +0200 Subject: [Art_beyond_sight_educators] Batman, Disney, haptic Message-ID: <51F0F239.40606@online.no> Hi, Some interesting articles - some about Disney's technique of creating haptic feedback in the air and two articles which are sort of connected. The first article is about cartoonists drawing with their eyes closed and the second is an exhibition about the decline of Braille. What I mean by connected in this case is, I think in the case of these two articles, an awaking of the sighted world in regards to visual impairments and drawing, visual arts. When I first saw the title of the article New Exhibition Exploring The Decline Of Braille, I thought "WOW, someones making a statement about that" but then understood it was an artist using Braille as an element. That of course is good, but not quite what I thought. But in both of these cases it seems to me that it brings the idea of VI and art, graphic information closer to the public conciousness. Enough long winded spouting from me. But hope you will "Spout out!" about what you think. Regards, Lisa Blind artist doco transcends limits Another moving documentary is being shown at the Suter on Thursday evening. Black Sun is the creation of Gary Tarn, the director, producer, photographer, editor and composer of its original music. It is narrated by Hugues de Montalembert, whose story provides the inspiration for this film. In 1978 de Montalembert, a French artist, photographer, and film-maker living in New York City, was walking home one night to his apartment in Greenwich Village when a senseless event occurred, one which was to change his life forever. http://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/features/arts/8958373/Blind-artist-doco-transcends-limits Comics Professionals Draw Batman With Their Eyes Closed, And It Is Glorious ... Inspired by the website Blind as a Bat , artist *Olly Moss* approached a bunch of industry friends at Comic-Con with a task: *close your eyes, pick up a marker, and draw Batman*. Among those who stepped up to the challenge were *Becky Cloonan, Mark Chiarello, Jock, Jhonen Vasquez, Duncan Jones, Mark Buckingham*, and many more, and the results are amazing. You can check out a few examples, including Yost's masterpiece, below. http://comicsalliance.com/blind-as-a-batman-art-olly-moss-sdcc-2013/ Draw online Draw Batman with your eyes closed. http://www.blindasabatman.com/ Blind Art : New Exhibition Exploring The Decline Of Braille *A new exhibition exploring the decline of Braille opens this Friday (26 July) at the University of Abertay Dundee's Hannah Maclure Centre art gallery. Double Blind Test Series is an exhibition of print works highlighting the artistic research by David Lyons, Abertay lecturer and researcher. The series was conceived as a visual investigation of sensually expressive printmaking.* As Braille is a communication tool in decline, Lyons believes that the increasing abandonment of Braille opens it to exploration and experimentation, and that this may result in Braille becoming a dynamic form of expression for the sighted -- with exhibition visitors experiencing Braille through sight and not touch. http://www.artlyst.com/articles/blind-art-new-exhibition-exploring-the-decline-of-braille Disability no barrier to arts A real blind person playing the role of a blind person is unfortunately still a novel scene on a Queensland stage. http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2013/07/24/3809863.htm Disney's Aireal delivers precise tactile feedback out of thin air With systems like the Kinect and Leap Motion , controlling a gadget with just the wave of a hand is starting to become much more commonplace. The one drawback to those gesture-based devices however is that you never actually touch anything. No matter what you see on the screen, you're still very aware that you're just moving your hands through the air. The Pittsburg branch of Disney Research may be able to change that with Aireal, a low-cost haptic system which fires out small rings of air that allow people to feel virtual objects. http://www.gizmag.com/disneys-aireal-tactile-feedback-system/28432/ links in article http://www.gizmag.com/kinect-for-windows/20585/ http://www.gizmag.com/leap-motion-windows-video-preview/27587/ Disney Research creates haptic feedback out of thin air http://www.cnet.com.au/disney-research-creates-haptic-feedback-out-of-thin-air-339344951.htm Legally blind artist, 97, paints in pixels Using nothing more than Microsoft Paint, artist Hal Lasko stays in tune with his favorite passion. Don't miss this video showing his inspirational story. http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57595142-1/legally-blind-artist-97-paints-in-pixels/ From fnugg at online.no Thu Jul 25 10:30:34 2013 From: fnugg at online.no (fnugg at online.no) Date: Thu, 25 Jul 2013 12:30:34 +0200 Subject: [Art_beyond_sight_educators] Jeff Hanson Lessons from Clod Message-ID: <51F0FE4A.9020709@online.no> Artist Jeff Hanson Jeff Hanson is a 18-year old visually impaired artist http://artistjeffhanson.blogspot.no/2013/04/lessons-from-clod-jeffs-story-is.html at Amazon Book Description Publication Date: February 26, 2013 STANDARD HARDCOVER EDITION./ Lessons From CLOD: An Inspiring Story of Art, Philanthropy and Entrepreneurship/. Identical content as the ARTIST'S PREMIUM EDITION, (but without the more vivid inks and heavier paper). Hardcover, printed in full color, using standard inks and paper. 268 pages. A biography of artist Jeffrey Owen Hanson and his journey beyond adversity. This is the story of one kid. A story of what one, visually impaired kid from Kansas can do. A kid with contagious generosity, setting an example for individuals and corporations to become more philanthropic--to change our world.A kid who responded to a challenge, and redefined himself. Jeff Hanson'sartis hanging in Warren Buffett's home. The Association of Fundraising Professionals named Jeff "YoungPhilanthropistof the Year." The Small Business Administration named Jeff "Young Entrepreneurof the Year." The trifecta! Jeff Hanson is defined by art, philanthropy and entrepreneurship. Not the kid down the street who lost his vision to a brain tumor. Jeff Hanson will raise one million dollars for charity before he is 20.One million by 20! http://www.amazon.com/Lessons-From-STANDARD-HARDCOVER-EDITION/dp/0988384213 *** * From fnugg at online.no Thu Jul 25 10:31:38 2013 From: fnugg at online.no (fnugg at online.no) Date: Thu, 25 Jul 2013 12:31:38 +0200 Subject: [Art_beyond_sight_educators] links Message-ID: <51F0FE8A.6080403@online.no> This MS Paint maestro is 97 years old and legally blind http://www.theverge.com/2013/7/24/4551542/ms-paint-artist-hal-lasko-is-97-and-legally-blind Disney?s AIREAL is the Next Generation of Haptic Technology http://www.engineeringontheedge.com/2013/07/disney%E2%80%99s-aireal-is-the-next-generation-of-haptic-technology/ Braille art exhibition to open at Abertay University http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-23410320 Legally blind artist raises $1 million with his art It would've been easy for Jeff Hanson to mourn at the tender age of 12 when doctors discovered an optic tumor that helped explain why he was losing his vision, but the soon-to-be philanthropist had a better idea. He became a self-described "accidental artist" showing others how he saw the world with vibrant illustrations, first on note cards before moving to canvas paintings and later to designs for women's dresses. Seven years later, with roughly 1,300 paintings under his belt, Hanson has reached a goal originally set on his 19th birthday: to reach $1 million in donations for charities by the time he was 20. http://www.wbir.com/news/article/281314/16/Legally-blind-artist-raises-1-million-with-his-art Legally blind artist raises $1 million http://www.wusa9.com/news/photo-gallery.aspx?storyid=267293 From fnugg at online.no Thu Jul 25 11:41:34 2013 From: fnugg at online.no (fnugg at online.no) Date: Thu, 25 Jul 2013 13:41:34 +0200 Subject: [Art_beyond_sight_educators] film, time piece, art exhibition Message-ID: <51F10EEE.3030201@online.no> Aireal http://www.engadget.com/2013/07/21/siggraph-disney-research-aireal-haptic-feedback/ http://mashable.com/2013/07/19/aireal/ http://www.stitchkingdom.com/disney-aireal-disney-research-brings-4d-haptic-experience-gaming-64298/ Jeff Hanson http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/07/21/legally-blind-artist-painting/2499559/ Lighthouse for the Blind expands facility on Eighth Street Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/07/19/3508398/lighthouse-for-the-blind-expands.html#storylink=cpy These facilities take a different approach to teaching even the most traditional of subjects like math. The Math Laboratory will be an area dedicated to teaching students how to use tactile graphing kits which will help them create and use raised graphs. They will also have access to math tools such as abacuses and talking calculators . http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/07/19/3508398/lighthouse-for-the-blind-expands.html Film Ship of Theseus' review: An intellectually stimulating work of cinema art In the first of the three stories, a girl named Aliya (Aida El-Kashef) can click remarkable pictures like a pro but her professional excellence goes for a toss when her eyesight is restored. Alia finds it difficult to cope with her new found vision that was meant to enhance her way of tackling her art. She finds herself dealing with the loss of her prized possession -- her blindness -- when she realises that she is no longer able to click pictures like an ace. Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/07/19/3508398/lighthouse-for-the-blind-expands.html#storylink=cpy http://zeenews.india.com/entertainment/movies/ship-of-theseus-review-an-intellectually-stimulating-work-of-cinema-art_139395.htm 2020 target date for redesigned FRNs with raised feature Federal Reserve notes featuring a tactile feature to aid the blind and visually impaired won't appear until 2020 when the first redesigned $10 FRNs with the tactile feature will be released, according to a recently released report from the Bureau of Engraving and Printing http://www.coinworld.com/Articles/ViewArticle/2020-target-date-for-redesigned-frns-with-rai MIT Alum's Tactile Timepiece Raises $260,000+ on Kickstarter in 6 Days http://bostinno.streetwise.co/all-series/eone-kickstarter-the-bradley-watch/ http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/eone/the-bradley-a-timepiece-designed-to-touch-and-see http://www.crowdfundinsider.com/2013/07/19100-mit-alum-raises-over-250k-in-a-week-for-kickstarter-watch/ New navigation gadget for people who are blind http://www.healthcanal.com/eyes-vision/40931-new-navigation-gadget-for-people-who-are-blind.html New Zealanders invade Melbourne Artist army: Legally-blind artist Brent Harpur has curated a Kiwi art exhibition at Melbourne City Library. http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/local-papers/the-wellingtonian/arts-entertainment/8933191/New-Zealanders-invade-Melbourne From fnugg at online.no Thu Jul 25 12:04:56 2013 From: fnugg at online.no (fnugg at online.no) Date: Thu, 25 Jul 2013 14:04:56 +0200 Subject: [Art_beyond_sight_educators] The ICA Maps and Graphics for Blind and Partially Sighted People Message-ID: <51F11468.30107@online.no> Programme of joint symposium "Sharing Knowledge" *Pre-Conference Symposium to ICC2013* /23 August 2013 @ the Dresden University of Technology, Germany / 15:10 P.M. -- 16:10 P.M. *Session 4: Maps for Blind and Partially Sighted People * /http://icaci.org/category/commission-news/commission-on-maps-and-graphics-for-blind-and-partially-sighted-people/ http://lazarus.elte.hu/jointsymposium2013/programme.html / From Lisa.Yayla at statped.no Tue Jul 30 10:58:03 2013 From: Lisa.Yayla at statped.no (Lisa Yayla) Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2013 12:58:03 +0200 Subject: [Art_beyond_sight_educators] YouTube Captioning/Description Message-ID: Hi, Think I have sent links to Josh Miele?s video description project before but forwarding information gleaned from altmedia list. www.youdescribe.org tutorial webinar on how to use YouDescribe: http://youtu.be/c-GKbGCzeEc Regards, Lisa -Scanned by Exchange Hosted Services- From fnugg at online.no Fri Aug 2 06:53:03 2013 From: fnugg at online.no (fnugg at online.no) Date: Fri, 02 Aug 2013 08:53:03 +0200 Subject: [Art_beyond_sight_educators] =?utf-8?b?RcWfcmVmIEFybWHEn2FuIHJl?= =?utf-8?q?cieves_WIPO_Creativity_Award?= In-Reply-To: <1366460027.92534.YahooMailNeo@web141005.mail.bf1.yahoo.com> References: <1366460027.92534.YahooMailNeo@web141005.mail.bf1.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <51FB574F.6060907@online.no> Hi, Forwarding an email that Joan Eroncel sent me 2 months ago. Please excuse the delay in forwarding this important message. Regards, Lisa Hi Lisa - I have some great news. WIPO (World Intellectural Properties Organization) is having their annual meeting here in Istanbul - it is based in Geneva. On April 26th, Esref is being given their Creativity Award. Joan Links: The World Intellectual Property Organization gave out two awards to Y?lmaz Erdo?an and E?ref Arma?an, the WIPO Creativity Award. http://tobb.org.tr/Sayfalar/Eng/Detay.aspx?rid=2277&lst=MansetListesi http://tobb.org.tr/Sayfalar/Eng/Detay.aspx?rid=2277&lst=MansetListesi http://www.wipo.int/ip-outreach/en/awards/creativity/#.UXKG2Ex0DL8.email From fnugg at online.no Fri Aug 2 07:04:15 2013 From: fnugg at online.no (fnugg at online.no) Date: Fri, 02 Aug 2013 09:04:15 +0200 Subject: [Art_beyond_sight_educators] Pixel Picasso, Viet Nam, Exhibition, Wills Eye Message-ID: <51FB59EF.8050003@online.no> Meet the 'Pixel Picasso', 98, who draws stunning landscapes on Microsoft Paint http://uk.news.yahoo.com/blind-painter-uses-microsoft-paint-hal-lasko-pixel-painter-113642307.html#G9BPi4F Smith: The paintings the artist's never seen Visitors young and old venture into the Sonoma County Museum for the exhibit of art by people with disabilities and they marvel at the vivid landscapes of Ken Rossi. Then they hear he's completely blind. Mouths drop. http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20130731/articles/130739891#page=1 In the mind's eye How much of what we see do we first imagine? A new workshop for the visually impaired is trying to find out http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/News/3539/25/In-the-mind%E2%80%99s-eye.aspx Photographs by visually impaired Vietnamese *Under a project called Photovoice, blind and visually impaired members of the Binh Duong Blind People Association have been trained in sensory photography techniques through which they are taught how to judge distance, touch and smell to discover subjects.* http://tuoitrenews.vn/features/11442/photographs-by-visually-impaired-vietnamese http://tuoitrenews.vn/features?id=9590 For 25 years, bringing art to visually impaired Decades ago, Alice Lea Tasman was walking by her boss' office at the Philadelphia Museum of Art when she saw a sculpture that caught her eye. "I said, 'Bob, what's that out there?' He said it was by the visually impaired," she recalled. The Art Museum, she discovered, ran a program called Form in Art, which gave art lessons to the visually impaired. Tasman, married to the man who was then the ophthalmologist-in-chief at Wills Eye Institute, had an idea. Thus was born a partnership between the museum and the hospital that just celebrated its 25th anniversary. At the annual celebration and art exhibit at Wills Eye last month, Tasman, 79, bought a wire sculpture of Pegasus by Michael Gieschen, who is legally blind. Gieschen, a former graphic artist, not only sold the sculpture to Tasman, but also was swarmed with five additional commissions. http://articles.philly.com/2013-07-07/news/40408993_1_art-museum-art-student-eiko-fan Photos taken by visually impaired people to be displayed The Institute for Studies of Society, Economy and Environment (iSEE ) is planning to hold an exhibition in September featuring special photos taken by visually impaired people in the southern province of Binh Duong. Since April, the institute, in collaboration with students from the Ho Chi Minh City Foreign Trade University, has run a project called Photovoice, in which the institute has handed out cameras to 10 visually impaired people and then trained them how to capture the best moments of their daily life. After two months of practicing, the amateur photographers have caught moments in the most vivid way, which is difficult for professional photographers to do. http://tuoitrenews.vn/lifestyle/11346/photos-taken-by-visually-impaired-people-to-be-displayed From fnugg at online.no Fri Aug 2 10:26:18 2013 From: fnugg at online.no (fnugg at online.no) Date: Fri, 02 Aug 2013 12:26:18 +0200 Subject: [Art_beyond_sight_educators] 3D photos, camera app, Craig Royal, exhibition Message-ID: <51FB894A.9010906@online.no> 3D Printed Photos can be Seen by the Visually Impaired Amanda Ghassaei of Instructables has used an Objet Connex500 3D printer to add a sense of texture to photographs. The images are still meant to be viewed in 2D, but the printer uses different thicknesses to create a silhouette effect. http://www.psfk.com/2013/05/3d-printed-textured-photos.html Question Processing photos for the visually impaired http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?p=15961432 Camera tells the visually impaired where to focus Dustin Adams, a PhD student from the University of California in Sta. Cruz, and his teammates have developed a camera app specifically for the visually impaired. The app provides audio instructions to a visually impaired person to help him/her focus the camera and take a good picture. Adams and his team--who all work at the Interactive Systems for Individuals with Special Needs (ISIS) Lab --ran a survey among 54 respondents between the ages of 18 and 78 and asked about the difficulties they encounter when taking photos with a camera. The respondents had varying degrees of visual impairment--some were completely blind, some were partially blind, and some had a degree of light perception. http://www.psfk.com/2013/05/camera-for-the-blind.html Researchers develop an app to help the blind take better photos http://www.techhive.com/article/2038634/researchers-develop-an-app-to-help-the-blind-take-better-photos.html Researchers Create Smartphone App That Helps Blind Photographers Line Up Shots http://petapixel.com/2013/05/10/researchers-create-smartphone-app-that-helps-blind-photographers-line-up-shots/ Interview with Visually Impaired Fine Art Photographer Craig Royal Craig Royal: I'm a visually impaired fine art photographer. I'm legally blind due to a congenital form of optic nerve atrophy. I have been legally blind since birth. My vision had been 20/200 corrected up until 1992, when a white blind spot began to develop in the center of my visual field in both eyes. http://petapixel.com/2013/04/15/interview-with-visually-impaired-fine-art-photographer-craig-royal/ Craig Royal - Fine Art Photography http://craigroyal.zenfolio.com/ Meet Award-Winning Visually Impaired Photographer Craig Royal http://www.visionaware.org/blog.aspx?BlogID=9&BlogEntryID=681 Sight, memory and feeling explored at Prairie Gallery Photographs that delve into the complexities of sight, memory and feeling will be on view at Prairie Gallery beginning Saturday, as Prairie hosts a selection of new photographs by the Seeing with Photography Collective, a group of blind, visually impaired and sighted artists from New York City. http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20130412/ENT07/304120019/Sight-memory-feeling-explored-Prairie-Gallery?nclick_check=1 Startup of the Week -- Invici Technologies Traditional computer and mobile devices are great for exploring imagery like diagrams, maps, tables and graphs if you can see them, but people with limited sight cannot use these products. As a result, the visually impaired community faces serious levels of under employment, reduced mobility and technology exclusion. Enter Invici Technologies, a startup that's developing accessible computer interfaces to help the blind and visually impaired easily explore, edit and share digital media and spatial information. Invici transforms images that are normally displayed as pixels of light on a screen into a unique touch friendly format, saving users considerable time, money and frustration. Founder and CEO, Doug Hagedorn says they are currently focused on creating technologies to help visually impaired students and their teachers exchange educational content in the classroom http://blogs.calgaryherald.com/2013/04/05/startup-of-the-week-invici-technologies/ http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-642-31534-3_80 From fnugg at online.no Fri Aug 2 11:10:18 2013 From: fnugg at online.no (fnugg at online.no) Date: Fri, 02 Aug 2013 13:10:18 +0200 Subject: [Art_beyond_sight_educators] Google floor maps Message-ID: <51FB939A.2010902@online.no> Hi, Google has a really interesting feature called Google floor maps to be used with Android telephones. With it one can upload the floor plans of a public area eg museum, shopping center etc so that a VI person can get it on their telephone. One can also go around after it is uploaded and add extra information to the map. It appears very easy to do - 1. Find the building on the map. 2. Upload pictures of your floor plans or directories of a floor. 3. Line up your floor plan with satellite images in Google Maps. 4. Submit! This will help us improve Google Maps. Once processed, anyone will be able to see your floor plans in Google Maps . https://maps.google.com/help/maps/floorplans/Y It looks like a very useful tool and I thought that perhaps it could be used also for regular street maps. That is to make a really quick map. That is import a google map of a few block area then draw a map of that area, and then proceed as you would with a floor plan. That is you import the "floor plan" of an outside area. Might be useful for mobility routes, tourist routes etc. What do you think? Google Maps Floor Plan Marker Description Help Google Maps show users their location more accurately within indoor venues. Walk around the floors in a popular, public building to collect publicly broadcast data, and afterwards, users of Google Maps for Android will be able to see their location ("the familiar blue dot") in those floors when they're inside the venue. Note that you must first upload a floor plan at https://maps.google.com/help/maps/floorplans/ . Likely to be of interest mostly to map enthusiasts and venue owners. In anycase seems like a really good tool. Regards, Lisa From fnugg at online.no Fri Aug 2 11:15:10 2013 From: fnugg at online.no (fnugg at online.no) Date: Fri, 02 Aug 2013 13:15:10 +0200 Subject: [Art_beyond_sight_educators] maps Message-ID: <51FB94BE.3030902@online.no> Startup of the Week -- Invici Technologies Traditional computer and mobile devices are great for exploring imagery like diagrams, maps, tables and graphs if you can see them, but people with limited sight cannot use these products. As a result, the visually impaired community faces serious levels of under employment, reduced mobility and technology exclusion. Enter Invici Technologies, a startup that's developing accessible computer interfaces to help the blind and visually impaired easily explore, edit and share digital media and spatial information. Invici transforms images that are normally displayed as pixels of light on a screen into a unique touch friendly format, saving users considerable time, money and frustration. Founder and CEO, Doug Hagedorn says they are currently focused on creating technologies to help visually impaired students and their teachers exchange educational content in the classroom http://blogs.calgaryherald.com/2013/04/05/startup-of-the-week-invici-technologies/ EXPLORING NEW DIRECTIONS IN NON-VISUAL CARTOGRAPHY: AN OVERVIEW OF THE FUNCTIONALLY SEPARATED MULTI-MODAL MAP RENDERING SYSTEM http://scholar.googleusercontent.com/scholar?q=cache:szyHJymwdHIJ:scholar.google.com/&hl=no&as_sdt=0,5 Design and User Satisfaction of Interactive Maps for Visually Impaired People Multimodal interactive maps are a solution for presenting spatial information to visually impaired people. In this paper, we present an interactive multimodal map prototype that is based on a tactile paper map, a multi-touch screen and audio output. We first describe the different steps for designing an interactive map: drawing and printing the tactile paper map, choice of multi-touch technology, interaction technologies and the software architecture. Then we describe the method used to assess user satisfaction. We provide data showing that an interactive map -- although based on a unique, elementary, double tap interaction -- has been met with a high level of user satisfaction. Interestingly, satisfaction is independent of a user's age, previous visual experience or Braille experience. This prototype will be used as a platform to design advanced interactions for spatial learning http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-642-31534-3_80 Learning Geography in the Absence of Sight Sight is the most comprehensive of the senses when dealing with the geospatial domain. Not only does sight reach well beyond the radii of other human senses and other body parts, but, since geography has a long tradition of representing its data and its findings in forms tailored to visual representation, it is indeed difficult to think of doing geography without sight. Usually, when one thinks of a geographic representation, one thinks of maps, images, tables, graphs, charts, sketches, photographs, videos, and, now, immersive or desktop virtual environments. Some of these representations are available in hardcopy; others are projected on a screen (including computer screens). As more and more geospatial problems have been pursued with the help of computers and electronic representational forms, such as geographic information systems (GIS), the emphasis on visualization for the representational modality has become even more obvious. http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4020-2352-1_16 Inside out: Google launches indoor maps Google has launched indoor maps in Australia allowing users to find their way around inside airports, shopping centres, train stations and other large buildings using their mobile devices. Australian engineers at firms such as Navisens, CSIRO and UNSW are leading the world in developing advanced indoor navigation technology capable of helping people locate specific products on supermarket shelves, tracking athletes' performance or guiding the visually impaired. http://www.theage.com.au/digital-life/smartphone-apps/inside-out-google-launches-indoor-maps-20130312-2fxz2.html *A full list of the Australian venues supported at the launch of Google Indoor Maps.* http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/smartphone-apps/google-maps-indoor-venues-20130313-2fz8o.html From Lisa.Yayla at statped.no Fri Aug 9 08:17:43 2013 From: Lisa.Yayla at statped.no (Lisa Yayla) Date: Fri, 9 Aug 2013 10:17:43 +0200 Subject: [Art_beyond_sight_educators] 20/20 BLINDSIGHT Busser Howell's book about blind artists, storm chasing, Message-ID: Hi, Links and articles. Regards, Lisa Design idea Interactive braille smart phone maps for the visually impaired Although Blind Maps is only a concept at this stage, it really is a remarkable one. The device, conceived by designers Andrew Spitz, Ruben van der Vleuten and Markus Schmeiduch during a 36 hour project at the Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design, is a handheld interactive smart phone maps accessory made for the visually impaired. Using tactile-sensitive haptic technology, the interface has a perforated braille-like screen with pins which move to show navigation. Constantly receiving information and adapting, Blind Maps warns of changes to the user?s route, responds the user?s progress and gives options for bird?s eye or line view. Very impressive concept, let?s hope it becomes a reality. http://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/blind-maps?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+itsnicethat%2FSlXC+(It's+Nice+That) Visually impaired photographer shoots severe storms up close You can?t help but be in complete awe looking at Terry Rosema?s photostream. As a storm chaser, Terry witnesses and captures Mother Nature?s fury firsthand: deadly tornadoes, torrential rain, golf ball-sized hail, lightning, etc. His photos are incredible, but what?s even more amazing is that Terry is partially blind. http://blog.flickr.net/en/2013/08/02/visually-impaired-photographer-shoots-severe-storms-up-close/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Flickrblog+(FlickrBlog) Terry Rosema http://www.flickr.com/photos/98131983 at N07/ A Nearly Blind 98-Year-Old Man Creates Stunning Digital Magic with MS Paint by Joseph Clark Type "MS Paint" into Google. One of the top results should direct you to the eight-minute documentary, The Pixel Painter. The video profiles 98-year-old nearly blind Rocky River artist Hal Lasko, who creates sprawling but finely detailed landscapes and science-fiction images on Microsoft's rudimentary image-creation software. Last Friday, August 2, the short film passed a million views. Lasko had not been expecting such sudden and widespread attention to his work. http://www.clevescene.com/cleveland/a-nearly-blind-98-year-old-man-creates-stunning-digital-magic-with-ms-paint/Content?oid=3625395 http://fox8.com/2013/07/25/legally-blind-man-named-pixel-painter/ http://www.geeksugar.com/Blind-Microsoft-Paint-Artist-31040059 Exhibit inspired by late watercolorist After he went blind in the last years of his life, watercolorist Henry Fukuhara painted memories of soaring mountains, verdant trees and a desolate prison. During World War II, Fukuhara and his family were incarcerated at the Manzanar internment camp in California?s Owens Valley, one of 10 relocation centers set up by the federal government after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. http://www.mpacorn.com/news/2013-07-26/On_The_Town/Exhibit_inspired_by_late_watercolorist.html Artist to auction off signed piece at show; proceeds to go to schools Artist to auction off signed piece at show; proceeds to go to schools Coklyat, who teaches art to blind, visually impaired and multiply disabled students, is legally blind herself. "After I lost my vision, I found a way to convey so much more feeling and emotion in a couple of strokes in a space," Coklyat said. "Now, when I paint, I don't just see with my eyes. I see with my imagination, my heart and with every cell of my body." More than 30 pieces by Coklyat will be on display in the gallery, where some of her work is currently showing as part of a group exhibit called Childs Play, about the nostalgia, freedom and simplicity of childhood. Coklyat's solo show opens Tuesday from 7 to 11 p.m. with an opening night benefit auction at LITM, 140 Newark Ave., Jersey City. The exhibit will run through the end of August. http://www.nj.com/jjournal-news/index.ssf/2013/08/artist_to_auction_off_signed_p.html Aug. 2-18: ?Art in Touch? Exhibit on Town Center Drive artintouchArt exhibits typically showcase visual components, but the ?Art in Touch? traveling exhibit now on display in Santa Clarita features tactile and interactive art that?s meant to be touched. >From Friday, August 2, through Sunday, August 18, the exhibit will be open to the public on Town Center Drive in Space 125 during the following times: Fridays from 4:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., Saturdays from 4:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., and Sundays from noon to 6:00 p.m. ?Art in Touch? features 15 works of art and was organized by the Arts Council of Kern. It was recently on display at Taft College and at the Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired in Bakersfield. The exhibit was designed to appeal to all ages, with an emphasis on the blind and visually impaired, as pieces were meant to be touched and include artist interviews for an additional audio component of the exhibit. http://scvnews.com/2013/08/02/aug-2-18-art-in-touch-exhibit-on-town-center-drive/ Alt-week 7.27.13: The blind pixel-painter, redirecting the sun and Saturn's view of Earth We were going to tell you about how a team of scientists managed to completely stop light in its tracks for a whole minute. But, then we saw the artwork you see above. What's so special about it? Well, whether it's to your particular taste or not, we think the fact that it's created by 97 year-old Hal Lasko using Paint on Windows 95 makes it at least noteworthy. Oh, and he's legally blind, suffering from wet macular degeneration -- affecting the center of his vision. That's pretty good going. Lasko isn't entirely new to art, though, having created maps during the second world war, before moving on to become a typographer. http://www.engadget.com/2013/07/27/alt-week-7-27-13-the-blind-pixel-painter/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget 20/20 Blindsight: Powerful New Book Illuminates the Accomplishments & Challenges of Blind Artists New York City, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 07/25/2013 -- An examination of Busser Howell?s work and career depicts a hugely-successful international painter. However, many will be surprised to learn that Howell grew up without ninety eight percent of his vision and lost the remaining two percent at age forty. In his bold and compelling new book, Howell gives the world a glimpse into the unique and vivid world of blind artists, sharing their stories and getting the voice of the blind community heard. ?20/20 Blindsight? fuses facets of a memoir, art book and sociological text to illustrate that people see in the same way, through the use of their visual cortex. http://www.sbwire.com/press-releases/2020-blindsight-powerful-new-book-illuminates-the-accomplishments-challenges-of-blind-artists-290394.htm 20/20 BLINDSIGHT Busser Howell's book about blind artists http://2020blindsight.com/ Busser Howell http://www.busserhowell.com/ Alison Jones http://www.alisonjones.co.uk/ http://www.disabilityartsonline.org.uk/alison-jones http://www.artplayer.tv/video/36/alison-jones-portrait-of-the-artist-proxy http://www.alisonjones.co.uk/?projects=subtle-abyss http://www.foldgallery.com/artist/alison-jones/ innovation and excellence in the arts http://disabilityarts.creativecase.org.uk/ http://thirdtext.creativecase.org.uk/ -Scanned by Exchange Hosted Services- From Lisa.Yayla at statped.no Fri Aug 9 08:54:29 2013 From: Lisa.Yayla at statped.no (Lisa Yayla) Date: Fri, 9 Aug 2013 10:54:29 +0200 Subject: [Art_beyond_sight_educators] artist links Message-ID: links from Busser Howell's site http://2020blindsight.com/?page_id=38 plus found some more articles/links about some of these artists. Links to artists in the book Passle Helminski http://www.eriefiberarts.com/members/passelhelminski Kurt Weston http://www.kurtweston.com/ Katherine Kadish http://www.katherinekadish.com/ Pete Eckert http://www.peteeckert.com Tara Innmon http://www.mnartists.org/work.do?rid=52478 David Simpson http://www.dabu-art.blogspot.com/ Bruce Hall http://www.visualsummit.com/ Braldt Bralds http://www.braldtbraldsstudio.com/ Sharon McConnell http://sharonmcconnelldickersonart.com Alice Wingwall http://www.alicewingwall.com/ Alison Jones http://www.fact.co.uk/people/board/alison-jones/ John Bramblitt http://www.bramblitt.net/ Busser Howell http://www.busserhowell.com/ Ask a Blind Artist http://www.sageing.ca/sageing7.html page 10 Just Imagine is curated by local artist Ruth Bieber, and brings together the art of four vision-impaired artists. Just Imagine explores what it means to be human, and the multitude of ways in which people see and respond to the world around them. It is meant to provoke people to think beyond typical notions of ?seeing? and to consider the potential of creative expression. http://kelownaartgallery.com/exhibitions/the-front-project-space/just-imagine/ other links Helping Hands - Keystone Kids with Artist Passel Helminski http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leJMFGOMYW0 http://www.trumbullartgallery.com/asp_scripts/print_image.asp?WebsiteID=41079&GalleryID=171332&MediaID=3416620&Print=0 Kurt Weston http://www.reframingphotography.com/artists/kurt-weston http://edition.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/06/03/blindphoto.irpt/index.html Behind the Scenes: Altered Visions http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/29/behind-3/?_r=0 Blind photographer celebrates nature in 'Seasons' http://www.ocregister.com/articles/weston-239983-photography-blind.html Kadish http://www.newyorkartists.net/katherinekadish/ Tara Innmon http://www.second-sense.org/focus11innmon.asp -Scanned by Exchange Hosted Services- From Lisa.Yayla at statped.no Fri Aug 9 09:16:05 2013 From: Lisa.Yayla at statped.no (Lisa Yayla) Date: Fri, 9 Aug 2013 11:16:05 +0200 Subject: [Art_beyond_sight_educators] Going to MoMA to See the Sounds Message-ID: Did You Hear That? It Was Art Museums Embrace Works Made of Sound On Saturday, the Museum of Modern Art is opening its first full sonic survey, ?Soundings: A Contemporary Score,? while two major sound installations are to go up in New York in the fall ..... There?s yet another ambitious sound piece about to open in New York. On Sept. 10, the Metropolitan Museum will present ?Forty Part Motet,? an installation by the Canadian Janet Cardiff http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/04/arts/design/museums-embrace-works-made-of-sound.html?ref=design Going to MoMA to See the Sounds ?Soundings? Features Art With Audio Elements Three summers ago, the Museum of Modern Art installed a 1961 sound art work by Yoko Ono in its atrium. It was called ?Voice Piece for Soprano ...... Now, more than a decade later, MoMA is picking up the slack with a survey show of new art called ?Soundings: A Contemporary Score,? which opens Saturday http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/09/arts/design/soundings-features-art-with-audio-elements.html?pagewanted=2 -Scanned by Exchange Hosted Services- From fnugg at online.no Fri Aug 9 12:29:26 2013 From: fnugg at online.no (fnugg at online.no) Date: Fri, 09 Aug 2013 14:29:26 +0200 Subject: [Art_beyond_sight_educators] Hayhoe: Expanding Our Vision of Museum Education and Perception, Harvard Educ Rev Message-ID: <5204E0A6.3050302@online.no> The Spring issue of the Harvard Education Review, HARVARD EDUC REV VOL 83 #1 , is entitled Expanding Our Vision for the Arts in Education. Especially of note, Simon Hayhoe has published in it his findings from my study of blind visitors studying painting at The Metropolitan Museum of Art Expanding Our Vision of Museum Education and Perception: An Analysis of Three Case Studies of Independent Blind Arts Learners SIMON HAYHOE In this study, Simon Hayhoe investigates the experiences of blind museum visitors in the context of the relationships between the artworks they learned about in museums, those they experienced when younger, and the social, cultural, and emotional influences of their museum experiences. The three case studies he presents support his hypothesis that, for blind visitors, proximity to works of art is at least as important as perceiving the art itself. This finding questions Gombrich's theory of the economy of vision and Jay's theory of scopics and supports the notion that exclusion from art in this context is more passive than active. *Simon Hayhoe* is a member of the faculty at Sharjah Higher Colleges of Technology (United Arab Emirates) and a Centre Research Associate at the London School of Economics (U.K.). His work has focused on blindness and visual culture, blindness and education, grounded theory, disability culture and epistemology and, most recently, analysis of cultural attitudes toward disabled people in Arab countries and developing methodology. His most recent publications include /Grounded Theory and Disability Studies/ (Cambria Press, 2012), "The Development of a Sustainable Disabled Population in the Countries of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf," in /Global Sustainable Communities Design Handbook/ (Elsevier, forthcoming), and "Towards an Inter-Cultural Dialogue on Disability between Arab Muslims and Western Christians," in /Intercultural Communication with Arabs/ (Macmillan Palgrave, forthcoming). Prior to working in his current post, Hayhoe was a fellow at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, funded by a Fulbright All Disciplines Scholars Award. http://hepg.org/her/issue/232 http://hepg.org/her/abstract/1224 From fnugg at online.no Thu Aug 29 09:50:21 2013 From: fnugg at online.no (fnugg at online.no) Date: Thu, 29 Aug 2013 11:50:21 +0200 Subject: [Art_beyond_sight_educators] crowd sourcing Message-ID: <521F195D.1000401@online.no> Hi, Have included one article that is a bit off topic but I liked it so thought you might too. It's about a voice over artist. Otherwise, one article about a crowdsourcing app that is really neat and one about braille street art. Regards, Lisa MySmartEye app crowdsources vision for people who are visually impairedAn app called MySmartEye is crowdsourcing sight for the visually impaired and YOU can help. The app connects visually impaired users with volunteers who use their sight to help the user connect with the environment around them. The users of MySmartEye follow voice commands and double tap their smartphone to take a photo. The picture is then sent to a volunteer in real time. The volunteers are alerted to the picture by a simple notification and then describe what they see by typing information in a text message-type box. That text is then read back to that visually impaired user. http://www.wxyz.com/dpp/news/mysmarteye-app-crowdsources-vision-for-people-who-are-visually-impaired http://www.zdnet.com/sg/crowdsourcing-app-mysmarteye-helps-visually-impaired-see-7000019883/ http://mysmarteye.starhub.com/ MySmartEye (www.starhub.com/mysmarteye) is an award-winning crowdsourcing application that engages volunteers, family and friends to assist the visually impaired to see. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Li3A3HY2vlw *A visually impaired RAF veteran has presented a painting commemorating Andy Murray's Wimbledon victory to the Scot's grandparents.* Shirley and Roy Erskine, grandparents of tennis legend Andy Murray, were handed the painting, titled 'Andy Murray Serving an Ace at Wimbledon' from 93-year-old Scottish War Blinded member Dorothy Wheatley. http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/arts/visual-arts/blind-artist-paints-andy-murray-wimbledon-picture-1-3063361 Austin Seraphin, 36, lugs his Braille writer down the stairs of his Bella Vista apartment and sets the typewriter-like contraption on a table. The machine's bell softly rings from the impact. His friend Sonia Petruse, 27, says she has a sticker for him, and he grabs at the air in the general direction of her voice until his fingers pinch the Priority Mail label. He rolls it into the writer and types, creating raised dots the size of pinheads, barely visible to the eye. Seraphin hands the now-bumpy sticker back to Petruse for her part of this dual effort: writing down the bumps' translation in the standard sighted alphabet. Like watching invisible ink reveal itself, a message emerges letter by letter as she writes: "Buy silver. Crash J.P. Morgan!" Jackie O sunglasses perched on her blond head, Petruse scribbles "Braille street art" at the bottom of the sticker, along with some arrows, dots and x's, then tosses it into a pile of others bearing messages like "Aaron Swartz died for you" and "Protect Snowden" glimmering in metallic Sharpie. Petruse, a painter, installation artist and social-media manager, will take these stickers with her as she tours galleries for First Friday later that day, slapping them up wherever there's space --- on newspaper honor boxes, street lamps, signs. She'll place them low enough that anyone, blind or sighted, can run his or her hands over the message. The duo started making Braille street art, as they call it, in March. Since then, they've put up roughly 60 embossed stickers around town. Recently, Petruse and the legally blind Seraphin, who can see some light and color but not much else, were jointly nominated for Philadelphia Geek Awards' Visual Artist of the Year, the winner of which will be announced this Saturday at a red-carpet event at the Academy of Natural Sciences. http://www.citypaper.net/article.php?What-s-Braille-street-art-166 Braille Street Art Legally blind local programmer Austin Seraphin created Braille street art with Sonia Petruse back in March, previewing the project during the #NotAtSXSW party in the Drink Philly offices. Each and every sticker is created on Austin's Braille writer, with messages written in both Braille and print and placed around Philadelphia by Petruse. Due to the unique circumstances and the nature of their work, the duo behind Braille street art have been nominated as a team. A unique, beautiful project, the Braille stickers appeared on newspaper boxes and other locations around Philly. Learn more about Austin's work championing accessibility here http://www.phillygeekawards.com/award-category/visual-artist-of-the-year/ Recently, I began chatting with an artist friend of mine . We met when Indy Hall did their Jellyweek event at National Mechanics. She enjoys doing street art, creating bumper stickers and pasting them on public newspaper boxes. I immediately felt attracted to the subversive nature of the art. It didn't take us long to realize that I could put one of these stickers into a good old fashioned Perkins brailler and create braille street art. I would like to think we have done something novel, but not entirely. I found an article about a project in Portland, Oregon. In this case, the message says: "You don't need to be blind to see that the writing is on the wall." Excellent! I've also seen sculptures with braille plaques on them, and they do have a blind garden somewhere around here. Still I can't escape the feeling that we have done something special. We just made these stickers in a few minutes as a totally grass roots operation. ..... By the way, that bastion of truth Wikipedia defines street art as "specifically visual art." Not anymore! http://blog.austinseraphin.com/2013/03/13/braille-street-art/ Blind artist Bruce Horak draws his audience in During each performance of his new Fringe play, Bruce Horak creates a painting of the audience. Then at the end he sells it to the highest bidder. During each performance of his new Fringe play, Bruce Horak creates a painting of the audience. Then at the end he sells it to the highest bidder. Don't expect Robert Bateman-style realism, however. Horak, 39, who lives with just nine per cent vision, is legally blind. His show, opening Tuesday at the Victoria Fringe Theatre Festival, is Assassinating Thomson. Over 75 minutes, Horak paints, talks about painter Tom Thomson (who some believe was murdered) and chats about his own life. A painter as well as an actor/playwright, Horak first became intrigued with Thomson after seeing his iconic painting, Jack Pine --- a haunting image of a lone tree at sunset. http://www.timescolonist.com/news/blind-artist-bruce-horak-draws-his-audience-in-1.599743 Blindness Didn't Keep Voice Over Artist From Success http://digital.vpr.net/post/blindness-didnt-keep-voice-over-artist-success See how voice over artist Pete gustin has overcome being legally blind to make a career for himself http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5_2TGdWk5U From fnugg at online.no Thu Aug 29 10:30:44 2013 From: fnugg at online.no (fnugg at online.no) Date: Thu, 29 Aug 2013 12:30:44 +0200 Subject: [Art_beyond_sight_educators] books, maps, university Message-ID: <521F22D4.2040302@online.no> included links to books that uses swell paper as a media for visual art too and article about creating maps through touch - that is not "for" but "by". tactile map of AdaCamp http://www.flickr.com/photos/lizhenry/8983153545/in/photostream/ Mapping the Smells of New York, Amsterdam and Paris, Block by Block In 2011, Kate McLean , a designer and cartographer, was pretty new to the Scottish city of Edinburgh. As a graduate student studying fine art, she sought to use design to probe people's emotional connections to a place, and had the novel idea of charting the surfaces and textures people encountered throughout the city---in essence, creating a tactile map of her adopted home . http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/artscience/2013/06/mapping-the-smells-of-new-york-amsterdam-and-paris-block-by-block/ Getting a feel for history Blaevoet works for Mississauga-based Tactile Vision Inc., a company specializing in raised printing for special needs. The company has donated a handful of braille programs and maps to be handed out to visitors with a visual impairment. These will be made available to members of the public at no cost. http://www.niagarathisweek.com/community-story/3313345-getting-a-feel-for-history/ Shrewbot Uses Whiskers to Map Its Environment By the end of this process, you can see that Shrewbot has a reasonably good idea of what its environment looks like. And remember, the resulting map (and ability to localize) is achieved purely through touch. Robots like Shrewbot are ideal for exploring and mapping spaces where laser, acoustic, or visual sensors don't work very well, like dark spaces, spaces filled with dust or smoke, or even in turbid water, and future research will investigate how well this technique works at larger scales, with an eye towards practical deployment, and perhaps even an implementation of texture detection with whiskers as well http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/robotics-hardware/shrewbot-whiskered-robot-tslam Technology For Life: How Students With Disabilities Are Attending College At Record Rates Esha Mehta and Bill Casson had unique qualifications in mind when they looked at universities to attend. Both chose the University of Colorado , where Mehta is pursing a bachelors degree in psychology, and Casson is getting a master's degree in computer science. But their decision to come to Boulder wasn't like many others. They weren't lured by mountain sports or football rankings, but by the reputation of the CU disability services office. Both Mehta and Casson are blind. picture text A specialized printer at the Disability Services Office that prints tactile dots like the campus map. A tactile map of campus, with names of buildings in braille. http://kunc.org/post/technology-life-how-students-disabilities-are-attending-college-record-rates 12 Books That Indulge the Senses http://flavorwire.com/406364/12-books-that-indulge-the-senses/view-all Rustling - A Tactile Book For Visually Impaired Kids Something Rustling In Auntie's House> is an unique tactile book. It's specially designed for visually impaired children from 2-6 years old. It tells about a child's exploration in aunt's house in a second person narrative, in order to get children with visual impairment involved in the story by touching. Properly informed tactile images along with poetical texts allow kids to share equal fun with parents, siblings and peers. Born blind children don't use fingers as a tool until they are taught to. encourages them to sense with fingers and get used to the important media - book. http://www.behance.net/gallery/Rustling-A-Tactile-Book-For-Visually-Impaired-Kids/2047321 Touching Emotions --- Tactile Book / Print Tactile book about typography. The type is raised by printing black ink onto 'swell paper' and applying heat. http://jfgd.co.uk/touching-emotions/ Quick Blind Fox --- Illustration / Print Tactile prints to raise awareness of solutions of blind and visually impaired graphic design solutions. The illustration is raised by printing black ink onto 'swell paper' and applying heat. http://jfgd.co.uk/quick-blind-fox/ From fnugg at online.no Thu Aug 29 12:43:50 2013 From: fnugg at online.no (fnugg at online.no) Date: Thu, 29 Aug 2013 14:43:50 +0200 Subject: [Art_beyond_sight_educators] books, museum Message-ID: <521F4206.30402@online.no> Designer Phillipp Meyer has written the first graphic novel for the blind, according to /Wired/ /./ The book, called /Life, /uses a tactile technique inspired by Braille -- characters are represented by circles of raised bumps. He told Wired, "Most of the tactile material that is available for blind people is very information dense. It's always about information and not often about art." http://upr.org/post/book-news-illinois-school-board-restores-perks-being-wallflower A Beautifully Simple Comic Book for the Blind http://www.wired.com/design/2013/06/a-simple-and-beautiful-comic-for-the-blind/?viewall=true http://www.hallo.pm/#life http://www.hallo.pm/life/ http://www.hallo.pm/life/Life.pdf How to Make Human Hearts, Lungs, and Guts Using Only Paper http://www.wired.com/design/2013/06/make-a-human-anatomy-set-from-only-paper/ Interactive Tactile Book http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhKvN71ig4w UAEBBY organises workshop on tactile illustrations for visually-impaired children The UAE Board on Books for Young People (UAEBBY), with the support of Knowledge Without Borders, organised a workshop on the creation of tactile illustrated books that are accessible to visually-impaired children. The workshop took place from April 23 to 27 at Al-Multaqa, in Al-Qasba, Sharjah. Tactile books are written in large print as well as in Braille and include tactile images. They are specifically designed to allow fingertip scanning and allow the reader to perceive the words and images by touch. http://www.ameinfo.com/uaebby-organises-workshop-tactile-illustrations-visually-impaired-339348 Five Little Monkeys Tactile Book This tactile book is based on/Five Little Monkeys Sitting in a Tree/ By Eileen Christelow and is part of the Circle Time Braille Kit: Five Little Monkeys . It is designed be used in conjunction with the Teacher's Guide , as well as the Interactive "M" Book to help young children who are blind or visually impaired to develop emergent literacy skills, including tactile skills, counting to five, prepositions, positional concepts and the letter "m" for beginning readers at the Kindergarten level. http://www.pathstoliteracy.org/strategies/five-little-monkeys-tactile-book http://www.pathstoliteracy.org/sites/default/files/uploaded-files/Five%20Little%20Monkeys%20Teachers%20Guide.pdf Martin Clunes reads tactile book for Living Paintings http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJ1ungH5I78 Thoughtful Touch: Students create tactile books to donate to Helen Keller School http://www.gadsdentimes.com/article/20130223/NEWS/130229917/1162/news01?Title=Thoughtful-Touch-Students-create-tactile-books-to-donate-to-Helen-Keller-School Tactile Book Advancement Group (TBAG) http://www.pathstoliteracy.org/resources/tbag http://www.tactilebooks.org/ A tactile experience at Besser Museum A keenly serious student, Greg Botting of Ionia couldn't help but interject his own observations on Native American culture during a give-and-take exchange Tuesday at the Besser Museum for Northeast Michigan. Presenter Pete Prince of Alpena listened carefully to Botting's comments, nodded his head in agreement and then added his own twist on the subject matter. Other participants in the group also engaged in a lively dialogue with Prince, Dr. Richard Clute and Besser Museum Executive Director Chris Witulski as they handled many 2,000 year-old artifacts passed around for their inspection. http://www.thealpenanews.com/page/content.detail/id/526409/A-tactile-experience-at-Besser-Museum.html?nav=5042 From fnugg at online.no Thu Aug 29 13:02:06 2013 From: fnugg at online.no (fnugg at online.no) Date: Thu, 29 Aug 2013 15:02:06 +0200 Subject: [Art_beyond_sight_educators] John Gardner in Nature, SUNY, MIT Message-ID: <521F464E.8070007@online.no> Deal boosts blind's access to texts excerpt However, whether publishers will take full advantage of the opportunities offered by EPUB 3 to make graphics and equations accessible remains a concern, says John Gardner, a solid-state physicist and founder of ViewPlus Technologies in Corvallis, Oregon. Gardner lost his sight at the age of 48 and has since dedicated his talents to developing assistive software and devices to make scientific content more accessible to the blind. Even if publishers do widely embrace EPUB 3's accessibility features, another big unknown is whether e-readers and other devices will support them. Amazon's Kindle reader, for example, provides access to a vast library, including classics such as /Molecular Biology of the Cell/ (5th edn, Garland Science, 2012), but is "still not fully accessible", says Danielsen. http://www.nature.com/news/deal-boosts-blind-s-access-to-texts-1.13351 SUNY optometry student develops art program for blind adults Shaista Vally, a second-year student at SUNY College of Optometry, has developed the SUNY Blind Art Program, a unique new art workshop for blind and visually impaired adults that will launch this summer at the college's midtown Manhattan campus. Supported by a grant from the Optometric Center of New York, the Blind Art Program is a four-session tactile art workshop that will be conducted on Saturdays in the college's new Center for Student Life and Learning. The course is designed specifically for adults with no previous art experience. Many of Vally's fellow SUNY students will act as artist assistants during the workshop to help participants with their projects. http://optometrytimes.modernmedicine.com/node/371599 Professor's work allows blind to 'see' photographs Thanks to a program created by one of her coworkers, Terri Hedgpeth is one step closer to being able to enjoy family pictures or scenic photographs. Hedgpeth, along with an estimated more than six million other blind adults in the U.S., could benefit from the tactile photographs created by Baoxin Li, a professor at ASU's Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering. The photographs, which are printed on a special paper, have raised edges that allow the blind to feel the shapes and textures pictured. http://www.statepress.com/2013/07/09/professors-work-allows-blind-to-see-photographs/ Sensing systems for robots could help blind navigate Other new navigation systems for the blind include MIT's EyeRing , which uses a small camera worn as a ring that can be pointed at objects to "see" or "hear" more information about it. The ring takes a picture or a video that is then sent wirelessly to a mobile phone, where software analyzes the content and reads out an answer. http://www.zdnet.com/blog/emergingtech/sensing-systems-for-robots-could-help-blind-navigate/3258 EYERING A FINGER-WORN VISUAL ASSISTANT http://fluid.media.mit.edu/people/suranga/current/eyering.html From fnugg at online.no Thu Aug 29 13:20:59 2013 From: fnugg at online.no (fnugg at online.no) Date: Thu, 29 Aug 2013 15:20:59 +0200 Subject: [Art_beyond_sight_educators] Saint Louis Science Center, TV Message-ID: <521F4ABB.3090202@online.no> Science Center sets shows for visually impaired The Saint Louis Science Center presents a new star show designed specifically for children who are blind or have low vision. "Feeling the Stars," adapted from the existing show "The Little Star That Could", gives individuals with visual impairment an accessible and immersive experience in the James S. McDonnell Planetarium. http://www.theintelligencer.com/local_news/article_b1766a24-e7f0-11e2-b98a-001a4bcf887a.html bit off subject but very interesting This Glove Could Help Deaf-Blind People Communicate With Anyone, Anywhere http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/06/this-glove-could-help-deaf-blind-people-communicate-with-anyone-anywhere/277240/ Scientist Creates Tactile Photographs So the Blind Can 'See' by Touch http://www.gizmodo.in/science/Scientist-Creates-Tactile-Photographs-So-the-Blind-Can-See-by-Touch/articleshow/20697937.cms TV allows Blind to feel objects on screen[video] Japanese broadcasting company NHK is planning to implement a TV service that allows its viewers to touch virtual objects on the screen. In line with this, the company is developing a tactile system that applies stimuli to five points on one finger. The system can help people feel virtual objects through tactile or kinesthetic sense allows a person to feel the 3D shape or 2D graph of an object on the screen through his finger. http://www.psfk.com/2013/06/tactile-tv-screen-touch-objects.html From fnugg at online.no Sun Sep 29 05:25:18 2013 From: fnugg at online.no (fnugg at online.no) Date: Sun, 29 Sep 2013 07:25:18 +0200 Subject: [Art_beyond_sight_educators] The Touch of Genius Prize for Innovation 2013 Message-ID: <5247B9BE.6050709@online.no> Touch of Genius Prize for Innovation The Touch of Genius Prize for Innovation The Touch of Genius Prize for Innovation was developed to inspire an innovator to continue the promotion of braille literacy for blind and deafblind people worldwide. The Prize $20,000 will be granted for professional software & apps, educational software and apps, gaming software or apps that promote tactile and braille learning, and braille or tactile-related hardware. What type of innovation would inspire even Louis Braille himself? What type of innovation would inspire even Louis Braille himself? Whatever your idea - whether a tactile-based technology project, a viable braille teaching software, a way to inspire pre-school braille learners through tactile hardware, or braille hardware for the community - we want to hear from you. Fostering Innovation The Touch of Genius Prize for Innovation has attracted innovators from all over the world in the fields of education, technology, engineering, tactile graphics, and general literacy. This is the only prize to foster and reward innovation and offers a direct and compelling incentive for researchers, teachers and the like to support literacy efforts for blind people. Click here to view past award winners. The Touch of Genius Prize for Innovation is provided through support from The Gibney Family Foundation. The Gibney Family Foundation supports non-profit organizations that are dedicated to assisting the blind and those who are otherwise challenged. http://www.nbp.org/ic/nbp/programs/tog/tog_prize.html From fnugg at online.no Sun Sep 29 05:46:19 2013 From: fnugg at online.no (fnugg at online.no) Date: Sun, 29 Sep 2013 07:46:19 +0200 Subject: [Art_beyond_sight_educators] Maps, mapping Message-ID: <5247BEAB.3080908@online.no> Calgary company makes perfect pitch for top prize at tech showcase Invici (pronounced 'en VEE cee') actually sprang from Hagedorn's work on his Master's Degree in Geography at the University of Calgary; he learned how difficult it was for some to use maps, and so he began to explore other ways to represent geographic features and information. Invici is an acronym for 'non-visual cartography'. Now Hagedorn plans to change the lives of blind and visually impaired people with a multi-touch computer interface that lets them interact with on-screen information in totally new ways. http://www.calgaryherald.com/health/Calgary+company+makes+perfect+pitch+prize+tech+showcase/8923266/story.html Mapping a room in a snap Blind people sometimes develop the amazing ability to perceive the contours of the room they're in based only on auditory information. Bats and dolphins use the same echolocation technique for navigating in their environment. At EPFL, a team from the Audiovisual Communications Laboratory (LCAV), under the direction of Professor Martin Vetterli, has developed a computer algorithm that can accomplish this from a sound that's picked up by four microphones. Their experiment is being published this week in the /Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences/ (/PNAS/). "Our software can build a 3D map of a simple, convex room with a precision of a few millimeters," explains PhD student Ivan Dokmanic'. Randomly placed microphones As incredible as it may seem, the microphones don't need to be carefully placed. "Each microphone picks up the direct sound from the source, as well as the echoes arriving from various walls," Dokmanic' continues. "The algorithm then compares the signal from each microphone. The infinitesimal lags that appear in the signals are used to calculate not only the distance between the microphones, but also the distance from each microphone to the walls and the sound source." http://esciencenews.com/articles/2013/06/17/mapping.a.room.a.snap Echolocating app will let you map a room with sound Bats, dolphins and even some blind people use echoes to create a mental 3D map of their environment and where they are in it. A smartphone's chirp could soon let us do the same. Ivan Dokmanic and colleagues at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) in Lausanne have developed a system capable of reconstructing the shape of a room -- and where you are in it - using echoes. What's key to the trick, say human echolocators , is sensing the strong early reflections off the walls, rather than the noisy, confusing mishmash of late-arriving, weaker echoes. Hoping to computerise this process of 3D visualisation, the EPFL team has developed a system capable of reconstructing the shape of a room using these "first order" echoes. To do this, the researchers wrote an echo-sorting algorithm which can discriminate between the first and later echoes. To test their plan they set up a loudspeaker and five microphones in Lausanne cathedral. The speaker briefly emitted an audible chirp - sweeping from 200 hertz to 10 kilohertz - and the reflections were analysed to successfully reveal the cathedral's 3D shape and the location of the sound source (/PNAS/, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1221464110). http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn23709-echolocating-app-will-let-you-map-a-room-with-sound.html#.Uke7Ur44WRs Computer algorithm uses echoes to create 'virtual' room maps A new computer algorithm that can give humans the ability to map their environments with sound could lead to an app to aid blind people, Swiss researchers say. Some animals such as bats, whales and dolphins use echolocation -- emitting a sound and listening to the echo -- to create a mental map of their environment, and some blind people have learned to use finger snaps or tongue clicks to create a rough equivalent, they said. Read more: http://www.upi.com/Science_News/Technology/2013/06/18/Computer-algorithm-uses-echoes-to-create-virtual-room-maps/UPI-50171371594122/#ixzz2gG00IBwQ http://www.upi.com/Science_News/Technology/2013/06/18/Computer-algorithm-uses-echoes-to-create-virtual-room-maps/UPI-50171371594122/ A New Echolocation Algorithm Can Map Spaces Based on Sound Alone http://gizmodo.com/a-new-echolocation-algorithm-can-map-spaces-based-on-so-561634511 How software works out room shape http://www.iol.co.za/scitech/technology/software/how-software-works-out-room-shape-1.1537948#.Uke8Rr44WRs Blind Maps: Braille Navigation System Concept A couple of years ago we learned about Plan.B , a concept for a map for blind people. The idea behind that system was sound, but I thought the execution left much to be desired. I like this other concept called Blind Maps much more. It's supposed to be a Bluetooth add-on for the iPhone that provides Braille-like turn-by-turn navigation. http://technabob.com/blog/2013/02/22/blind-maps-braille-navigation/ Plan.B Concept: a Map for the Blind I'm amazed every time I see blind people walking around on their own using only a cane to guide them. But what if there was also a way to make the sight-impaired "see" the surrounding geography? That's the idea behind Robert Richter's concept device, plan.b. Plan.b is a digital device that applies a simplified version of the Braille system, making tactile versions of maps. http://technabob.com/blog/2010/11/02/plan-b-concept-map-for-the-blind/ Blind Maps http://www.industrialdesignserved.com/gallery/Blind-Maps/2951161 Autonomous Vehicle Technology Could Help Blind to Navigate http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/1476013 Blind Robot Gets Around http://inventorspot.com/articles/blind_robot_gets_around Biologists at LMU have demonstrated that people can acquire the capacity for echolocation , although it does take time and work. As blind people can testify, we humans can hear more than one might think. The blind learn to navigate using as guides the echoes of sounds they themselves make. This enables them to sense the locations of walls and corners, for instance: by tapping the ground with a stick or making clicking sounds with the tongue, and analyzing the echoes reflected from nearby surfaces, a blind person can map the relative positions of objects in the vicinity. LMU biologists led by Professor Lutz Wiegrebe of the Department of Neurobiology (Faculty of Biology) have now shown that sighted people can also learn to echolocate objects in space, as they report in the biology journal /Proceedings of the Royal Society B/. Wiegrebe and his team have developed a method for training people in the art of echolocation. With the help of a headset consisting of a microphone and a pair of earphones, experimental subjects can generate patterns of echoes that simulate acoustic reflections in a virtual space: the participants emit vocal clicks, which are picked up by the microphone and passed to a processor that calculates the echoes of a virtual space within milliseconds. The resulting echoes are then played back through the earphones. The trick is that the transformation applied to the input depends on the subject's position in virtual space. So the subject can learn to associate the artificial "echoes" with the distribution of sound-reflecting surfaces in the simulated space. *A dormant skill* "After several weeks of training, the participants in the experiment were able to locate the sources of echoes pretty well. This shows that anyone can learn to analyze the echoes of acoustic signals to obtain information about the space around him. Sighted people have this ability too; they simply don't need to use it in everyday situations," says Lutz Wiegrebe. "Instead, the auditory system actively suppresses the perception of echoes, allowing us to focus on the primary acoustic signal, independently of how the space alters the signals on its way to the ears." This makes it easier to distinguish between different sound sources, allowing us to concentrate on what someone is saying to us, for example. The new study shows, however, that it is possible to functionally invert this suppression of echoes, and learn to use the information they contain for echolocation instead. In the absence of visual information, we and most other mammals find navigation difficult. So it is not surprising that evolution has endowed many mammalian species with the ability to "read" reflected sound waves. Bats and toothed whales, which orient themselves in space primarily by means of acoustic signals, are the best known. http://phys.org/wire-news/139222561/echolocation-playing-it-by-ear.html Smartphone-like device that maps surroundings to aid blind A smartphone-like gadget that senses an entire room's features, builds a virtual map of it and communicates this to the user may one day replace the humble white cane to help blind sense their surroundings. Using special multi-sensor array technology, the Indoor Navigation Project will enable blind to sense their surroundings beyond the cane's tip, researchers said. Project leader Dr Iain Murray from the Curtin University said the gadget would resemble a smartphone and would sense an entire room's features, build a virtual map of it and communicate this to the user. http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/smartphone-like-device-that-maps-surroundings-to-aid-blind-113072800411_1.html From fnugg at online.no Sun Sep 29 06:20:59 2013 From: fnugg at online.no (fnugg at online.no) Date: Sun, 29 Sep 2013 08:20:59 +0200 Subject: [Art_beyond_sight_educators] Visit The Willoughby Art Gallery Message-ID: <5247C6CB.1090409@online.no> Legally blind 13-year-old displays 'artwork beyond her years' during Ypsilanti Heritage Festival Visitors of the Heritage Festival will be able to see one-of-a-kind artwork by a 13-year-old resident of Belleville who paints from her heart. *Lauren Mills* set up a booth to display her artwork Friday in the*Arts and Crafts in Riverside Park *at the *Ypsilanti Heritage Festival *. Lauren was diagnosed at birth with Nystagmus , a condition of involuntary eye movement, and is considered legally blind, although she is able to make out objects that are close. http://www.annarbor.com/news/ypsilanti/13-year-old-overcomes-eye-condition-and-displays-artwork-in-heritage-festival/ New art exhibition will be accessible to blind audiences New technology will describe an art exhibition at the Kilkenny Arts Festival to visually impaired members of the public. THE KILKENNY ARTS Festival, which launched this week, will feature the first Irish art exhibition accessible to those with a visual impairment. Using a device called a Discovery Pen the Art Makes Children Powerful exhibition, by renowned visual artist Bob and Roberta Smith, will allow blind and visually impaired audience members to explore the works. ...The exhibition runs in Kilkenny's Butler Gallery from 10 August until 6 October and the executive director of Arts and Disability Ireland (ADI) Padr?ig Naughton says that the technology will prove a breakthrough for those with visual impairments. http://www.thejournal.ie/bob-and-roberta-smith-kilkenny-show-will-be-accessible-to-blind-people-1027913-Aug2013/ Formerly blind Canadian senior is 'like a child' in the 'beautiful' world http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/blind-senior-talks-beautiful-world-article-1.1415626?localLinksEnabled=false Artist to auction off signed piece at show; proceeds to go to schools The proceeds from this auction will benefit the art department at Jersey City's Concordia Learning Center at St. Joseph's School for the Blind, where Coklyat is a teacher. Coklyat, who teaches art to blind, visually impaired and multiply disabled students, is legally blind herself. http://www.nj.com/jjournal-news/index.ssf/2013/08/artist_to_auction_off_signed_p.html Aug. 2-18: 'Art in Touch' Exhibit on Town Center Drive Art exhibits typically showcase visual components, but the "Art in Touch" traveling exhibit now on display in Santa Clarita features tactile and interactive art that's meant to be touched. From Friday, August 2, through Sunday, August 18, the exhibit will be open to the public on Town Center Drive in Space 125 during the following times: Fridays from 4:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., Saturdays from 4:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., and Sundays from noon to 6:00 p.m. "Art in Touch" features 15 works of art and was organized by the Arts Council of Kern. It was recently on display at Taft College and at the Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired in Bakersfield. The exhibit was designed to appeal to all ages, with an emphasis on the blind and visually impaired, as pieces were meant to be touched and include artist interviews for an additional audio component of the exhibit. http://scvnews.com/2013/08/02/aug-2-18-art-in-touch-exhibit-on-town-center-drive/ Willoughby Gallery hosts 'Sentience' featuring art by Jeff Casto Artist Jeff Casto doesn't consider himself a hoarder, but he knows many people may feel differently. That's because he uses found and recycled materials that he collects, catalogs and stores away in boxes - given by friends or purchased at thrift stores - to create his two and three-dimensional artworks for his upcoming art show, 'Sentience,' at The Willoughby Art Gallery at Clovernook Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired in North College Hill. http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20130826/NEWS01/308260050/Willoughby-Gallery-hosts-Sentience-featuring-art-by-Jeff-Casto?nclick_check=1 Visit The Willoughby Art Gallery Clovernook Center's recreational services offer weekly art classes including ceramics, painting and copper enameling. Our classes are open to anyone who is blind or visually impaired, regardless of previous art experience. Our classes enable individuals to express themselves artistically, share personal insights and join together with others who face similar challenges. Participants in our programs are part of a nurturing, therapeutic environment where they can learn, create and most importantly -- have fun. Clovernook Center's artists have been featured in exhibitions across the country and we're now proud to host our own gallery. The Willoughby Art Gallery, housed in Cincinnati's Procter Center, features art by persons who are blind or visually impaired and art that is tactile, allowing greater access to individuals who are blind or visually impaired. The artwork on display in The Willoughby Art Gallery is available for purchase. In addition, Clovernook Center enjoys partnerships with other arts organizations and works with museums to make them more friendly for people with visual impairments. http://www.clovernook.org/visit_gallery.php From fnugg at online.no Sun Sep 29 06:43:54 2013 From: fnugg at online.no (fnugg at online.no) Date: Sun, 29 Sep 2013 08:43:54 +0200 Subject: [Art_beyond_sight_educators] opera, quilter, Brambitt, workshop Message-ID: <5247CC2A.3030908@online.no> Blind artist Bruce Horak draws his audience in http://www.timescolonist.com/entertainment/blind-artist-bruce-horak-draws-his-audience-in-1.599743 'The Blind' at the Lincoln Center Festival: Opera alters perception You take the elevator ten flights up to the Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse. You are instructed to cover your eyes with a blindfold and stretch out your arms to be guided to your seat. The vulnerability sets in immediately as the sound of rushing wind, the feeling of chilled air and floral scents waft around you, disconnecting you from any sense of the theater or the outside world. Lera Auerbach?s opera "The Blind" at the Lincoln Center Festival strips the art form of its conventions ? to evocative, thought-provoking effect. http://www.nj.com/entertainment/music/index.ssf/2013/07/the_blind_at_the_lincoln_center_festival_opera_alters_perception.html Blind Quilter Exhibits At Library http://www.opb.org/news/article/blind-quilter-exhibits-at-library/ Blind photography: Promoting a non-retinal art culture Rahul Gorad, 21, touches the old-styled wooden door and a chair next to it in the right corner of a room. He takes five steps back and feels the warmth of the sun rays filtering through the glass window. Then he takes out his camera, and confidently aims at his subject, presses the trigger and captures the image. Nothing unusual about this? What is extraordinary is that Gorad is a blind photographer. For many, it is surprising and intriguing to see a blind man flawlessly handle a camera and capture a beautiful image, trashing perceptions that only those with sight can be part of the world of photography. Unknown to many, Gorad is among the growing number of visually impaired in India who are fascinated by a camera and the magic it can create and capture. The concept of blind photography is known worldwide, but in India it was introduced by Mumbai-based Partho Bhowmick, who, under his 'Blind With Camera' project, has so far trained 500 blind people. http://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/blind-photography-promoting-a-non-retinal-art-culture-113070700051_1.html http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-07-08/people/40442717_1_photography-art-culture-picture Best of Show winner overcomes blindness through art http://www.ellwoodcityledger.com/news/local_news/best-of-show-winner-overcomes-blindness-through-art/article_eccbf8bb-03b8-54fd-ae21-bf2679ae4067.html Internationally Known Blind Artist Speaks at VT Carilion School of Medicine - John Bramblitt, an accomplished painter who lost his vision as a young man, visited the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine this week to share his inspirational story about how art not only helped him cope, but also enabled him to discover a whole new way of living. http://theroanokestar.com/2013/06/26/internationally-known-blind-artist-speaks-at-vt-carilion-school-of-medicine/ Breaking Down Barriers: Two art educators aim to dispel the notion that the blind can't create visual arts Art educators Kirsten Ervin and Tirzah DeCaria are a presence in the local disability community, known for their longtime dedication to creating high quality art-making opportunities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, most notably through the Everyone an Artist studio and art market in Lawrenceville. http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/news/health/breaking-down-barriers-two-art-educators-aim-to-dispel-the-notion-that-the-blind-cant-create-visual-arts-694626/ From fnugg at online.no Sun Sep 29 06:51:12 2013 From: fnugg at online.no (fnugg at online.no) Date: Sun, 29 Sep 2013 08:51:12 +0200 Subject: [Art_beyond_sight_educators] Touch Art on Pittsburgh CBS Radio Tomorrow, Sunday 9/29 at 7 a.m.! Message-ID: <5247CDE0.1090905@online.no> Touch Art on Pittsburgh CBS Radio Tomorrow, Sunday 9/29 at 7 a.m.! Posted on September 28, 2013 by kirstenervin Touch Art: Making Art with the PIttsburgh's Blind Community is on the Radio tomorrow! Listen to an interview with myself, Kirsten Ervin, Ann Lapidus and Joyce Driben about our project! The show is on Sunday, September 29, 2013 at 7 a.m. on the following Pittsburgh CBS stations. KDKA-FM- 93.7 -- (Sports) WBZZ -- 100.7 -- (Adult Top 40) WDSY -- 107.9 -- (Country) http://touchartblog.wordpress.com/ From fnugg at online.no Sun Sep 29 07:45:02 2013 From: fnugg at online.no (fnugg at online.no) Date: Sun, 29 Sep 2013 09:45:02 +0200 Subject: [Art_beyond_sight_educators] Touch Art blog, Legally blind photographer Angela Geis Message-ID: <5247DA7E.6060406@online.no> Touch Art With funding from the Sprout Fund, the Touch Art project is able to open new art making possibilities for people who are blind or visually impaired in Allegheny County. This traditionally under-served audience will have access to professional art making resources and engaging workshops with specially trained teaching artists. Touch Art's six workshops will focus on tactile and three-dimensional art forms such as making memory vessels from fiber, hollow beads made from precious metal clay, hand building clay sound sculptures, and handmade paper. Touch Art creates an inclusive art-making space to develop the untapped creativity and art skills of an audience that has historically lacked access to art making. The project also offers educational opportunities to local artist-teachers who will receive studio-specific accessibility training. This process will be documented on film and shared with a larger audience of educators in a seminar for artists and educators. Through this educational seminar and public display of work, Touch Art hopes to expand the perceptions of Pittsburgh art-viewers throughout the city. Working with artists who have visual impairments, art educators who want to make their classes more accessible and art audiences at large, Touch Art hopes to expand the perceptions of Pittsburgh art-viewers throughout the city, not only about aesthetics, but also about the capabilities of people who are blind or visually impaired. http://touchartblog.wordpress.com/about/ Alt-week 7.27.13: The blind pixel-painter, redirecting the sun and Saturn's view of Earth http://www.engadget.com/2013/07/27/alt-week-7-27-13-the-blind-pixel-painter/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget 20/20 Blindsight: Powerful New Book Illuminates the Accomplishments & Challenges of Blind Artists http://www.sbwire.com/press-releases/2020-blindsight-powerful-new-book-illuminates-the-accomplishments-challenges-of-blind-artists-290394.htm Bits 'n' Pieces: Blind painter's watercolor vision rewarded Vancouver watercolor artist Susan Gustafson paints the world as she sees it, as her sight shrinks and dims. Gustafson was diagnosed more than 30 years ago with retinitis pigmentosa, a progressive, degenerative genetic eye condition that squeezes her visual field into a tiny frame. "So whatever I see is always a composition," she said. "My mother and brother are also blind, save for a few inches of light." She will be honored with the Shared Visions Artists Award by the Marshall B. Ketchum University in California on Sept. 19 as part of its annual gala. Gustafson submitted her watercolor "Tulip Time" to the university's annual art show for visually impaired artists, earning Best of Show. http://www.columbian.com/news/2013/aug/30/blind-painters-watercolor-vision-awarded/ Blind RAF veteran presents Andy Murray painting to tennis star's grandparents Blind Tasmanian artist James Newton has recreated some of the world's famous artworks and pop culture icons using sock monkeys. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-15/artworks-and-pop-culture-icons-recreated-with-sock-monkeys/4957942 Our Colorado News : Artist Ann Jennings describes her new tactile art installation to celebrants at CCB's 25 birthday party as they feel their way around it http://celebrated-her-25th-birthday.rsspump.com/?key=20130909002537.dkny-celebrating-25th-birthday video and article Legally blind photographer Angela Geis shares giftPhotography is a visual art that often requires strong eye focus, but for photographers who are legally blind, like Angela Geis, it's a unique gift. She chooses black and white photography of cemeteries and bleak landscapes not for depth, history and emotions, but because they're more artistic. "It was amazing how people took time back in the day to spend time on the architectural," said Geis."It is just easier for me to take still-life things and it's always been an interest of mine." Angela Geis has been taking pictures since she was a child. "Then it wasn't until I took an Art of Psychology at NEU and part of the course work was to contact a professional artist in a field of our interest and so, sense photography kind of interests me." http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/disability_issues&id=9257328 Angela Geis http://visionsinthedark.net/Visons_In_the_Dark/Welcome.html From fnugg at online.no Sun Sep 29 08:22:55 2013 From: fnugg at online.no (fnugg at online.no) Date: Sun, 29 Sep 2013 10:22:55 +0200 Subject: [Art_beyond_sight_educators] Chris Friel photographer, Message-ID: <5247E35F.7000802@online.no> Muskegon native helps create ArtPrize's first blind and deaf friendly exhibit Spoken-word storytellers and poets have come together to form what they are calling the first blind and deaf friendly exhibit at Grand Rapids' ArtPrize. The group refers to itself as The Diatribe. Gregory Foster II, originally from Muskegon, is one of the creators of this unique exhibit, "Word." Foster II, who used to deliver the newspaper for the Muskegon Chronicle when he was younger, also was homecoming king at Muskegon High School. The exhibit is showing at the B.O.B. in downtown Grand Rapids at 20 Monroe Ave NW starting today, Sept. 18 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. The exhibit will then show on Mondays and Wednesdays throughout the weeks of ArtPrize, Foster said http://www.mlive.com/artprize/index.ssf/2013/09/muskegon_native_helps_create_artprizes_first_blind_and_deaf_friendly_exhibit.html Braille Feeling art: ArtPrize entry designed for the blind http://www.wzzm13.com/news/article/269007/14/Feeling-art-ArtPrize-entry-designed-for-the-blind Heart trouble inspires artist's latest collection, 'Love Lifted Me' The Willoughby Art Gallery at Clovernook Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired in North College Hill will host a gallery opening featuring the work of artist Barbara Petersen, an artist who is visually impaired, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 4. 'Love Lifted Me' is a collection of acrylic paintings, several large ceramic pieces and ceramic jewelry. The name is inspired by an old hymn and represents Petersen's belief that God has lifted her from struggle. http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20130924/NEWS01/309240060/Heart-trouble-inspires-artist-s-latest-collection-Love-Lifted-Me- http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2013/06/24/art-from-visually-impaired-is-showcased/ Art From Visually Impaired Is Showcased An exhibition of art from visually impaired artists is underway in Philadelphia. You can view and buy works from more than 40-legally blind adult artists at the Form in Art exhibition at Wills Eye Institute Deaf and blind students display artwork at Tohono Chul http://azstarnet.com/news/local/northwest/deaf-and-blind-students-display-artwork-at-tohono-chul/article_37279268-1206-59a7-b8cf-e34eaa96d7ca.html Blind Art: An Uncle's Painting For His Nephew Will Make You Cry This week Redditor unholysh*t brought the internet to tears after sharing an artwork made by his father accompanied by the caption: "My dad painted this for my 7 year old cousin. The little guy has been blind since birth. " http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/29/brail-painting-an-uncle-artwork-for-his-blind-nephew-will-make-you-cry-photos_n_3348311.html Catherine J.H. Miller at Jack London Bar *CATHERINE J. H. MILLER, "A SOMEWHAT SECRET PLACE: DISABILITY AND ART" * /6-7 p.m. Tuesday Jack London Bar in the Rialto Poolroom / Miller, a Portland native and legally blind artist who has spent the last three years researching ways to make the fine arts more accessible for people with disabilities, will read from the manuscript of her new book. http://www.oregonlive.com/art/index.ssf/2013/06/catherine_jh_miller_at_jack_lo.html Blind artist's vision extends to local scrap metal sites Rick Crooks' interest in art started innocently enough. He made his mother a metal sculpture -- a Springer spaniel -- out of metal coil springs from a car. Since that day 12 years ago, he has made 1,088 pieces of folk art. "It's all recycled material," said the owner of Old Man from the Mountain. http://www.thisweeknews.com/content/stories/germanvillage/news/2013/05/06/gartenmarkt-jazz-and-juleps-blind-artists-vision-extends-to-local-scrap-metal-sites.html The Messy Magic of Stephen Lapthisophon, Oak Cliff's Legally Blind Artist-Professor-Poet At one point or another, it happens to all of us: We look at art and we just don't "see it." For Stephen Lapthisophon, artist and art history professor at the University of Texas at Arlington, it's these moments he enjoys most. "There are works of art that I love that I've been looking at for many, many years and I'm not sure I completely grasp everything that's going on," Lapthisophon says. Lapthisophon, who is legally blind, holds court tonight at the Dallas Contemporary, the second North Texas professor to speak in the gallery's new DC University lecture series. He talks in a mix of tangents and circles, making lots of sense and blowing up that sense at the same time. There's a messiness to it, but if you believe Lapthisophon, we need more messiness in our lives. "I think that we return to good and interesting pieces of art because they baffle us," he says. "We return to things for the mystery of things." http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/mixmaster/2013/03/the_messy_magic_of_stephen_lap.php Art auctioned sight unseen We are conditioned not to touch works of art, only to look at them. But for people who are visually impaired, seeing isn't believing --- touching and feeling are. That's the idea behind Art in the Dark, a program of the San Antonio Lighthouse for the Blind. The nonprofit has worked with the blind community in San Antonio for more than 80 years. At the third Art in the Dark on Thursday at the Witte Museum , 47 artists donated pieces to be auctioned sight unseen. The works, predominantly ceramics, were covered by a cloth for most of the night. People could only touch the pieces to figure out if they wanted to bid on them. http://www.mysanantonio.com/life/article/Art-auctioned-sight-unseen-4601268.php Designer Creates the World's First Comic for the Blind http://www.care2.com/causes/designer-creates-the-worlds-first-comic-for-the-blind.html An Art History & Art Making Course for Blind Adults at the Philadelphia Museum of Art http://dsq-sds.org/article/view/3740/3275 chris friel ABOUT chris friel is a british colour blind painter who bought a camera in 2006 and has not painted since. he has been shortlisted for the sunday times landscape photographer of the year for the last 4 years, and won a judge's choice award in 2011. his images have been exhibited in the south bank centre, on the santiago subway in chile, and projected behind the london sinfonietta in the royal festival hall. http://www.chrisfriel.co.uk/about#h796c91f4