From dandrews920 at comcast.net Sun Jan 12 15:19:53 2025 From: dandrews920 at comcast.net (David Andrews) Date: Sun, 12 Jan 2025 09:19:53 -0600 Subject: [Artists-Making-Art] The Quest to Create the Most Accessible Museum in the World -- The refreshed museum of the American Printing House for the Blind in Louisville, Kentucky, is slated to open in 2026 with a novel invitation to visitors: please touch. Message-ID: > >Original >Source > >Travel >InspirationArt >+ Culture > >By M. Leona Godin > > > > ? January 03, 2025 > > > >The Quest to Create the Most Accessible Museum in the World > > > > > > > > >The refreshed museum of the American Printing >House for the Blind in Louisville, Kentucky, is >slated to open in 2026 with a novel invitation to visitors: please touch. > > > > > > > >Woman in orange shirt touches large incense burner on tabletop, > > >A diverse team of blind and low-vision >prototypers worked with >Solid >Light, the exhibit design firm that is helping >the Dot Experience set new standards in museum accessibility. > >Courtesy of the American Printing House for the Blind > >The first time I ever touched a historical >artifact was in the Egyptian wing of the >Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. >Running my fingers over the ancient >hieroglyphics carved into the sarcophagus felt >transgressive and delicious. A security guard >had given only me permission, and my sighted >partner observed that other visitors watched >with a mixture of fascination and envy. While >many museums now offer ???touch tours??? for >blind visitors, which may include opportunities >to interact with art and artifacts using 3D >models or tactile images, these typically offer >access to only a tiny fraction of a museum???s >collections and occur only occasionally. For >most cultural institutions, accessibility remains an afterthought. > >Enter the Dot >Experience: the forthcoming, completely >redesigned, and expanded museum of the >American Printing House >for the Blind (APH) in Louisville, Kentucky, >which aims to become the most accessible museum >in the world. Slated to open in 2026, the Dot >Experience will chronicle APH???s long history >and introduce visitors to the struggles and >successes of historic and contemporary blind >people through the excitement of an attraction, >the behind-the-scenes insight of a factory tour, >and the deep knowledge of an educational center. >At its heart is a commitment to inclusivity, >inviting visitors to rethink perceptions and >biases regarding blindness and to help reimagine a more equitable world. > >The Dot Experience is named for Louis >Braille???s revolutionary tactile reading and >writing system, a fitting tribute from an >organization that has been manufacturing Braille >books and accessibility tools since 1858. The >blend of history and modern innovation at APH >extends to the Dot Experience, where the >first-person accounts of everyday blind >people??students, artists, advocates, >innovators?intersect withh those of historic and >iconic blind figures. Among its artifacts are an >extremely rare copy of Braille???s 1829 book >that introduced his tactile reading system, a >piano that Stevie Wonder played at the Michigan >School for the Blind, and Helen Keller???s personal desk and Bible. > >One reason most museums maintain a strict ???do >not touch??? policy is to preserve artifacts; >frequent handling accelerates wear and >degradation. For blind visitors, this can feel alienating. > >One reason most museums maintain a strict ???do >not touch??? policy is to preserve artifacts; >frequent handling accelerates wear and >degradation. For blind visitors, this can feel >alienating?a barrier to cconnecting with the >history and culture behind those glass cases. >The Dot Experience addresses this challenge by >creating accessible, multisensory experiences, >such as media pods and 3D replicas, throughout the museum. > >???In most museums, if a curator were designing >a tour for blind visitors, they might select two >or three objects to replicate out of an entire >gallery,??? says Jo Haas, vice president for >museum advancement. At the Dot Experience, all >exhibits in the 28,000-square-foot museum will >feature a tactile component?whether reeplicas or sturdier originals. > >This ethos of inclusivity extends to every step >of the design process. A diverse team of blind >and low-vision prototypers offers feedback to >Solid >Light, the exhibit design firm that is helping >the Dot Experience set new standards in museum >accessibility. When prototypers tested a replica >of Helen Keller???s silver scroll holder?a gift >from Indiaa?it was initially mounted flat. This >made it difficult to feel its full dimensions. >At their suggestion, the design team remounted >it with pins, enabling visitors to put their >hands all the way around it. Similarly, the >scroll???s engraved text was found to be too >small to be appreciated by touch, so the replica >was reimagined with embossed characters instead. >In this iterative process, everyone involved is >learning the complexities of creating an inclusive multisensory experience. > >Inclusive design at the Dot Experience doesn't >stop at 3D replicas. From tactile maps and >Braille wall text to ASL interpretation, audio >guides, and wheelchair-friendly pathways, the >museum is shaping what a truly inclusive >cultural space can be. ???What???s >groundbreaking,??? Haas says, ???isn???t just >the use of replicas?it????s that every printed >sign has a Braille companion piece, right there >alongside it. It allows you to come in and have >autonomy in what you're interested in >exploring.??? This autonomy is rare and >delightful, especially for blind visitors like >me who have often been limited to a few select objects in galleries. > >Access isn't just about compliance. When >prioritized, it can inspire creativity and >enhance the experience for all museumgoers. As >those onlookers in the Egyptian gallery at the >Met suggest, blind visitors won't be the only >ones who will enjoy interacting with the many 3D >models. ???Even if you can see it, you can???t >touch it,??? Haas says. And that???s the >brilliance of the Dot Experience: what begins as >access for one group often benefits everyone. >Think of curb cuts, originally designed for >wheelchair users but now essential for strollers >and suitcases. Or audio-described films, created >for blind audiences but enjoyed by professional drivers and multitaskers. > >By being born accessible, the Dot Experience is >modeling a future where museums embrace >multimodal and multisensory design as well as >diverse and inclusive programming. In advance of >its opening in 2026, Haas and others at the Dot >Experience plan extensive outreach in the >Louisville community and beyond. ???Part of the >work that we will also do in 2025 is really >begin to expand the awareness that people have >about this project,??? Haas tells me. What they >are learning and demonstrating through this >process is ???not just about museum things.??? >Cultural, entertainment, and educational centers >alike can benefit from the approach the Dot >Experience is taking toward accessibility and >inclusive design. Reflecting on the potential >influence of the museum, Haas's enthusiasm feels >galvanizing: ???Wouldn???t it be amazing if we >actually spurred a change? Or an update in policy???? > >M. Leona Godin > >M. Leona Godin is the author of There Plant >Eyes: A Personal and Cultural History of >Blindness and the founder of Aromatica Poetica, >an arts and culture laboratory for the >advancement of smell and taste. She creates >multisensory performance journeys that explore >the rich potentials of synesthesia and >disability aesthetics, and she is a curatorial >researcher for the forthcoming Museum of the >Blind People's Movement. Her writing has >appeared in such venues as The New York Times, O >Magazine, Literary Hub, and ARTnews. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: