[MD-Sligo] FW: [tech-vi Announce List] American Printing House for the Blind breaks ground on $55 million museum expansion in Louisville

Fri Jun 2 15:21:52 UTC 2023

From: tech-vi at groups.io <tech-vi at groups.io> On Behalf Of David Goldfield
Sent: Wednesday, May 31, 2023 12:24 AM
To: Tech-VI Announcement List <tech-vi at groups.io>
Subject: [tech-vi Announce List] American Printing House for the Blind breaks ground on $55 million museum expansion in Louisville

Braille - BingNews - Tuesday, May 30, 2023 at 2:54 AM

American Printing House for the Blind breaks ground on $55 million museum expansion in Louisville

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The American Printing House for the Blind broke ground Monday on a massive expansion to its Clifton campus, paying homage to the nonprofit's history and commitment to braille.

Set to open in 2025, the new DOT Experience Museum will be 28,000 square feet, nearly five times the size of the existing museum. 

"We, as a board of trustees, decided to set the standard and create the most accessible museum in the world," said Phoebe Wood, chair of the APH board of trustees.

The Dot name pays homage to braille, a series of six dots that are the backbone of communication for the visually impaired. In total, the project will cost $55 million, and APH is in the process of raising $15 million toward that total from corporate, individual and philanthropic sources.

Among the additions to the new museum will be Stevie Wonder's piano, Helen Keller's desk and the stories of many visually impaired people throughout history, including NASA employee Denna Lambert, who was born with congenital cataracts <https://www.aph.org/black-history-month-an-interview-with-denna-lambert/> .

The American Printing House for the Blind broke ground Monday on a massive expansion to its Louisville, Kentucky, campus, paying homage to the nonprofit's history and commitment to braille. May 22, 2023. (WDRB Photo)

"When I go to museums or centers, I have to explain the experience to my son," Lambert said Monday. "But I cannot do that if the experience of blind people is not something in mind."

APH said though museums have made progress in recent years to reach visually impaired visitors, many of those efforts are catered to one audience or centered around just one area of a museum. The Dot experience, APH said, will "focus on inclusion, accessibility, and innovation embracing the expression 'nothing about us without us' in a comprehensive way – through first-person stories of blind and low vision individuals, and through intentional involvement of the blindness community at every level of the project."

"Today is the day all of the planning and research comes together," Dr. Craig Meador, president of the APH, said in a news release Monday. "We know The Dot Experience will be a leader when it comes to accessibility for all. It will be an amazing opportunity to highlight the history of blindness and low vision with a focus on the trailblazers of the past, present, and our hope is that it will inspire the future."

APH said it worked with Solid Light, a Louisville design firm, to lay out plans for the Dot experience.

"From the galleries to the re-imagined manufacturing tour, this new, inclusive visitor experience will elevate the standard for access in the museum industry and beyond," Cynthia Torp, owner and CEO of Solid Light, said in a news release Monday. 

The renovation will also improve offices and buildings currently on the APH campus on Frankfort Avenue.

"The museum is going to provide those role models to young blind kids to say, 'I am going to be that when I grow up," Lambert said.

Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg, Kentucky First Lady Britainy Beshear and Kentucky Sen. Gerald Neal were among those in attendance at Monday's ceremony.

http://www.bing.com/news/apiclick.aspx?ref=FexRss <http://www.bing.com/news/apiclick.aspx?ref=FexRss&aid=&tid=64759d9e5cc447c6b1138009ae972fbb&url=https%3a%2f%2fwww.wdrb.com%2fnews%2famerican-printing-house-for-the-blind-breaks-ground-on-55-million-museum-expansion-in-louisville%2farticle_f4826056-f8c1-11ed-b5b3-cb91f2a68389.html&c=11554388089058069011&mkt=en-us> &aid=&tid=64759d9e5cc447c6b1138009ae972fbb&url=https%3a%2f%2fwww.wdrb.com%2fnews%2famerican-printing-house-for-the-blind-breaks-ground-on-55-million-museum-expansion-in-louisville%2farticle_f4826056-f8c1-11ed-b5b3-cb91f2a68389.html&c=11554388089058069011&mkt=en-us

     David Goldfield 

Assistive Technology Specialist

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