The Plymouth Center for the Arts is pleased to present “A Different Vision,” a juried tactile art and fine craft show that can be appreciated by the blind and visually impaired as well as the sighted. The show is sponsored by the Plymouth Guild for the Arts and is also being supported in part by a grant provided by the Plymouth Cultural Council. The show will run from May 1 through June 4.
What sets the work in this show apart? It’s all made to be handled by the viewers. Some of the work is very textural, spiky or dull; some smell good, while others smell bad; some draw the viewer in with high contrast colors. Exhibit guests are offered unique, interactive experiences with every work they explore.
The show was the brainchild of Honey Weiss and Elise Pennypacker, devoted art center volunteers. Honey has read for TIC (the Talking Information Center), a radio station for the visually impaired, for 17 years and has been involved with the Plymouth art scene for 30 years; she thought it would be great to combine the two efforts into an art show for the visually impaired. Pennypacker’s aunt was blind, and when she learned how little art was available to that population, she and Weiss took action, creating “A Different Vision.”
The show was judged by Hannah Goodwin and Valarie Burrows from the Museum of Fine Arts’ Department of Accessibility. “The two MFA judges were so careful to consider each art work on its merits to the blind as well as to the sighted,” Pennypacker said when asked about the jurying process. The judges’ backgrounds in art combined with their work with individuals with various disabilities in a museum setting were key, she added. “(Another) eye-opening experience was reading all the artists’ 50-word descriptions.” Pennypacker explained. “I now know first hand the meaning of feeling humble when reading what they wrote. So many artists are expressing such deep feelings with their art.”
It’s an interesting concept, creating art for those who cannot see it; it challenges what an artist thinks they may understand and offers new boroughs of inspiration, opening avenues within the philosophy of how we view art as an overall sensory experience. As such, the show offers a different experience visually than tactilely.
The sense of sound can also be incorporated into the experience with an audio companion giving a description of each work, plus there are large-print descriptions and Braille translations describing the pieces individually.
