The Plymouth Guild for the Arts announces that Hannah Goodwin and Valarie Burrows, both from Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, will be the judges for “A Different Vision,” a unique tactile art exhibition for the blind, the visually handicapped and sighted viewers, scheduled for May 1 through June 4 at the Plymouth Center for the Arts in downtown Plymouth.
Hannah Goodwin is the Manager of Accessibility at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts. She holds art degrees from Tufts University and the Museum School and the Mass College of Art. At the MFA she has developed programs making art accessible for visitors with various handicaps and she has trained hundreds of the museum’s front-line staff and volunteers regarding access programs and sighted-guide technique, ensuring that all visitors will feel welcome. Before joining the MFA she was an art educator in special education and inclusion programs. An artist in her own right, she makes works on paper in various media.
Valarie Burrows, the Accessibility Coordinator at the MFA, earned a bachelor’s degree from Harvard, concentrating in the history of art and architecture. She started at the MFA as a volunteer leading weekend tours for all types of visitors, then specialized in tours for blind visitors. She is now a member of the staff and has focused on outreach to the disability communities as well as to the blind.
“A Different Vision” will include original art by scores of artists, many new to the Plymouth Guild. The show presents a unique challenge to artists: all art, whether 3-D sculptures or textural 2-dimensional wall art, will be touched by the visitors. Artists must create work that will not be damaged by repeated touching and that will resonate for sighted, blind and low-vision visitors.
For more information about “A Different Vision,” go to the Plymouth Guild’s Web site, plymouthguild.org. Informational flyers and copies of the prospectus can be found at the Plymouth Public Library, Golden Gull Studios and the Kusmin Gallery, as well as at the Plymouth Center for the Arts at 11 North St.
This program is supported in part by a grant from the Plymouth Cultural Council, a local agency that is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency. A Different Vision is also supported by gifts from Entergy, Post, O’Connor & Kadrmas Eye Centers and Plymouth Rotary.
