Ethics and Visual Representation

How do we Ensure Art Accessibility for the blind and visually impaired? This research looks at ways to enhance art accessibility for the visually impaired (V.I). There are not many museums, galleries, exhibitions that provide programs or even exhibit art made to touch. It will examine Art Education for the Blind, Inc. (AEB) founded by Elisabeth Salzhauer, whose mission is “to make art, art history, and visual culture accessible to people who are blind or visually impaired. ” Other sources to be examined are art museums such as Kelowna Art Gallery in Canada, Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, and the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), that each provides such accessibility via Braille labels, large-print booklets, touch and audio tours, and AEB’s tactile representation. An article titled Art for the Blind-Art a GoGo by Kathleen Lang speaks about these programs and talks about how AEB program works. This paper will also study artists such as Roy Nachum and Lee Brozgol. Nachum is an artist who incorporates poetic messages in Braille into his oil paintings as a way for the visually impaired to appreciate his work. Brozgol teaches ceramics to a group of students with visual impairments ranging from high partial to full vision loss. I would like to interview a visually impaired individual to get their experience, if any, in an art museum. I will ask questions pertaining to ways that they would feel more welcome in an art setting. There are some V.I. who are also hearing impaired, therefore I will examine ways to incorporate other senses in art form