Kestrell

Kritisha is under a time crunch and would really like to get some responses to her survey: she has only gotten a couple of responses so far.
Maker spaces, also known as fab labs, are collaborative space which provide access to utilities such as 3D printers, machiinging tools, etc. (if you fill out the survey, you will find out more). Once you complete the survey, she will contact you and invite you to a Covid-safe visit to the lab at MIT so she can learn what barriers exist for people who are blind.
Kritisha Jain is working towards making maker spaces more accessible and she has created a survey, which is at:
https://forms.gle/B7n6rAGz4gY4guh98

For questions please contact her directly at:
kritisha@mit.edu

Great article, not only for mentioning a variety of high and low tech methods but fheck out some of the quirky museums, like the paleontology museum on a school campus
https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/ways-show-paintings-photos-blind-people-63467635

Cross-posted to the Arisia LJ

This year we will once again be having the tactile tour of the Arisia art show. While the precise day and time has not yet been scheduled, we already have our volunteer docent and we are arranging to provide cotton gloves for the participants.

If you are an artist who wishes her or his art to be experienced by those with vision or other sensory impairments during the tactile art show, there should be a checkbox on the Arisia art show entry form which allows you to communicate this to the organizers. Only art which has been expressly allowed to be touched will be included in the tactile art tour. Artists are also encouraged to be present during the tour, and may give a very short explanation of their work if they so desire (a couple of sentences works well with our time limitation).

This tour usually lasts an hour, sometimes a little over an hour. People without sensory impairments are very welcome to attend the tour but, since the size of the group has to be limited in order to move through the show, priority is given to people with disabilities.

The American Printing House for the Blind is selling this kind of cool board game called
Treks
https://shop.aph.org/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_TREKS:%20The%20Game%20of%20Compass%20Directions_1-08910-00P_10001_11051
which I admit I thought was much more cool when I thought it was a handheld gadget and before I found out the price was $109.

Since this could be a really great way for visually-impaired kids--or even adults-- to learn about navigating their neighborhood or the neighborhood where their school is (I would actually like to have one of these for MIT), I wanted to figure out what it would take for someone to make a less expensive DIY version.

You can buy blank game boards here
http://www.barebooks.com/gameboards.htm
$3.95 for just the board, $7.95 for the kit.

Tactile dice are pretty easy to find: get the folks at Pandemonium to order some for you or you can order these
Giant Tactile Dice Black with White Dots for $4.95 at Amazon.com.

You could probably make an overlay from one of those clear plastic covers kids use for class reports, just add your own braille labels or raised dots, let's call that $5 spent at your local CVS or Staples.

You can purchase these
Bump Dots Medium Clear Round 20 per pack by Maxi-Aids
for $2.62 on Amazon
or you could use puff paint--let's splurge and say we want to use all the colors--
Tulip 3D Fashion Paint 1-1/4 Ounces 6/Pkg-Puffy by Duncan $23.75 on Amazon.

Rounding up to whole dollar amounts that still comes in under $50, less than half the price of the original game.

As it turns out, Alexx followed up on the marvelous toy suggestions
http://kestrell.livejournal.com/649778.html
and managed to locate my marvelous toy, which is called a Quix
http://www.amazon.com/Quix-Space-Changers/dp/B003G79QVI
which is also referred to as a "sculpture toy."

Coincidentally, one of the artists I have been intrigued by lately is
Alexander Calder
http://calder.org/life.html
who was known for making wire sculptures from hardware store wire and found objects
http://www.thecityreview.com/calder.html
although he is also famous as the inventor of the mobile: "The name "mobile" was given by his friend Marcel Duchamp, a perfect description for the abstract, airborne sculptures that Calder liberated from 'mass,' incorporating movement as a "material" itself for the first time. The sculptor described it as 'drawing in space.' " [quoted from the above-mentioned Web page]
That quote from Calder about using wire as a means of drawing three-dimensionally makes him particularly accessible to talking about art for blind people.

Calder is also famous for his toy circus made up of moving wire sculptures. You can watch a video here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6jwnu8Izy0 .

From VSA of Massachusetts
https://www.facebook.com/pages/VSA-arts-of-Massachusetts/167783866028

1. Please Join Us For An Artful Adventure!
Designed For Children on the Autism Spectrum

The Artful Adventures Program at The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Invites Children Age 8-12 Years on the Autism Spectrum To Explore Art and Art Making With Their Parent or Caregiver

Please Choose One Date:
Thursday, July 28, 2011 at 10:30am.
Saturday, July 30, 2011 at 10:30am.

This FREE program will last about 90 minutes during which participants will Explore the MFA’s galleries with a trained instructor, for an interactive, visitor-centered tour. We’ll then go to an art studio to Create a personal work of art to take home. At the conclusion of the program participants will be invited to evaluate their experience. Attendance is limited. Pre-registration is required by Monday, July 25, 2011.

For more information or to pre-register email artfuladventures@mfa.org
Or call 617-369-3303.

2. Salsa In The Park returns for its fourth summer!

Come enjoy free outdoor dancing in the South End's Blackstone Square park every Monday night from 6-9pm until August 29th (except July 4th).

Silent Rhythms is the new program for the deaf and hard of hearing that makes learning how to dance fun, easy and accessible! In addition to the Beginner and Advanced Beginner classes that is taught by MetaMovements, Silent Rhythms will be teaching a class from 6pm to 7pm inside Blackstone Community Center next to the Blackstone Park. This class will be taught in sign language by a deaf dancer who has performed all around the world.

When: Every Monday from 6pm to 9pm
From June 13th through August 29th

Where: Blackstone Square Park
50 West Brookline Street
Boston, MA 02118 (between Washington Street and Shawmut Ave in South End)
Map
For more information, please visit: www.metamovements.com/sitp
or email Kerry Thompson at londongirl21@hotmail.com

3. Landmark Orchestra on the Esplanade

Free and Accessible Concerts
Wednesdays, 7pm
July 13th - August 31st
DCR’s Hatch Shell on the Esplanade

Boston Landmarks Orchestra announces "Breaking Down Barriers" initiative to welcome people with disabilities to its concerts for 2011 summer season. The Orchestra will provide both Braille and large text programs at all of its concerts this summer. Sign language interpreters will be present for its August 3rd concert in collaboration with the Boston Lyric Opera.

"Boston Landmarks Orchestra is serious about making great music accessible to everyone. They've taken stock of the things that might make getting to the Hatch Shell for a concert difficult for some people and are working to make their concerts welcoming to everyone. They are ready to help and their concerts are free. Don't hesitate to accept this open invitation to enjoy Boston's Esplanade and a summer full of great music" - Charles J. Washburn, Executive Director VSA Massachusetts

For more information, please contact Jim Murray at (617)987-2000 ext. 13 or email JM@LANDMARKSORCHESTRA.ORG
www.landmarksorchestra.org

4. IOD Seeks Artists for its
2012 Calendar
The IOD is currently inviting artists to submit artwork to be considered for its 2012 Calendar.









These highly anticipated calendars are distributed each year to thousands of people around the world who are connected to the IOD's mission of strengthening communities and ensuring full access, equal opportunities, and participation for all persons. The deadline for submissions is Friday, July 29, 2011.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From the Watertown Commission on Disabilities:

You are cordially invited to submit your artwork at an Exhibition, Able Arts, sponsored by the Watertown Commission on Disability for artists with disabilities.

The Exhibition will be held at the Watertown Free Public Library, 123 Main Street, Watertown, MA 02472 in October and November 2011.

SUBMISSION DEADLINE IS SEPTEMBER 1, 2011

Also the introduction. The working title is _Six Ways of Looking at an Elephant_. I expect I will be doing more tweaking, and I need to do another pass in order to add the footnotes, but I think this is going to be the most difficult chapter--I keep forgetting how complicated lines, shapes, and forms really are. Also, I had to spend a lot of time figuring out the format of how to explain art terms, and deciding which terms absolutely needed to be in the first chapter without making that chapter huge ("elements of art" is pretty basic, "principles of design" can come later, especially since art instructors don't necessarily agree what all those principles are, just that they exist).

When I have a second chapter, I may ask for beta readers to give feedback on comprehensibility and whether I am squeezing too much into a chapter.

Posted to the Art Beyond Sight mailing list

block quote start
Tactile artist Ann Cunningham and I are hosting a drop-in art room at this year's convention. The room will be open from 9 to 5 on Sunday, July 3, and
1 to 5 on Monday, July 4. All are welcome, regardless of age or experience with art. Artworks will be available for exploration, and there will be art materials (free of charge) for those who want to make their own creations.
Please drop by, and spread the word!

Also, we would love to find a few people who can greet folks at the door and orient them to the room. If you'd like to pitch in, please let me know.
See you in Orlando!

Debbie
dkent5817@att.net
773-203-1394 cell

block quote end

I just heard about one of these machines. It is not, as I had hoped when first hearing of it, a piece of voice equipment which allows you to sing sad songs in French, but instead is a sort of embosser which uses special paper to make tactile images
http://www.humanware.com/en-usa/products/blindness/braille_embossers_and_writers/_details/id_147/piaf_picture_in_a_flash_tactile_graphic_maker.html

This reminds me that I still haven't tried puff paint--does anyone have a brand which they would recommend?

Alexx and I went to Arisia on Saturday and I was pleasantly surprised to find that the new hotel really does solve a lot of the issues I had with way too many people in a too-small space. One of the events which I had come especially to hear was the concert by Sassafrass
http://adapalmer.com/sassafrass/index.html
a female a capella group which specializes in music featuring Norse myths and other geeky subjects. You can
listen to song samples
http://adapalmer.com/sassafrass/samples.html
and I absolutely recommend their Odin-Loki song, "My Brother, My Enemy," along with my personal favorite, "Toys for Big Kids."
I also had the chance to talk to lots of cool people, including Steve Berman (LJ user mroctober) writer and editor of Leithe Press www.lethepressbooks.com and
LJ user vvalkyri, who recently sent me a couple of
links about a fully articulated prosthetic hand
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/10/AR2011011006229.html
developed with a material called Living Skin at Touch Bionics
http://www.touchbionics.com/LIVINGSKIN .

The tactile tour of the art show was wonderful, thanks in large part to Fabrisse, who was our docent again this year, and who always makes a point of doing some research ahead of time so that she can tell us details about the works which we are touching, such as the medium and comments by the artists.
There were many wonderful pieces in the art show, but my favorite works were
the glass made to look like an actual meteorite, created by the artist guest of honor, Josh Simpson http://joshsimpson.com/site/
the book made with a glass eye in the front cover, the long dragon carved from a sinuous tree branch (I love carved objects that use the natural shape of the wood to influence the carved form), and the completely amazing coyote mask by Carol Hanson (who also took time to talk to me about wire). Also, an extra thanks to the artist who made a tactile drawing of the corset she had made--I am awed that she took eight hours to create the tactile drawing itself.

In the Dealers Room I bought a tactile t-shirt with an embossed Celtic design of the tree of life. This is an absolutely amazing t-shirt which uses some sort of mystery material that I am guessing must work similar to puff paint--the Celtic design of the tree, which appears to be made from one long continuous line, was laid down on a sort of stiff buckram-type material which was then laid beneath the t-shirt material, so that when the design material was activated (probably by a heat source such as a hair dryer), the design puffed up behind the t-shirt material on the front of the shirt.
You can find this and other tactile t-shirts and hoodies at the Earth Wisdom Web page, look for t-shirts labeled with the word "embossed"
http://www.earthwisdommusicandclothing.com/t-Shirts.html
and there are also some t-shirts which used embroidered designs.

Sadly, my attempt to find a copy of Diana Wynne Jones _The Merlin Conspiracy_ failed, so I will have to get it from Amazon.