I'm forwarding this message from John Rae about tactile galleries... Best, Jess
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jess Mitchell Boston, MA, USA Project Manager / Fluid Project [email protected] / w / 617.326.7753 / c / 919.599.5378 jabber: [email protected] http://www.fluidproject.org ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Begin forwarded message: > From: "John Rae " <[email protected]> > Date: January 17, 2010 2:36:13 PM EST > To: "Jess Mitchell" <[email protected]> > Subject: Art with feeling/ FAC's Tactile Gallery takes the center stage > > > > Art with feeling/ FAC's Tactile Gallery takes the center stage > | by Mark Arnest > The Colorado Springs Gazette, Dec 21, 2001 > > On a recent Thursday at the Fine Arts Center, 14-year-old Terry Garrett and > 18-year-old Nicole Curtis are doing something that's usually forbidden in > art galleries: They're touching the art. > > Not just the occasional curious poke, either. Their hands are splayed all > over a seven-panel series called "Giricoccola," by artist Ann Cunningham. > > Their fingers trace curiously over the work that relates a Bolognese fairy > tale about a beautiful girl, her wicked sisters and a friendly moon. > > But touching the art is exactly what Cunningham - and the Fine Arts Center - > had in mind. That's because this work, and others now on display, are > designed to be touched. > > Until recently, the Fine Arts Center's Tactile Gallery was confined to a > small spot at the west end of the building - a spot regular visitors are > likely to miss on their way to the rotating exhibits on the building's east > side. But through New Year's Eve, the Tactile Gallery is also spread into > one of the east galleries, where "Giricoccola" and other works are on > display. > > "It's a chance to get Tactile Gallery pieces out of storage," says Ann > Donald, a docent who has been involved with the gallery for years. "This is > the first time we've been allowed into a big room." > > The exhibit gives art lovers a rare opportunity to experience more than a > handful of the 100-plus works of the center's Tactile Gallery. > > There's something different about the works in this collection. > > In spots, the patinas have been rubbed off. Some show signs of wear. Others > are a bit, well, grungy. > > In short, they've been touched. > > And this is exactly what Peggy Marshal had in mind 21 years ago, when she > helped found the gallery with Mary Mashburn. > > "You can't just look at art," says Marshal. "You've got to do something." > > Inspired by the now-defunct Mary Duke Biddle Gallery for the Blind in the > Raleigh (N.C.) Museum of Art, the Fine Arts Center's Tactile Gallery is one > of just three in the country. Its collection includes works by artists > ranging from local sculptor Don Green to Colorado College alumna Glenna > Goodacre, who designed the Sacagawea dollar coin. > > At an opening reception earlier this month, art teacher Alice Mayfield of > the Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind brought a half-dozen of her > students, including Terry and Nicole, to experience the exhibit firsthand. > > The exhibit's visual highlight is Cunningham's elaborate "Giricoccola," part > of a series the Golden-based artist calls "Tales Written in Stone." It > incorporates signage in Braille and a video in American Sign Language along > with traditional imagery and text. > > Terry studies each piece with his hands. > > "It's hard to make out the story," says Terry, who spends most of his time > studying the panels themselves instead of the Braille explanations. Nicole, > who spends more time on the Braille, grasps the story but says it's not > entirely successful as a tactile work. > > "The moon is too smooth," she says. This causes it to recede into the > rougher background instead of emerging from it, as it does to sighted > viewers due to its lighter color. "Our fingers are basically all we have," > she points out. > > Among other works in the exhibit, Terry especially likes James Kemps' > ceramic bear fetish, because its shape is easy to discern with his fingers, > and Fred Myers' bronze "Kokopelli," because of the satisfying "dong" it > makes when he taps it, and because he likes the feel of bronze. Trenton > Matthew, a senior at the school, spends a lot of time exploring Elizabett > Gudman's geometric bronze "Cubist Dreams." > > "We learn by shapes and feel," he says. "If you can see the shadow, it helps > a lot." > > Of the semicircular front section of this piece, he says, "It looks almost > like a face - almost like a snail." > > "There is one good thing about being blind," says Trenton. It's the way his > imagination is continually engaged. Touching a tactile piece, he says, "is > like those old radio shows: It could be anything." > > IF YOU GO > > WHAT: "Hands On: Touchable Works of Art From the Tactile Gallery Collection" > > WHEN: Exhibit is up through Dec. 31 (a more limited Tactile Gallery > selection is always on display). Gallery hours 9 a.m.-5 p.m. > Mondays-Saturdays, 1-5 > p.m. Sundays. > > WHERE: Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, 30 W. Dale St., 634- 5581 > > ADMISSION: $4 adults, $2 seniors and ages 6-16, free 5 and younger, free > admission on Saturdays. > > ALSO: View Ann Cunningham's work online at > www.acunningham.com. > _______________________________________________________ fluid-work mailing list - [email protected] To unsubscribe, change settings or access archives, see http://fluidproject.org/mailman/listinfo/fluid-work
