6 minute read
Do Touch the Artwork
them go back to work if that's their goal. We help them adapt to maybe a new work. There's adaptive programs that we can get for them that teach them so they can still use their computer without sight."
When Holloway spoke to the artists, she gave them a piece of advice— get your eyes checked.
And the best part, all the labels are in Braille.
"One of the viewers, Nick, who actually works at the hotel, he is 100% blind," Johnson said. "He was just so excited by the way it looked and was laid out that he said he could have navigated that space on his own. It was the first time he was actually able to experience a description of artwork in Braille on the wall with an actual price on it. So it was really tickling to him."
Artist Maria Hoch's "Shape Shifters" will be donated to the Independence for the Blind for a permanent display.
Gallery inside Hilton Pensacola Beach.
In fact, they'd prefer you do touch the artwork; you'll understand it better.
Produced in partnership with Independence for the Blind of West Florida, "A Way of Seeing" is an exhibition that features more than 30 pieces created exclusively by local artists specifically with blind people and people with visual impairments in mind.
Raven Holloway, the executive director for Independence for the Blind, said the concept is two years in the making. All the artists visited the Center on North Davis Highway in Pensacola and tested out goggles to understand the different types of visual impairments.
Holloway loved seeing the teenagers with visual impairments experience the exhibit.
"We only have one that is completely blind, but the ones that were visually impaired were within a couple of inches to look at it really close so they could see it," Holloway said. "It was just really incredible, because you take them to a different museum or gallery, you're not allowed to get that close to the art, much less touch it. They were able to really appreciate it the way it was designed."
The Luna Fine Art Gallery—a permanent fixture inside Hilton Pensacola Beach and Spring Hill Suites Marriott in Amelia Island—was a lifelong dream of Innisfree Hotels' owners Julian and Kim MacQueen, Holloway said. This exhibit was especially pertinent.
"Kim's dad actually lost his vision when he was 34 and ended up still doing incredible things with his life," Holloway said. "Our center is named after him, and they were very big supporters. It made a lot of sense for us to work together."
What Goes Unseen
"A Way of Seeing" sure has a way of making people see things they couldn't before.
Innisfree Hotels, has been amazed by the awareness the exhibit has spread.
"The majority of the population is not totally blind, so when you say you're having an exhibition for visually impaired, or you call it the Center for the Blind, they expect that everybody is just totally blind," Johnson said.
Half a million people in the state of Florida are legally blind, with 50,000 of them in the Panhandle service area of Independence for the Blind, Holloway said. And those numbers are expected to double by 2050, she said.
The majority of those declared as legally blind are not completely blind, though. They have visual impairments.
"If you're not visually impaired, it's really hard to imagine what it looks like," Holloway said. "You're like, 'Oh, maybe it's just fuzzy,' or you don't understand that maybe you can only see out the side of your eye, you have no peripheral or you just see black spots everywhere. All of these things are different."
Independence for the Blind serves the first 10 counties of Florida, starting at age 5 and continuing until end of life, Holloway said. Some have been visually impaired their whole life, while some developed impairment later, such as after a stroke.
The nonprofit teaches them how to take care of themselves, Holloway said. It can entail many different things.
"How do you cook and clean and dress yourself, and how do you shave without being able to see?" Holloway said. "Try using a fork with your eyes closed. It's actually a lot harder than you would think. We go through all of these things."
"Say you're 40 and had a head injury and lost your vision, but you have a wife and kids and you're the breadwinner in the family, and you can't not work," Holloway said. "How do you go back to work? So we work with clients and help
"If you notice the slightest change in one of your eyes, check it," Holloway said. "Close one eye. And if you notice anything at all, even if it's minor, go to your eye doctor as soon as possible, because it is the fastest thing in your body to go. There's so many things that cause visual impairment. And if you go see your doctor sooner rather than later, it's more likely that it could be reversed or stopped at that point. If you wait, you may not be able to fix it."
One heeded her advice.
"One of the artists was like, 'I'm going to see my eye doctor, and she called me a week later and was in tears, because they caught something and saved her vision," Holloway said. "And she's an artist. Losing your vision for anyone is very dramatic, but taking vision away from an artist is, it's who they are."
Beyond What Meets The Eye
More than 30 pieces are on display, including sculptures, paintings and collages.
"They all had a favorite piece, and it was all different—which was great because it was like they all picked pieces that fit with their personality," Holloway said. "We had one girl that liked the (piece with) waves. She just loved it because she loves the beach, and she felt like she was there with that piece. And we have this one little boy that loved the hearts, because he's like, 'These are really pretty. I feel like they're romantic. I should get these for my girlfriend.' He has several disabilities and he's older, but it was just the cutest thing."
They curated that show to be able to be enjoyed by those with visual impairments and those without, incorporating color, contrast, texture and subtle movement, Johnson said.
"You might see one thing, but if you close your eyes or you squint real hard, you are experiencing a total different piece," Johnson said. "So with the textured pieces, it might be a nice colorful splash of color or something that maybe looks like a blurred-out fish. But when you touch the piece, you start to experience something totally different from the organic shapes. So it's a way of seeing. I guess that's why we call it the 'Way of Seeing' exhibition."
"The pieces are actually magnetic," Johnson said. "You can pick them up and move them across the canvas to create a new piece."
"I have a friend who has recently been diagnosed with macular degeneration, an age-related eye disease," Hoch said. "Someone who is visually impaired still has a framework to allow an appreciation for art. In 'Shape Shifters,' I utilized the concepts of high contrast, tactile sensory and interactive participation. I wanted to invite the viewer into how art is made."
Johnson believes the exhibit has started a dialogue of things beyond what meets the eye. And it's not a first for the gallery.
"That's the power of this space that we have, that we can actually not only celebrate and promote and encourage local artists to continue to produce and use art as a way to bring awareness, but just the idea of creating that dialogue, having that place where you can start sharing information about any subject," Johnson said. "Outside of the Independence for the Blind, we've done celebration of women; we've done the environment. And it's always been that way, where people take a little bit more out of it than they expected by going to a gallery or looking at a piece of artwork or engaging in conversation about a piece of artwork." {in}
A Way Of Seeing
WHAT: An art exhibition created specifically for blind people or people with visual impairments
WHEN: The exhibition is on view nowSunday, March 12
WHERE: Hilton Pensacola Beach, 12 Via De Luna Drive
COST: Free admission
DETAILS: lunafineartgallery.com
Eye Ball
WHAT: The annual Eye Ball is a gala supporting Independence for the Blind's mission to empower people who are blind or visually impaired in Northwest Florida
WHEN: 6 p.m., Saturday, March 11
WHERE: The ballroom at the Hilton Pensacola Beach, 12 Via De Luna Drive
DETAILS: ibwest.org/eye-ball
