Making art accessible

3d printing has come a long way in a very short time. I love that museums and other art institutes are utilizing this technology to make art of all kinds accessible to the visually impaired. From the article:

Lancaster district’s art collection will soon be brought to life for people with sight loss thanks to Lancaster City Museums, Lancaster University and Galloway’s Society for the Blind in Morecambe.

I’m also glad that they are looking into making the art even more accessible by including audio descriptions.  I’m a big proponent for audio descriptions in art installations, especially if it is the artist themselves who are creating the audio files. The viewers of the art can appreciate the passion the artist has for their work through their words.  These are exciting times for those with visual impairments, we are finally able to take part in appreciating the visual arts.

I hope to see more art institutes using 3d printers for this sort of work. When I launched my Landscapes of the Body project, it was before 3d printers were really “a thing”  and having prints made of my work was oppressively expensive. I took a different route working with a local printmaker to create a tactile version of the visual prints. I feel offering tactile versions of the art is important so everyone can enjoy the art on their terms.

If you would like to read more about the Lancaster City Museums project you can head to this link. 

What do you think? are art institutes doing enough to make their art accessible for the visually impaired community? Let’s talk about it on my social media links below.