In February, I had the wonderful experience of conducting workshops at the Governor Morehead School in Raleigh, NC. Students there have varying degrees of visual impairment, including total blindness.
This required me to design programs that would have meaning to people who may have lost their sight some time after birth, as well as those who have never had the gift of sight. Their fantastic art teacher, Ms. Zincone, also explained to me that incised lines would be difficult to detect for many students, so I created models with raised lines. (These included insects on leaves. I gave these models to the school and don’t have photos.)
Students from elementary to high school, some with developmental and learning challenges in addition to their visual impairments, participated. In some cases, the class focused on counting and shapes of familiar objects.
My model of a pizza–we could talk about the number, shapes and textures of the different toppings.
One student liked seafood, so he made a shrimp and cheese pizza!
In others, the themes included more abstract concepts, for example, symbolism in masks and their functions different cultures.
This student, inspired by his cat, made a wild, feline-themed mask.
I had a great time and I think the students did, too.