[Art_beyond_sight_learning_tools] photography, description, exhibition, money aticles

[Lisa Yayla]

 <http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-bc16lazzarojul16,0,3328973.story?coll=sfl-news-palmcomm>

Legally blind artist captures beauty in her artwork


July 16, 2006

Samantha Lazzaro never imagined she would cause such a stir with her 
artwork when she moved to west of Boca Raton from Long Island, N.Y., two 
years ago.

Lazzaro, 18, the daughter of Arlene and Salvatore Lazzaro, is a recent 
graduate of Olympic Heights High School. Diagnosed with a brain tumor at 
age 4, she underwent a series of chemotherapy and radiation treatments 
to kill the tumor that presses into her optic nerve, leaving the quiet 
teen legally blind.

But that impairment hasn't affected her creativity, evidenced by her 
winning photograph of a hibiscus flower. In fact, /Sunburst/ is this 
year's District 19 winner of the 25th Congressional Art Competition -- 
An Artistic Discovery, a nationwide contest for high school students. 
Ceremonies for the winning artists, one from each congressional 
district, were held June 28 in Washington, D.C.

Lazzaro's work will hang with the other winning entries in the Cannon 
House Office Building tunnel in the Capitol for the next year.

"I was very surprised and overwhelmed that I had won," said Lazzaro, who 
started taking photographs of flowers and butterflies a year ago, a 
hobby inspired by her uncle, Gus Botta, a professional photographer in 
Fort Lauderdale.

Although her real artistic passion is making beaded and silver jewelry, 
Lazzaro took her digital camera to Butterfly World in Coconut Creek a 
few times. When she showed her pictures to her ceramics teacher, 
Annunziata Privee, she encouraged Lazzaro to enter them in the contest.

"It was done extremely well. Her instincts for photography are 
excellent. ... I figured she had been doing it for awhile, because the 
composition is excellent and the colors are beautiful," said Phyllis 
Annunziato, chairwoman of the annual Spring Celebration of High School 
Art sponsored by the local group Women in the Visual Arts.

U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Boca raton, tapped Annunziato to judge this 
year's district competition, which had five entries.

"It was difficult to choose from the entries, but the photographs stood 
out, hers specifically because the color was so nice," Annunziato said. 
"The other photographs were well done but young in their composition. 
Hers was very mature and not like what a young person enters. She knew 
what she was doing."

"I know that she likes photography, but not as much as I do," Botta 
said, adding that he and his niece have season passes to Butterfly 
World, where Lazzaro took her winning shot. "She just happened to be in 
the right place in the right time," he said.

Botta said that even a famous artist such as the late Georgia O'Keeffe 
would appreciate this particular photo.

"If you look at it, it looks like a Georgia O'Keeffe. ... Someone should 
take this picture and paint it. It looks like a supernova," he said.

While Lazzaro is enjoying success with her photography, it's her jewelry 
making that will carry her. She is taking a year before entering college 
to work on a Web site to market her work and to take some master jewelry 
classes.

Lazzaro's collection of beads outnumbers her photographs, Botta said.

"To say her closet is full of beads is to make an understatement," he 
said. "She is constantly on the hunt at the Swap Shop and online, 
constantly finding all sorts of stuff. ... It's hard not to be an admirer."

Privee agrees.

"She was a surprise, in a sense that she came to me with some 
self-taught knowledge," Privee said, adding that Lazzaro asked for help 
in choosing a digital camera. "She was talking about going out to do a 
photo shoot, and she comes back a month later ... with a portfolio with 
8-by-10s. She takes everything to the next level."

Lazzaro spent lunch breaks in Privee's classroom making jewelry.

"Her pieces are just stunning," Privee said. "She's a remarkable young 
woman. When you meet her you think you're talking to someone who is 30. 
She's really got her act together."

Lazzaro's work attracted the attention of her peers, Olympic Heights 
Principal Peter Licata said.

"She is very quiet and to herself, but she sort of broke out of her 
shell the last few weeks of school," Licata said. "She's a loner in her 
own shy way ... she was sitting at the senior breakfast and was eating 
by herself, and a bunch of the seniors came over and said, `Sam, come 
sit with us.'"

Lazzaro talks about her sight challenges and her photography quietly.

"Both of my eyes are messed up. My left I can't see straight out of, and 
my right eye I can't see on the sides," she said.

She can't see well enough to drive. "I'm considered legally blind," she 
said.

While photography is fun, and she intends to sell her pictures, she's 
focusing on building her business now.

"If any kid deserves to win an award for something like that, it would 
have to be her," Botta said. "She's a special kid, she has special 
needs, and she is special."

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-bc16lazzarojul16,0,3328973.story?coll=sfl-news-palmcomm


article

Broadway World, San Francisco USA
Friday, July 21, 2006

"Brooklyn Boy" Opens at TheatreWorks (audio described performances available)

By Eugene Lovendusky 

TheatreWorks, in its 37th season, is proud to present the Northern California Premiere of Brooklyn Boy, by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Donald Margulies (Dinner with Friends, Collected Stories), currently playing at the Lucie Stern Theatre until Sunday, August 13.

"This funny, warmly human Broadway hit tells the Story of an aspiring middle-aged novelist whose career suddenly skyrockets when he becomes a national best seller," described press notes, "As his public success grows, his personal life begins to unravel, and he must decide if grabbing what he's dreamed of means letting go of what he holds dear."

Bay Area theatre veteran Joy Carlin directs a cast including Victor Talmadge, Ray Reinhardt, Amy Resnick, David Kudler, and Craig W. Marker.

Brooklyn Boy is in previews July 20 and 21, with an opening July 22. Previews performances are at 8:00PM. Regular show times are Tuesdays at 7:30PM (no performance August 8); Wednesdays through Fridays at 8:00PM; Saturdays at 2:00PM and 8:00PM (no matinee July 22, August 12); and Sundays at 2:00PM and 7:00PM (no evening show August 13). "Visual Voice" audio-described performances are available August 11 and 12 at 8:00PM, and August 13 at 2:00PM.

Brooklyn Boy is playing TheatreWorks at Lucie Stern Theatre located at 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto, CA. Tickets are $20 to $56; savings available for youth, students, seniors, and members. For tickets and information, call 650-903-6000 or visit www.theatreworks.org.


http://sanfrancisco.broadwayworld.com/viewcolumn.cfm?colid=11042


article

Toledo Blade, Ohio
Friday, July 21, 2006

Youngsters get hands-on view of art



Soft-glove approach allows new insights

CAPTION: James Weideman, 12, explores Hector Guimard's 'Paris Metro Entrance' on the museum's Monroe Street frontage. ( BLADE PHOTOS/AMY E. VOIGT ) 

Nine-year-old Taylor Adolph can tell if a room is dark or not, but mainly he just sees shadows.

Yesterday, with the help of a pair of white gloves and employees at the Toledo Museum of Art, he saw and felt much more.

Taylor rubbed his hands against the carved stone image on one of the pillars in the Cloisters section of the museum trying to figure out what it looked like.

When someone asked Taylor, a Hawkins Elementary School student, what a gargoyle was, he blurted out without hesitation: "A manlike creature that flies."

CAPTION: A Sight Center camper wearing gloves touches Auguste Rodin's 'The Thinker' during yesterday's tour, part of a weeklong Sight Center program to help visually impaired students gain life skills. Five students visited the museum in this year's weeklong camp. 

Taylor was one of five students who traveled to the museum as part of a weeklong camp for visually impaired students. It was just one of several new experiences for the campers.

The camp was created last year through a grant to assist visually impaired students with life skills, said Lori Board, children's specialist with the Sight Center of Northwest Ohio, which operates the camp.

Ms. Board said the learning process Taylor experienced through touch means a lot to the sight-impaired students, who often struggle to find acceptance in their schools and later in the working world.

"There is a very low rate of visually impaired people who can find work after graduation because they can't live independently and can't get from one place to another," Ms. Board said. "These kids will always use public transportation because they can't drive. In this camp, these kids planned their own route [to get to the museum]. They had to call TARTA and had to figure out what bus to catch. We're merely facilitators; the kids are doing all of the work."

CAPTION: Taylor Adolph, 9, examines a lion's head carved on a Roman sarcophagus as docent Mary Ann Boesel looks on. 

Between learning to appreciate the art museum and cooking double-crust pizzas, tacos, and cookies, Ms. Board said the students are on their way to growing up and living successfully with their visual impairment.

Upon arriving at the museum, the students gathered in Libbey Court and then moved to the Cloisters area, where they put on the white gloves and examined the pillars and other objects. They later examined sculptures from the Middle East and toured the Peristyle Theater.

Candace Roper, 17, a senior at Waite High School, said she found the camp and the trip to the museum reassuring. She said the museum is a place where she didn't have to worry about being accepted.

"I think [the museum] was pretty cool because we never got a chance to touch stuff before," Candace said with a laugh. "This is my second year at the camp. It's fun and I can be with people my own age without worrying about being made fun of."

Brianna Snyder, 16, a sophomore at Toledo Early College High School, said she has attended special classes at the Sight Center before, but it was unique to touch different sculptures at the museum and learn about them.

"I like ancient Greece and ancient Roman [sculptures] because I'm into ancient stuff," Brianna said. "It was fun being here with [other visually impaired students] because they're nice, and it was cool to talk to some of them."

Before the trip to the museum, the students spent part of the day cooking their lunch and learning bus routes, things those with sight take for granted. Ms. Board said developing those skills will help the students lead independent lives later.

The students will visit the University of Toledo recreation center today and the Levis Commons development in Perrysburg tomorrow.



http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060720/NEWS04/607200353



article excerpt

    * Summer art exhibit *- Artist Reception Tuesday, July 25


In conjunction with the WINCHESTER READS selection, "In Revere, In Those 
Days" by Roland Merullo, the library will host an exhibit featuring the 
work of Norman Gautreau, best known for his series of paintings of 
historic Revere Beach.
The public is cordially invited to a reception to meet the artist on 
Tuesday, July 25 at 7 p.m. in the Library Meeting Room.
Norman Gautreau started drawing as a young boy, and one of his favorite 
pastimes was going to the movies, after which he would sketch his 
favorite scenes from the big screen. At the age of 89, he is blind in 
one eye and suffers poor vision in the other, but he still spends much 
of his time painting by using magnifying glasses to overcome his disability.
His paintings have appeared on magazine covers, at the State House and 
at Boston-area colleges and galleries, and will be on display at the 
library through the end of August during regular library hours.

http://www2.townonline.com/winchester/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=540261


excerpt

SCULPTOR Signor Raphael Monti created a statue of the Third Marquess of 
Londonderry, also known as Charles William Vane Tempest Stewart, who 
built Seaham Harbour.
It was unveiled on December 2, 1861, and depicts the Marquess wearing a 
grand hussar uniform.
The artist declared no one could find fault with it – until a blind 
beggar felt the statue and said the horse did not have tongue. Legend 
has it that Monti then committed suicide.

http://www.sunderlandtoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=1107&ArticleID=1642075


article excerpt

A tactile feature was also introduced with the series to help the blind and 
visually impaired identify the denominations. These raised elements are also 
helpful when looking for fakes. 

http://www.ottawabusinessjournal.com/286598582617402.php

article 


Charity's new garden
A sensory garden has been created in the grounds of a Lancashire blind 
charity's headquarters.
For the past 14 weeks a team from Penwortham-based Galloway's Society 
for the Blind have been working hard to transform a patch of land at the 
back of the centre through an "art in the garden" project co-ordinated 
by Lancashire College.

The 10-strong team of blind and visually impaired people created a water 
feature with a rockery and decorated the plot with a variety of plants.

It was officially handed over to Galloway's this week.

Teacher Tracy Robinson said: "It has been a real success. They have been 
creative and been given a chance to participate in the project and put 
their ideas forward."

Next the team hope to start their own allotment, and grow their own 
organic produce.
17 July 2006

http://www.lep.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=73&ArticleID=1632647