[Art_beyond_sight_learning_tools] money, art, wayfinding, theater, Christmas

[Lisa Yayla]

Hi,
A few articles. Hope you find them interesting.
Best,
Lisa

http://www.siskiyoudaily.com/articles/2006/12/08/news/doc4579dbde04be6896743181.txt
Siskiyou artist’ ornaments hang on state capital Christmas tree

Six of Melody Grantt’s handmade Christmas ornaments are on the state 
capital’s Christmas tree in Sacramento. Blind from birth, Melody 
recently taught a beaded ornament making class at the Siskiyou 
Opportunity Center. submitted photo


YREKA — Look for Melody Grantt’s beaded Christmas ornaments on the 
Christmas tree at the California State Capital in Sacramento – six of 
them are hanging on that tree.

Melody’s ornaments were selected to hang on the state’s Christmas tree 
after she taught a beaded ornament making class at the Siskiyou 
Opportunity Center.

The significant part of both accomplishments? Melody has been blind 
since birth.

“She has always loved doing crafts and other handiwork, learning to 
crochet when she was 18 years old,” said Jackie Roy with Madrone Hospice 
in a recent press release.

Melody’s favorite craft is bead work, out of which she creates bells, 
wreaths and candy canes.

The press release reported that her daughter has marked in braille all 
of her bead bottles so she knows the color she is using.

Roy said that Melody Grantt is one of the original participants at the 
Madrone Adult Center in Yreka, operated under the covering of Madrone 
Hospice.

“For the past five years Melody has been active at the center, and 
continues to come to the center three days a week, Roy said.



“She often spends her time at the center teaching other participants to 
crochet or do bead work. The amazing thing is that Melody was born 
blind,” Roy said.


article

http://www.boston.com/yourlife/fashion/articles/2006/12/07/the_super_8/
Coco Raynes spends a lot of time thinking about the simple design 
elements that vex us when they're poorly executed. Arrows in public 
buildings that tell you where to find the restroom. Informational kiosks 
in public spaces. Signage directing you to parking lots.

Raynes, 62, specializes in environmental graphics, with a special 
interest in "wayfinding." Her work in Boston includes the new 
interpretive kiosk in Park Square that gives the historical development 
of the area; and the building directory in the Boston Convention Center.

Raynes, who was born in France and has expertise in universal design, 
has patented the "Raynes Rail," a braille and audio hand - rail system 
directing blind people to their destination. (There is a braille version 
of it in Quincy's Thomas Crane Public Library .)

She's received awards for the wayfinding and information system she 
designed in 2002 at Charles de Gaulle International Airport ; it 
features visual, tactile , and audio information in three languages . 
She's done a new wayfinding system for Battery Park City in Lower 
Manhattan, which includes a tactile guide to landmarks on the skyline. 
And when the renovation of Boston's Children's Museum is completed next 
year, Rayne s 's braille rails will have been retrofitted into the 
existing rails on the Harbor Walk.


article
excerpt
http://sev.prnewswire.com/medical-pharmaceuticals/20061207/CLTH05607122006-1.html

CVS/pharmacy Charitable Trust Awards $5 Million to Non-Profit 
Organizations Nationwide
Recipients across 22 states given grants for programs serving children 
with disabilities
...
Art Education for the Blind, Inc.


article
http://www.kcbd.com/Global/story.asp?S=5792992&nav=3w6y
12/9/06
A Disabled Man Masters An Art form

A local man has a gift to share with Lubbock and the world despite one 
very difficult setback that he lives with each day. Allen Johnson has 
taken his handicap and turned it into an art form that is getting 
world-wide attention and he's also setting an example that can inspire 
us all.

Mr. Johnson had this to say, "I run a router, I run the shavers, I run 
the table saw the radial saw the skill saw the band saw the drill press, 
whole saws nail guns and I've got all my fingers."

That's right, he can do all of this, but there's a catch, Allen is 
completely blind.

"I've got stuff scattered from China and West Germany. From West 
Virginia to Los Angels and from Ann Arbor, Michigan to Houston. (I) Have 
no Earthly idea how many pieces I just know that I stay busy constantly..."

His first project was a train for his kids on Mother's Day back in 1990 
and he hasn't stopped since. He said, "My first train looked a whole lot 
like this train here and it was very similar to it. This one is probably 
the 3rd or 4th I've made."

But how does a blind man make all of this?

"I place my hand on the piece of wood where I'm going to cut it and I 
know how far it is from my hand to that blade and I don't move and I cut 
what I want to use... a lot of people say "my god your hands are right 
at the blade" and I say well, they're not in the blade and I say as long 
as you miss that's what counts," he said.

Allen's loving wife, Lea plays a very supportive role in this art form 
and has from day one. She said, "I thought it was beautiful. Whether 
you're blind or deaf or what ever. You have to allow that person as much 
independence as possible."

And that independence has allowed Allen to work miracles one masterpiece 
at a time.

One of the stage coaches Allen built has been made specifically for the 
president. Allen and his wife will be hand delivering a special gift 
sometime next year to the president while in Crawford. Allen told me 
that to build one of the stage coaches takes him about 160 hours and 
that there's no telling how many pieces of wood.

Allen and Lea have turned Allen's great gift into a business called 
"Jest Precious Memories by Touch," and you can view his collection and 
buy his pieces right here in Lubbock.

You may call Allen to set up an appointment to view or purchase his 
work. Allen's phone number is (806) 793-2391.



article
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/12/10/hands_on/

Hands-on
Rockport studio will show the work of visually impaired students who are 
guided by texture and tDecember 10, 2006

With a spinning wheel and equal parts determination and talent, 
15-year-old Kayla Bentas is able to transform an ordinary ball of clay 
and a dab of water into a functional work of art -- a bowl, a mug, or 
even a vase.

"I love the way it feels, all smooth and wet, with graceful, gentle 
slopes," Kayla says of the clay she's molding into a bowl, her face beaming.

At a nearby table, giggling elementary students examine their works in 
progress, nimbly running their fingers over the delicate figurines -- a 
girl with braided hair and a small lizard -- to find flaws. One child 
holds her creation to her left eye, eager to get a better idea of what 
it might look like. But even up close, she is able to see only light and 
shadow. The details elude her.

These children are all legally blind. They must rely on texture and 
shape to mold their artistic vision, which several of them will share 
today when their work is displayed at the Cynthia Curtis Pottery holiday 
show.

For a few of the students, the show offers a chance to peddle their 
wares and perhaps earn a little pocket money. Kayla's saving up every 
penny she nets for a Braille printer. Others are hoping to make enough 
money to buy a loved one a holiday treat. But for most, it's simply an 
opportunity to showcase their handiwork.

Three times each year, Cynthia Curtis opens her glass studio, nestled in 
the woods of Rockport, to visually impaired youngsters, allowing them 
the chance to be creative and test the limits of their imagination.

"Many of these kids have siblings who go to clubs or play sports, but 
they don't," says Julia Andrews, director of the Social Circuit program 
at the North Shore YMCA in Beverly that brings these youngsters together 
each week to tackle a new challenge.

"This program is their thing," says Andrews, a certified orientation and 
mobility specialist. "The emphasis, really, is fun, but many of the 
activities -- like the pottery -- are also therapeutic, improving their 
motor skills and self-confidence."

Most of the time, when the children want to create something -- even a 
simple card -- a person with sight has to help them, Andrews notes. If 
they write something in Braille, for example, someone else has to 
translate it for them. But with pottery, they're able to complete a 
project on their own.

Curtis, a single mother with two children and a bachelor's degree in 
special education, has long recognized the therapeutic benefits of the 
potter's wheel. Over the years, her students have included an elderly 
woman in the early stages of Alzheimer's, an East Boston high school 
teacher looking to escape the stress of her day job, and two women with 
traumatic brain injuries.

"It's so relaxing to be able to focus on the clay and forget about 
everything else," says Curtis, who offers weekly classes and private 
lessons to 60 students who range in ability and in age, from 7 years to 
70. "It's magical, really. It gives people a sense of accomplishment, to 
see that they can create something with their own hands."

For many students, even experienced potters, the creative process can be 
difficult. The slightest misstep is liable to cause the clay to fly off 
the wheel or collapse in a messy heap. But for those with disabilities, 
even the failures can prove invaluable.

"Sometimes, because I'm numb on one side and stronger on the other, it's 
a challenge for me to make something," says Lisa Vincent, 43, of 
Rockport, who started taking pottery lessons at Curtis's studio three 
years ago, after suffering a stroke that affected her central nervous 
system, leaving her dizzy and in chronic pain.

"Of every five things I make, four have to be done again, but still the 
process is gratifying," adds Vincent, who credits a friend she met at a 
local stroke support group with giving her the courage to try her hand 
at pottery. "It helped get me out of my depression, to feel like I could 
do something again."

Encouraged by her progress at Curtis's studio, Vincent bought both a 
kiln and a potter's wheel and set them up in her basement. The former 
marketing executive has also started selling her pieces -- teapots and 
mugs -- at local craft fairs.

"It started out as a diversion, but has become a passion," says Vincent. 
"One of the things I enjoy the most is sticking my hands into a big pot 
of clay. Working with the wheel allows me to channel my pain, to put it 
into something beautiful."

For Deb Richardson, 59, the woman who advised Vincent to take up 
pottery, Curtis's studio offers a respite. The tranquil setting, the 
warmth of the kiln, even the aroma of the clay and glazes, set her mind 
at ease.

"It's so peaceful there," says Richardson, who four years ago suffered 
two hemorrhagic strokes in a span of five days, forcing her to relearn 
how to walk, talk and feed herself. Like Vincent, Richardson is often 
dizzy and suffers chronic pain. "When the kiln is on, the studio is very 
cozy. And I love the smell of the clay; it reminds me of the smell of 
mud at a river's edge. It allows me to block out everything else."

Richardson, who also lives in Rockport, just 4 miles from the studio, 
says working with clay also improves her coordination and cognitive 
abilities.

"I find it helps me integrate the right and left sides of my body, to 
get them to work together," says Richardson, who shuns the potter's 
wheel and prefers to pinch the clay into shape. "The strokes left me 
with central pain syndrome, which triggers sensory issues. The feeling 
of the clay desensitizes me to touch, to heat, to cold, to wet, even to 
changes in the barometric pressure."

Like Vincent and several of the blind children in the YMCA program, 
Richardson has included some of her work in Curtis's holiday show. Her 
hope is that the inclusion of her ceramic trays will help others 
understand the healing power of art.

"I'm not in it to make money," Richardson says with a laugh when she is 
asked how much she'll charge for her work. "I'm in it for the rehab, 
because it restores my soul."


article http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/4390201.html

Dec. 10, 2006, 1:08AM
A touch of paint guides Denton student's work
He's never seen his own work, but blind artist says painting frees him
Denton Record-chronicle
DENTON — Several pairs of eyes stare down from the living room wall in 
John Bramblitt's apartment.

One pair belongs to a woman, and a lock of her black hair dangles 
between her eyes.

Another pair belongs to a wide-eyed baby, Bramblitt said, though some 
have thought it was a frail old man's.

A third pair of eyes belongs to a woman and features a lot of color.

In his studio at the back of his Denton apartment, Bramblitt paints 
another set of eyes, the next addition to his series called Perceptions.

"When we see something with our eyes, we think we understand it," said 
Bramblitt, 35. "I wanted people to think about how people perceive 
things. We all know that we all see things differently."

Bramblitt has never seen his own work.

He is blind.

He lost his sight six years ago after a series of seizures that had 
plagued him since he was a child.

Telling colors apart
About 3 1/2 years ago, Bramblitt picked up a paintbrush and began to 
paint, his way of "shoving my disability right back in the face of God 
or nature or whatever."


But instead he found that painting helped him cope.

"When I first lost my sight, I was angry," Bramblitt said. "Until I 
started painting, I didn't even realize how angry I was. Painting was a 
way to get my vision back."

Bramblitt paints with oils because he can tell the colors apart.

"Oil colors each have a different consistency," Bramblitt said. "White 
is thick like toothpaste; black is thin."

Differences among the colors in the middle of the spectrum are harder to 
describe, he said, but he's learned to tell them apart, too.

"One day I went to the art store and felt them all," he said. "I started 
with white, black and red and learned those well."

Then he added more colors as he could.

He begins by drawing an outline of his subject with puffy paint, which 
leaves raised lines on the canvas. When that dries, he can feel his way 
around the canvas as he paints between those lines. His work requires 
intense concentration, so much so that he sometimes breaks out in a sweat.

"When I started painting, I didn't think anybody would see my painting," 
he said. "I didn't want people to know I was blind because that would 
color how they looked at my painting. But to hear that people liked 
them, that still blows my mind."

Also a college student
When he is not painting, Bramblitt is studying at the University of 
North Texas.


He plans to finish his bachelor of applied arts and sciences in May. 
Then he plans to go to graduate school at UNT to study English.

"I'm a nerd. I love to read, so school is usually pretty easy," he said. 
"I just enjoy it."

To help him study, Bramblitt has some bells and whistles on his 
computer. One software program reads aloud what's on his screen. Another 
allows him to scan in notes, and his computer reads them back to him.

It was during his second year at UNT when Bramblitt went blind, though 
he had been losing his sight for several years.

Ron Venable, UNT's director of disability accommodations, has known 
Bramblitt only two years, but he said Bramblitt has coped with his 
disability as well as anyone could.

"He's got to be one of the most outstanding advocates we have," Venable 
said. "He says to people, 'Maybe I don't have the sight I used to have, 
but look what I can do.' We're very proud to have him at UNT."

Wants to help others
Bramblitt plans to marry Jacqi Serie, his girlfriend of more than three 
years, on March 17.


She said living with someone who is blind is not as difficult as one 
might think. Bramblitt has memorized his way around his apartment, so at 
home it's hard to tell he is blind.

When they are at the grocery store or other places he is less familiar 
with, she has to help guide him more.

"It's a good excuse to constantly hold hands," Serie said.

Serie, who holds an art degree from UNT, said Bramblitt has developed 
his own artistic style even though he has not been to art school.

While painting has helped him cope, he wants to help others do the same. 
He's trying to revive a local committee to address the needs of people 
with disabilities in Denton.

He also has workshops where he shows sighted children how he paints. 
Then he lets them try it blindfolded.

"I believe everybody is disabled in some way," Bramblitt said. "Disabled 
just means there's something you can't do. Everybody has something they 
can't do."


article

Artificial eyesight
http://www.expresscomputeronline.com/20061211/technology06.shtml

Forehead Retina System (FRS) is a high-tech solution to what was 
formerly an insoluble problem. It literally enables the blind to see. 
The goal is to improve the quality of life for visually handicapped people.

The prototype is being developed with a form-factor that resembles 
sunglasses. The system converts visual information into tactile 
sensations using a small camera and 512 electrodes embedded inside a 
headband and mounted on the forehead.

According to a WHO report in 2003, approximately 45 million people are 
completely blind and about 135 million have low vision. FRS will give 
them a 2D representation of an object. The image is captured by the 
camera then converted to tactile sensations by electrical stimuli. An 
appropriate training module is necessary for using this device 
successfully.

Several technologies are used for FRS.

Nerve selective stimulation. Says Dr Hiroyuki Kajimoto, Research faculty 
at the University of Electro-communications in Japan, “There are several 
mechano-receptors in our skin. These are a kind of sensor that is 
activated by mechanical deformation of the skin. This activity is 
transmitted to our brain through nerve fibres, generating the sense of 
touch. Each type of mechano-receptor is responsible for a different type 
of mechanical deformation.” Independently stimulating each type of 
mechano-receptor’s nerves in our skin, complex tactile sensations can be 
reconstructed by combining them. This process is similar to the visual 
colour construction method using RGB. It is called the ‘Tactile Primary 
Colour Approach.’ By appropriately designing electrical potential 
distribution using multiple surface electrodes, each type of receptor 
can be selectively stimulated. In FRS, the Meissner corpuscle, which 
responds to low frequency vibration (of about 30 Hz), is selectively 
stimulated; this gives a vibratory sensation to the person wearing the 
instrument. “Our electrical stimulation mainly stimulates the Meissner 
corpuscle, therefore it induces a vibratory sensation which is quite 
easy to perceive,” adds Kajimoto.

High speed switching. In FRS, unlike conventional co-axial electrodes, a 
matrix of electrodes is used. Each electrode alternates between anode 
and ground to form a virtual co-axial electrode, enabling denser alignment.

Forehead stimulation. Sensory substitution through electrical 
stimulation is old, but using the forehead as a stimulation area is a 
new approach. However, forehead stimulation is quite reasonable. It is 
easy to put on and take off, while coordinate system transformation in 
our brain is easier than would be the case with other parts of the body.

Image processing. An image is captured by the camera and then converted 
to tactile information through two processes. Firstly, to enhance the 
edges, spatial outline extraction is performed. Then to enhance 
time-varying information, temporal band-pass filtering is done. These 
are actually what the retina does. FRS imitates the pre-processing done 
by the real visual system to facilitate image recognition.

A CCD camera attached to a pair of sunglasses captures the view in front 
of the subject. After extracting the edges, the data is converted to a 
tactile stimulation pattern and transmitted to the driver circuit via a 
standard serial port. 512 electrodes are driven sequentially to create 
the tactile pattern. The entire process is triggered by the image 
capture event, which occurs every 33 ms (30 fps).

The basic electrical stimulation technology is inherited from 
‘Smart-Touch’ [Kajimoto et al. 2003] which is a visual-to-tactile 
conversion system for the skin on the finger. Edge extraction is done 
using luminance information followed by extraction of specific colours 
using a colour key. Extraction of the outline edge is done using an 
ordinary Laplacian of Gaussian (LOG) filter. After that, the image is 
scaled down to a resolution of 32×16, and using threshold a 
black-and-white binary pattern is obtained.

Research on FRS is being conducted by Tachi Laboratory in the University 
of Tokyo and EyePlusPlus Inc. According to them, FRS should be widely 
available by 2007.


article

Is that $20--or $5?
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0612090183dec09,1,2886833.story?coll=chi-opinionfront-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true
Published December 9, 2006


Some 3.3 million Americans are legally blind or have very limited 
vision. Should U.S. paper currency be redesigned to make it easier for 
that 1 percent of the nation to tell the difference between bill 
denominations? Yes, it should, U.S. District Court Judge James Robertson 
ruled last week in a case brought by the American Council of the Blind. 
The judge decreed the U.S. has illegally discriminated against the 
blind. He gave the government 30 days to come up with a fix.

Before you dismiss this as overkill, consider that 180 countries issue 
paper currency and the U.S. is the only one that doesn't make some kind 
of design accommodation to help the blind.

Euro denominations come in different sizes and colors. They also have 
large raised numerals and foil features located in one place on smaller 
bills and in another on larger bills. Denominations of the redesigned 
Japanese yen can be distinguished by touch; the Swiss franc has raised 
digits and perforated numerals. Canadian dollars have various tactile 
features; Australia's dollars come in different sizes and colors.

If 179 countries can figure this out, why can't the U.S.? This is not a 
new issue. Congress has tried to force change more than half a dozen 
times over the last 27 years. All those efforts fizzled. In that time, 
Treasury had made major changes to U.S. paper currency twice, in 1996 
and 2004. Meanwhile, people with impaired vision struggled to 
differentiate their bills. Some fold different denominations into 
various shapes, keep them in separate pockets or parts of their wallets, 
or rely on the kindness and honesty of strangers. ("Can you tell me if 
I've given you a $5 bill or a $20 bill?")

The bureau has estimated the one-time costs of making various size or 
tactile changes to paper currency. It would cost $437 million to $528 
million to print bills in different sizes. Other options are to add 
embossed features ($46 million), foil features ($51 million) or 
perforate the bills ($75 million). Each option would raise government 
operating costs, as did the last two redesigns. (They cost a combined 
$147 million and added $56 million in annual costs.) Making any one of 
these changes would not break the bank, Judge Robertson pointed out. The 
bureau has spent an average $420 million a year to make currency over 
the last decade.

The government's main argument seemed to be not so much cost, but 
security. These changes would make U.S. currency easier to counterfeit, 
government attorneys argued. Robertson dismissed that as "utterly 
unpersuasive." He also called "fairly absurd" the argument that any 
drastic change to U.S. currency would make it harder for foreigners to 
recognize and trust it.

The U.S. is the most technologically proficient nation on Earth. It can 
find a way to make sure that people can distinguish a $5 bill from a $20 
bill by sight--or touch

article
New theater space more friendly to patrons with disabilities
http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=local&id=4848981

December 14, 2006 - Since 1995, Victory Gardens Theater has been the 
home to the Access Project, a program that promotes making theater 
accessible for patrons with disabilities. Now, their new home, the 
legendary Biograph Theater, has given them space to do more.

 From getting into the building to the main stage, the beautiful 
renovated theater is barrier-free.

"If you look around, you'll see an attempt to accommodate everybody," 
said Access Project Director Mike Ervin.

Ervin also says there are various of accommodations available for 
patrons with disabilities. For those who are physically disabled, there 
are seating options.

"Right now, on both sides of the aisles, we have two spots removed, but 
we can also remove the four remaining chairs on both those sides of the 
aisles pretty easily, just by unbolting them from the floor," Ervin 
said. "[That] would make probably about five seats on each side where 
you could put somebody in a wheelchair."

All of the seats are the same price.

"For people with disabilities and the people who accompany them, we 
offer a discount," Ervin said.

For patrons who are blind and visually impaired, there are audio 
described performances, braille and large print programs and touch tours.

"If someone who is blind wants to enhance and enrich experience of the 
description, they can come here an hour and half before an audio 
described show and we have volunteers who walk them around on the stage, 
have them meet the actors, have them sit on some of the furniture," 
Ervin said.

They have touch tactile models of the set of the theater.

If you are deaf and hard of hearing, there are several accommodations.

"We do one performance for every show we produce of interpreting, we 
have captioning, we do three of them," said Ervin.

They also have assisted listening devices. For specific accommodations, 
Ervin recommends that you call in advance. "We realize some people want 
some spontaneity in their life. So, we don't require them to let us know 
but it's always best in life in general to be prepared to know what's 
coming," he said.

In January, they are going to start presenting some Sunday evening 
disability culture performances.

For more information:

Victory Gardens Theater

www.victorygardens.org

article
excerpthttp://www.innovations-report.de/html/berichte/informationstechnologie/bericht-75958.html
New wheelchair technology offers greater freedom and independence
Ultimately this new technology can be used to guide the blind and sight 
impaired as a complement to the cane. Since the technology also creates 
a map, it can also assist people who suffer from dementia and impaired 
memory. The technology thus provides the user with both enhanced freedom 
and reduced dependency on relatives and personal assistants.