[Art_beyond_sight_learning_tools] drawing, exhibition

Sat Mar 3 03:28:02 CST 2007

Hi,
Mostly articles about art. I was thinking some might wonder why I 
include short bits of articles because of a reference made - I thought 
some might be interested in all types of references made in the media, - 
these shape our attitudes -so that is why.

Best,
Lisa

December 20

The Wisconsin Council of the Blind and Visually Impaired hosts an 
exhibit of art made by and for people who are blind or visually 
impaired. Artists Albert Schmeige and Jamie Landolt will be featured. 
This is until January fifteenth at 754 Williamson Street. Call 237-8111 
for details.
http://irkiosk.blogspot.com/2006/12/december-20.html

<http://www.amazon.com/Journey-Photography-Visually-Impaired-Waiting/dp/1878444018/ref=sr_1_1/102-3956337-1529739?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1172909744&sr=1-1>
excerpt
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/faithvalues/2003480498_glickman16m.html
"They happen whenever you build a sandcastle that you know the waves 
will soon wash away, whenever a blind artist picks up a brush to paint 
something he knows he will never see, and whenever people living in deep 
darkness hope for light.

article

Karnataka - Bangalore

`I want to touch the Vidhana Soudha and draw it'

Staff Reporter

Five visually challenged children exhibit their skills in drawing

Bangalore: Mountains are green. The sky is blue. The sun is yellow. 
There are even two birds to complete the perfect picture.

"Did you ever imagine that the blind could draw, madam?" Mahadevi, a 
visually challenged student from CSI Victoria School in Mysore, asked a 
pressperson, pointing to her drawing.

Displaying their ability to draw on a Monday afternoon for the press, 
five visually challenged children sat and drew mountains, trees, flags 
and flowers of different colours all by themselves.

Training

Trained by an artist, Mustafa Khan, in what he calls "Pop Up Symbolism", 
these 10th standard students, Kavitha, Nagamani, Rachna, Sushma and 
Mahadevi, can now draw by touching objects to understand their shape and 
then using their fingers to recreate them from their imagination. "The 
children had to be taught to hold a pencil. They were used to punching 
holes for Braille," says Mr. Khan.

Preparing them mentally and continuously motivating them is important in 
the initial stages.

The children are first taught to be familiar with shapes such as 
triangles, rectangles and circles.

Then they are taught to identify crayon colours by associating certain 
shapes with the colours.

"It has been four years since I started working with these children," 
says Mr. Khan. Now, he teaches 16 students and is willing to teach more 
visually challenged children.

"I can even provide literature on how to go about the process," he says.

"We did not think that we could draw big shapes when we started off," 
says Nagamani. "Now I want to touch the Vidhana Soudha and draw it," 
Mahadevi says.

http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/thscrip/print.pl?file=2006121917040400.htm&date=2006/12/19/&prd=th&

article

Image: Liquid, 'The Wolf'

Montreal (Ski Press)-An accomplished artist, a skater, and national 
snowboard champion. These are all virtues on Thomas Wolf’s resume. As an 
artist, his mediums are photography, acrylics, abstract prints and 3D 
renderings. He competes in Superpipe, Slopestyle and Boardercross. 
Amazing indeed. But what is even more amazing about Thomas Wolf is that 
he does all this despite being legally blind.

He was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa when he was 10, by age 25 he 
was deemed legally blind because of his narrow visual field and 
nightblindness.
Wolf credits his wife Kimberly Nga, for inspiring him to reclaim his 
snowboarding habit in recent years

He says, “When Kimberly and I first met, she really wanted to try 
riding. We went boarding a couple of times, and she was hooked. Because 
this was a sport that we both loved and I had previously lost, she 
really encouraged me to push myself. I rode and practiced switch and 
using what vision I had more efficiently as she learned the basics. It 
was meant to be, so much so, that we spent our honeymoon at 
Whistler/Blackcomb for opening weekend.”

Wolf has not only reclaimed his passion for the sport, but has found 
Liquid Boardwear, Dragon Alliance, and Never Summer to sponsor him.

Last year at the USASA Nationals, Thomas dominated coming 1st in the 
Freestyle Men’s Adaptive Division. This included a gold in Boardercross, 
silver in slopestyle, and bronze in super pipe. He is focused to repeat 
his success.

Liquid Boardwear is super excited to have Thomas join the team. His 
positivity and creativity is truly inspiring. Words can not explain how 
amped we are to be supporting Thomas and his endeavors. He rocks.

http://3w.skipressworld.com/news_detail.php?id=5239&languageId=1&regionId=1&section=news&type=features&mode=read&filter=&sort=

article

TV show Little House on the Prarie
Portrait of Love (episode #7655)
News of a blind artist's exhibition moves the girl's natural mother to 
renew contact with her.
http://www.meevee.com/program/programDetails.aspx?pid=405880590585531

excerpt

The printer would help ease Kayla's school workload. She currently uses 
a loaned, tractor-feed printer and relies on a school Braillist to 
convert her work.

The new printer, an Everest Braille Embosser, would allow Kayla to use 
regular paper and print on both sides. Kayla, a national Braille contest 
winner, hopes to be an art teacher, and the new printer would also print 
graphics, she said.

http://www.salemnews.com/local/local_story_350103838?keyword=topstory

------------------

Local film goes nationwide
By S. Derrickson Moore Sun-News reporter
Article Launched: 12/17/2006 01:00:00 AM MST

Click photo to enlargeLocal artist George Mendoza, who is legally blind, 
uses his... «1»
LAS CRUCES — A documentary chronicling the life of award-winning blind 
artist, author and athlete George Mendoza of Las Cruces will be released 
nationally on PBS.

"Vision of the Soul: The George Mendoza Story," which was produced by 
KRWG-TV and premiered here Aug. 14, debuts nationwide on PBS stations 
this month.

"I understand that it is being released to 172 PBS stations and will be 
shown all over the country for the next four years," Mendoza said.

Mendoza became legally blind at age 15 when he was diagnosed with a rare 
genetic condition called fundus flavimaculatus. His central vision was 
totally obliterated, leaving him with narrow peripheral vision that is 
"about 20/400 at best" and is distorted with what he calls "kaleidoscope 
eyes."

But he went on to become an author, a motivational speaker, an athlete 
in international competitions and an artist who has exhibited at museums 
and galleries throughout the United States.

The film features interviews with friends, colleagues, art critics and 
Mendoza's mother, Cindy Huber, 78, also of Las Cruces.

In the works for more than a decade, the PBS documentary was produced by 
award-winning playwright and filmmaker Mark Medoff and directed by another

award-winning local filmmaker, Rajeev Nimalakhandan.
Santa Fe filmmaker Jane Rosemont also contributed to the project. JD 
Jarvis was project manager.

"It's a very touching and entertaining tale about George's life," said 
Jarvis, KRWG-TV production manager. "George and I had talked about this 
project for years and it's very good. Rajeev did a great job shooting 
and editing it. It's being distributed by the National Educational 
Television Association."

Jarvis said more local broadcasts of the documentary are planned early 
in 2007, but air dates have not yet been scheduled.

"Vision of the Soul" is the second nationally distributed film about 
Mendoza. His life was the also focus of an ABC after-school special, 
"The George Mendoza Story."

It's been a big year for Mendoza. The University of New Mexico Press 
released a new edition of "Running Toward the Light, The George Mendoza 
Story" by William J. Buchanan.

"There has been some interest in making that book into a feature film, 
too," Mendoza said.

A national traveling exhibition of 32 of his paintings began at 
Colorado's Loveland Art Museum.

"The people in Colorado were great and one of my paintings is now in 
their permanent collection. The show is coming to the El Paso Art Museum 
for three months this spring. We're talking about the exhibit going to 
Baltimore, Cleveland, Santa Fe, California and New York. A decade of 
hard work is all coming together for me," Mendoza said.

He reports that he and his girlfriend, Yolanda Ortiz, are making a good 
recovery from a July 5 auto accident in which both suffered concussions 
and whiplash.

"It's changed the way I paint. I haven't picked up a paint brush since. 
Now, I'm painting with my fingers," he said.

In "Visions of the Soul," Mendoza discusses inspirational turning points 
in his life, including a trip to New Mexico's legendary healing mecca 
Chimayo, and an encounter "with a little girl named Debbie who was born 
blind, who had never seen the color green or the shape of a tree. ... 
She asked me a question: Can you tell me, what color is the wind?' That 
question just blew my mind because I was just losing my sight then. She 
woke up my creative sense by asking me that question."

He said he is now collaborating on a children's book called "What Color 
is the Wind?" that will feature his illustrations.

Mendoza served as director of New Mexico State University Disabled 
Student Programs and is a motivational speaker and teaches T'ai Chi.

He is also working with Enhanced Vision, a company that makes devices to 
help the visually impaired. The company's special digital camera helped 
him to get a clearer overview of his own paintings for the first time, 
he said.

http://216.239.59.104/search?q=cache:xCo_I1R5O_QJ:www.scsun-news.com/news/ci_4854966+%22Local+film+goes+nationwide%22+mendoza&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1

reference
In his A Day-Dream, Samuel Coleridge, English poet (1772-18340), says: 
"My eyes make pictures when they are blind".
http://www.daijiworld.com/chan/exclusive_arch.asp?ex_id=508

excerpt

Brazil: Dolly Moreno - A Great Sculptress of the Americas

By Sol Biderman
Dolly Moreno is a beautiful tough woman who makes beautiful tough 
sculptures with remarkable textures - textures that even the blind can 
appreciate. A few years ago scores of blind children and adults attended 
an exhibit of Dolly‘s sculpture and came out enraptured with eyes 
sparkling, ecstatic with the feel, the texture, the stunning rich form 
of her compositions in bronze and steel and other metals which she alone 
cuts using a blowtorch and wearing overalls and protecting her blond 
hair and blue eyes with a steelworker‘s mask.
http://www.gringoes.com/articles.asp?ID_Noticia=1614

excerpt

Yuo Klun graduated from the University of Minnesota with a major in 
interior design and a minor in art history. While working her first 
design job out of college, she was diagnosed with optic neuritis and 
lost vision in both eyes. She went through rehabilitation and adapted to 
her vision loss.

Yuo KlunYuo is married and has a 3-year-old son. She is now back in the 
design field, working in fixture development for Target.

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2006/12/11/loopblind/