Take an opportunity to learn about visual impairments and the visual arts
Having a new perspective on the visual arts means moving past traditional attitudes and concepts. The arts have always been a domain where people are able to do what they want to do in order to express themselves—breaking preconceptions of what is expected to uncover who we are.
And that’s exactly what visually impaired and blind artists are doing today, in the most literal ways.
Photographer Karren Visser, visual artist Sally Booth, and performer Mandy Redvers-Rowe are a few of the speakers participating, and will talk about the need for greater accessibility and inclusion in all realms of the art world.
Because she is a photographer with degenerative myopia and glaucoma, Karren Visser’s perspective on photography has been shaped by her limited eyesight. She says she has to continually redefine her process, and that her condition has given her “an unusual way of seeing my surroundings and a sensitivity to those living in challenging circumstances.”
Trained in fine art and specializing in painting, Sally Booth’s career has been influenced by how she observes the world around her as a woman with visual impairments. While she usually works with oils and watercolors in her studio, she collaborates with other artists in the use of sound, video, and photography.
In addition to working in theater for around 30 years, Mandy Redvers-Rowe is an audio-description consultant. She was registered as blind when she was sixteen years old, and had to learn how to do everything in a new way. Now, she’s a writer who has written for the stage, radio and television.
Broaden your perspective by hearing from voices that have navigated both visual impairment and the visual arts to find empowerment and identity in the process.
