American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults
Future Reflections Convention 2024 CONVENTION PERSPECTIVES
Time Out for Art
by Ann Cunningham and the Art Room Volunteers
From the Editor: “Free tactile art exhibition and art activities for everyone!” announced the 2024 NFB Convention agenda. “Come with friends or come and meet new people. We will be teaching raised-line drawing, coloring, sculpting, origami, SVG (scalable vector graphics) coding, and LEGO® building. We will also have tactile picture books on hand!” For more than ten years the National Federation of the Blind has hosted a drop-in art room at its annual convention, coordinated by artist and teacher Ann Cunningham. In this article Ann and her team of volunteers reflect on the 2024 Art Room experience.
The agenda for the NFB Convention is packed with tightly scheduled events: workshops, committee meetings, seminars, and of course the dynamic presentations that fill three days of General Sessions. The Drop-in Art Room offers a very different experience. Open for two days from one to six p.m., the Art Room invites visitors to explore at their own pace, and, if they’re so inclined, to sit down at a table and create.
This year the Art Room was busier than ever before. At any given moment we had from twenty to forty visitors or more. Some made quick rounds of the tables, checking out the books and tools, before they headed out again. Others sat down with us for an hour or longer, drawing, building, and discussing possibilities.
Each table offered a different art experience. At one visitors could draw raised-line pictures, using Sensational BlackBoards. At others they could sculpt with Model Magic, build with Legos, or learn origami techniques. One table displayed an assortment of Braille books that included tactile pictures.
Dedicated volunteers staffed each table, answering questions and occasionally offering suggestions. One of this year’s volunteers was Marco Salsiccia, who had been a visual artist before losing his sight. “Several people came in who had been artists before their vision loss,” he said later. “They came in thinking that art couldn’t be part of their lives anymore. When we showed them all the ways they can create by touch, they got so excited! They left the room knowing they could welcome art into their lives again.”
“It was such an amazing experience, I’m still talking about it!” said Minh Ha, who volunteered this year for the first time. “The art room was cathartic. I got to talk to a lot of people, especially parents. Parents and kids were looking at tactile coloring books and different methods for telling crayons apart. I heard a lot of stories from blind adults about how they were discouraged from coloring when they were kids. People told them they couldn’t participate in art programs. In the art room we showed them ways they can be involved, like putting Braille labels on crayons. I came away from both days emotionally drained. It was hard work to absorb all those emotions, the negative stories we heard and the positive excitement of people making discoveries.”
“I loved the energy in the room!” said Lindsey Yazzolino. “People tried out tactile graphics. Conversations grew organically as people sat at the tables with us. People had so many experiences and ideas they wanted to share.”
Some visitors to the art room felt intimidated when they tried to make their own creations. On the first day volunteer Ka Li spent time with a young woman who was challenged by certain spatial concepts. “We worked through it, and eventually she was successful with her LEGO project,” he recalled. “She did a build on the first day, and she came back to work on another one the second day. It was really cool to see that level of engagement!”
If you didn’t have a chance to get to the Art Room this year, don’t worry. We’ll be back again at Convention 2025. See you in New Orleans!