Curated Reading List

For this blog post assignment, I decided to focus on a combination of readings that challenged my perspectives and my interests throughout this program. It is a list of websites, articles, and books that have shaped my identity, research interests, and passion for the visual arts. Several of these works align and fit simultaneously with the theme of blindness and how the arts are perceived and understood by this community. The blind community as a whole, similar to other disabled and non-disabled groups, share the perspective that the arts provide a powerful source of expression and also challenges the status quo. For example, in Country of the Blind by Andrew Leland, he devotes an entire chapter to the powerful connection the arts create in enhancing a multi-sensory experience and also describing his own experiences as a blind individual. The second theme refers to the analysis and interpretation of the arts concerning specific types of artwork created by artists along with academic scholarship. This combination of artistic interpretation and emphasis allows for the combination of creating a more vibrant and distinct perspective surrounding the visual arts. With these two themes highlighted below, I create two separate perspectives and practices about how the world can be perceived. It can either combine the understanding of the disability and non-disability community alike as we continue to explore and challenge the reason behind interpretation and research.

Artistic Perspectives for the Blind and Low Vision Community

Hardy, D. Nachman, D. Pick of the Litter (2018). (n.d.). Tubitv.com. Retrieved April 7, 2024, from https://tubitv.com/movies/100001340/pick-of-the-litter 

Pick of the Litter details the story of several guide dogs and their blind guide dog handlers. They come from unique backgrounds and career paths, and the guide dogs are extremely unique as well.

Hayhoe, S. (2013, March 26). Expanding our vision of museum education and perception: An analysis of three case studies of Independent Blind Arts Learners. Allen Press. Retrieved April 6, 2023, from https://meridian.allenpress.com/her/article/83/1/67/32303/Expanding-Our-Vision-of-Museum-Education-and 

            Hayhoe’s work details several case studies of blind persons of various ages and abilities through the Art Appreciation lens. All of his interviewees are familiar with the visual arts, and each of them enjoy the museum experience, as well as creating their own art.

Kleege, G. (2018, January 10). More than meets the eye: What blindness brings to art. Amazon. Retrieved April 6, 2023, from https://www.amazon.com/More-than-Meets-Eye-Blindness/dp/0190604360 

            Kleege’s work is groundbreaking in more ways than one due to her unique perspectives surrounding blindness and Art Education. She also happens to be a member of the National Federation of the Blind, which is the largest organization of blind persons in the world.

Leland, A. (2023). The Country of the Blind. Penguin.

The Country of the Blind is a compilation of stories and experiences relating to blind individuals from the National Federation of the Blind as well as, Andrew Leland. He expresses numerous emotions as he details his connection with blindness from his earliest blindness experience as a younger adult, to his current situation where he has lost a large portion of his central vision.

Marks, J. (n.d.). Thanks, But No Thanks [Review of Thanks, But No Thanks]. Nfb.org.

Retrieved April 7, 2024, from https://nfb.org/sites/default/files/images/nfb/publications/bm/bm00/bm0007/bm000703.htm 

The article “Thanks, But No Thanks” discusses how there is a split between the blind community needing more accommodations than others. In other words, this is more specifically related to a college campus and the disability services office.

McGrath, C. Navigating a New World: The Experiences of Persons who are Blind or Partially Sighted During COVID-19. (n.d.). Crhesi.uwo.ca. https://crhesi.uwo.ca/margins/navigating-a-new-world-the-experiences-of-persons-who-are-blind-or-partially-sighted-during-covid-19/ 

This article discusses various experiences of blind individuals trying to cope during the pandemic, which proved extremely challenging for the disability and non-disability community. This was much more difficult for blind people since they were advised not to touch that many items or were advised not to ask for a sighted guide within a store or elsewhere.

Reidmiller, L. L. (2003). Art for the visually impaired and blind: A case study of one artist’s solution (dissertation). Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio.

            Reidmiller’s dissertation focuses on the historical aspects of blindness within schools for the blind, as well as the public school setting. However, her primary focus is based on several blind students experiences at the Ohio State School for the Blind, along with a sighted art teacher, sighted artist, and the school administrator.

Artistic Analysis and Interpretation

Andre, L., Durksen, T., & Volman, M. L. (2016). Museums as avenues of learning for children: A decade of research. Learning Environments Research, 20(1), 47–76. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10984-016-9222-9 

            This research provides the key components of children’s’ education throughout a wide variety of museums, galleries, science centers, and natural history museums. Unlike previous studies conducted, few exist that offer an educational framework specifically for elementary and preschool students.

Hershman-Leeson, L. (n.d.). https://www.lynnhershman.com/ 

As I read through some of Lynn Hershman’s works on her website, numerous themes evolved, and they underscore the intersection of art and technology. Some of these themes include Racial profiling, social media, AI, as well as an alternate identity/ego.

Katchadourian, N. (n.d.). http://www.ninakatchadourian.com/photography/seatassignment.php 

Nina Katchadourian’s work “Seat Assignment” challenged my perspective of what is possible for a typical art making assignment. Katchadourian used a combination of inflight materials to create her work including magazines, snack bags, tray tables, and her phone camera.

Orozco, G. Gabriel Orozco. yielding stone. 1992. 1992 | moma. (n.d.). https://www.moma.org/audio/playlist/240/3087 

Gabriel Orozco’s explanation of “Yielding Stone” is well-crafted and examines the idea of humanity within art making. In other words, as he worked on a project, he considered his own identity as an artist and the physical and emotional impacts that humans undergo within society.

Schero, J. E. (2021, May 13). Art Museum Docent Coordinators’ perceptions: A difficult kind of balancing act. VCU Scholars Compass. Retrieved April 6, 2023, from https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/6651/ 

            In Schero’s work, she describes how docent coordinators play a key role in Museum Education when it comes to docent training. In the first section of her research, she provides an outline of the various philosophies of Museum Education over the past centuries and points out the roadmap demonstrating the lack of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in the early 1970s to the 21st century where barriers are continually removed.

Walker, S. R. (2021). Artmaking, play, and meaning making. Davis Publications, Inc.

Sidney Walker’s book discusses various themes of art education for students, as well as professional artists. She focuses heavily on art making, play, and meaning making, and in each chapter, she breaks down a specific theme that includes project examples and artistic experiences.

Walkup, N. (n.d.). Art criticism: Barrett’s principles of interpretation. Davis Publications. https://www.davisart.com/blogs/schoolarts-room/art-criticism-barretts-principles-of/#:~:text=Interpretations%20are%20not%20so%20much,wanted%20it%20to%20be%20about.

In this article, Nancy Walkup (2013) discusses Barrett’s principles of art criticism, and the most significant themes that arise include community and personal engagement. Community and personal art criticism are the two most significant aspects of interpreting a work, since art criticism involves a combination of self-reflection and community identity.