Art Beyond Sight: A Resource Guide to Art, Creativity, and Visual Impairment

Edited by Art Education for the Blind's founder and director Elisabeth Salzhauer Axel and Nina Sobol Levent, Art Beyond Sight is the first book covering all aspects of teaching art to people who are blind or visually impaired, and includes solid theoretical background and concrete advice to instructors. The book develops the idea that blind people who are given the opportunity to experience art are able to understand art-including form, depth, and perspective, said Axel. There is no one single way to teach art, art history, and art making. Like sighted people, people with vision loss have different learning styles, and those differences can be accommodated through a variety of teaching styles and resources. Over a decade of research, experimentation, and collaboration among educators, scientists, artists, and more than 40 museums worldwide-especially The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City-contributed to the content of Art Beyond Sight, and the book presents information on groundbreaking research that specifically addresses such questions as How do people who are blind perceive and draw pictures? and Do blind people appreciate art the same way sighted people do? Art Beyond Sight began as a teaching manual for educators, said Axel. But, it soon evolved into a broader-reaching publication that can be read and enjoyed by educators, museum professionals, blind or visually impaired people themselves, their families, and friends. Art Beyond Sight includes reproductions of works of art by blind or visually impaired artists, and a section of personal perspectives from those artists and from parents and teachers of visually impaired children.