Tactile art

Feeling the Masterpiece

The importance of making art accessible for the blind and low vision community cannot be overstated. It’s about ensuring that a whole section of society doesn’t remain excluded from the profound experiences art can offer. As an advocate for accessibility in visual art, let’s discuss some of the ways art can be made accessible to those with no sight, allowing an opportunity to connect with the emotions, stories, and creativity that artists pour into their work.

While audio descriptions are an excellent way to make two-dimensional art accessible, what about sculptures and three-dimensional pieces? Enter tactile art, a form of art specifically designed to be touched and explored through the sense of touch. Tactile art offers a unique opportunity for the visually impaired to immerse themselves in the world of sculpture and to feel the shapes, textures, and details that lie beneath their fingertips.

If you work in a 3d physical medium like sculpture, ceramics or other similar modality, consider creating an additional smaller version of your piece that is meant to be touched. We recommend aiming at a piece that is ten to twelve inches wide. Include all the texture and shape of the original. Make your piece easy to clean and well-sealed to protect it against damage from any disinfectant the location exhibiting your work may need to utilize. Ensure that this smaller version of your work is secured to a base so that it cannot be knocked or dropped when viewers are interacting with it.

For artists, creating tactile versions of their work allows them to reach a broader audience. It’s a chance to share their vision in a more intimate forum – through touch with those who might otherwise have remained unaware of their talent and creativity. Tactile art transforms art appreciation into an interactive experience, deepening the connection between the artwork and the observer.

Photography: Capturing Emotions Beyond Sight

Tactile (touchable) art is not only reserved for sculptures, Paintings and Photography have been brought into the realm of accessibility through embossed prints using 3d printers. What if you could actually touch a landscape? We have developed a process which extracts the textures and light values from a landscape or painting and translates that into a 3d printable and touchable print.

A photo of the Golden Gate Bridge under cloudy skies. Sunrays are popping through the clouds. On the left of the frame is the structures that the road sits on. Across the cam waters of the bay the Marin Headlands can be seen.

A tactile print of the Golden Gate Bridge on a white background. Below the tactile print is a braille label and below that is a tactile QR code.

Our method outputs high contrast touchable prints, and we recommend showing work with the original print, the tactile print, a braille label and a tactile QR code which gives a description of the original photo, then walks the viewer through the features of the tactile rendering. This makes the work accessible for anyone whether they can see or not.