Posts from Andrew Heiskell Braille and Talking Book Library

With my hand, I touch the outside, or contour, of a small ceramic jug, a container for cream. I slowly trace the curve of the rim, continuing to the pointed lip. I put down the jug, and pick up a piece of charcoal or a soft pastel. I draw round curves, recreating what I see in my mind's eye, moving my hand across the paper, keeping pace with my inner vision.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney and the Guggenheim present "Seeing with the Senses"—an afternoon of art-making workshops, verbal description and touch tours for those with low vision or blindness.

Hear the audio version of this blog post. Narration: Kevin Gillins. Music performed by La Capella Reial de Catalunya; Le Concert des Nations; conductor: Jordi Savall.

I am looking at Monet's Weeping Willow series and want to describe these works to people who cannot see. I think music, with its sensual and dramatic language will most elegantly convey the power of these works.

New York Public Library is once again proud to partner with ReelAbilities, offering opportunities to see recent, high-quality films promoting awareness and appreciation of the lives, stories and artistic expressions of people with differing abilities.

As part or our art and low-vision series we are excited to have The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) present a series of free lectures and art-making workshops at the Andrew Heiskell Library this winter. The content of this program series is based on free monthly touch and verbal description tours conducted at MOMA for adults who are blind or partially sighted. MoMA also conducts programs such as these for families. All programs will take place in the first floor community room.

Washington Square Park, Manhattan, iPad drawing ©2012 Fotis Flevotomos on Vimeo.

On October 25, 2012, we posted "Drawing on the iPad," a brief introduction to digital drawing for people with or without vision loss. The present video is an example of the playback feature of the Brushes app.

In his very first email to me, Michael Marmor, professor and past chair of ophthalmology at the Stanford University School of Medicine, wrote:
Your point that your view is original and valid on its own is important. I try to teach students that low vision or color “blindness” are not necessarily faulty vision... they are “different” vision. And may in some ways be better, or at least just as valid, depending on what you are trying to do. You have more of an “impressionist” view of a distant landscape than others with perfect vision — it's not better or worse, but alternative.

Museums around New York City are offering visitors with low-vision or are blind the opportunity to experience and learn about great works of art. Through monthly verbal description and touch tours, visitors can enjoy a multisensory museum experience, to help compensate for some museums' "no touch" policy. Below is a select list of these tours. Advance appointments are usually required and be sure to call the museum to get updated information.

Why would someone with low vision choose to become an artist or feel passion about viewing and visiting great works of art in an art museum? As a senior librarian at the Andrew Heiskell Braille and Talking Book Library and an artist and painter with low vision, I have found that the act of painting provides me with a great way of getting in touch with my inner self, a way of creating a sense of "mindfulness" where one can be present in the moment and reduce the feeling of stress in one's life.

As a visiting artist at the NYPL, I felt the need from the very beginning of my stay in New York City to explore the library visually by making drawings of it on my iPad. The library’s landmark building at 5th Avenue and 42nd Street caught my attention immediately. In the room of the Art and Architecture Collection, the reddish light coming from the reflections of the floor, the wood and the books was one of my first visual discoveries. I loved the quietness of the room, the stillness of everything in there, and, of course, the big table lamps that look like elegant immovable figures among the human figures. All these elements kept me drawing for hours without a break — five 

I have been a librarian for about twelve years and have worked in many libraries for much longer. I am also dyslexic which I have been since I have known the meaning of that word's existence. Weird you say but it's the truth.

If you haven't experienced, or perhaps even heard about, ReelAbilities, this may be the year to discover this unique festival, which is a film festival, but also so much more.

The year has flown past and the brink of a new year is a good time to look back. We hope everyone has a great holiday, whatever you celebrate, and a wonderful new year. Here are the things that caught our attention this fall:

The following links caught our attention this past month. Plus, we've got a couple of announcements about new services.

We can't believe the summer is nearly over. Aside from the distractions of a minor earthquake and a hurricane (though Irene had been downgraded to a tropical storm by the time she hit New York City), we served up a number of links on our Facebook and Twitter pages that you might find interesting.

A good biography is like a good novel. It can transport you to a different place and a different time, and inspire the imagination. But what has always appealed to me about biographies is that they could put me into someone else's head, letting me vicariously live a life more interesting than my own. Growing up, I read mostly fiction, especially science fiction and mysteries, which took me to exotic places both real and imaginary. But when teachers insisted we students be well-rounded readers, the non-fiction books I turned to were on the biography shelves in my local library.

Creating visual art is not the first thing most people consider when thinking of people who are blind or who have visual difficulties, but there are many such artists and photographers who challenge that perception every day. The Andrew Heiskell Library was pleased to host an exhibition of artwork by students who have visual impairments, running from June 14 through June 18.

We liked the following links this past month:

Creators of TV shows get their inspiration from many places, but lately they seem to be turning more and more often to books for their source material. And with quality programs doing justice to the books that inspired them, it's a welcome trend, especially if it leads fans of the shows who have never read the books to seek them out. Here are some to get you started.