New Tactical Tours are Launched
by Kaylen Whitmore
A new program makes works of art more accessible to visitors who
are blind or have low vision.
The Minneapolis Institute
of Arts recently joined a select group of American museums offering
tactile-map art tours to visitors who are blind or have low vision.
Now visitors can feel a raised physical “map” of
Vincent van Gogh’s Olive Trees, and Cadzi Cody’s Elk
Hide with Scenes of Plains Indian Life while a specially trained
docent verbally describes the artwork in vivid detail. Dots, dashes,
and solid fields of raised or smooth surfaces give the user a sense
of perspective and make clear relationships between the whole work
of art and specific details of the piece, allowing in-depth exploration
of these key works through words and touch.
The Minneapolis Institute
of Arts’ free admission policy publicly
demonstrates the museum’s mission of bringing art to life for
everyone. Just as important in fulfilling that mission, but perhaps
not so widely known, are the many services, such as the one described
above, which the Institute offers to people with disabilities in
an effort to make its programs and exhibitions accessible to all
visitors.
Accommodations are noticeable
even before visitors enter the museum. The parking ramp adjacent
to the museum, and the lot on 24th Street and 3rd Avenue both feature
accessible parking spaces. Van parking as well as visitor drop-off
and pick-up can be conveniently managed at the 3rd Avenue circle
drive.
The museum is barrier free.
A quick stop at the Welcome Desk in the 3rd Avenue lobby allows
visitors to pick up a wheelchair to use free of charge during their
visit (wheelchairs are available on a first-come, first-served basis,
or you can reserve one by phone).
The Information Desk staff happily assists visitors who wish to
use a TDD telephone, get copies of select brochures in large print
or Braille, or borrow Assistive Listening Devices to amplify any
public programs, lectures, and tours.
In addition to Assistive Listening Devices, the Institute offers
an American Sign Language (ASL) interpreted tour on the first Sunday
of each month at 2 p.m. ASL tours may be arranged at other times
as well; visitors should call at least four weeks in advance to arrange
a tour.
Visitors who are blind
or have low vision may also request an individual guided “touch tour” of select objects in the collection.
During touch tours, both the guide and the visitor wear cotton gloves
to examine together pre-selected works of sculpture and decorative
arts. Museum curators have approved specific objects, among them
Picasso’s sculpture Baboon and Young and Thorvaldsen’s
marble Ganymede and the Eagle, for touching during these specialized
tours.
The museum also features fully-accessible restrooms and a private
facility in which a companion may assist a visitor. All of the services
mentioned are also available for students with disabilities. To request
these or other custom services, visitors may visit www.artsmia.org to
access a Request for Accommodation Form in advance of their visit.
The staff at The Minneapolis Institute of Arts looks forward to making
everyone’s visit a comfortable, welcoming experience.
Kaylen Whitmore is Associate Director of External Affairs at The
Minneapolis
Institute of Arts.
