In this Vision of the Artist’s Soul workshop at Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind, we had a wonderful time constructing unique hanging mobiles! This workshop took a more open studio approach, providing students with wooden dowels, clay, bells, and string. As a warm up exercise, we started by playing an icebreaker where each person had 2 minutes to make something out of clay. Then, we passed the pieces around and students had to guess who made what and why the person created that piece of art. This was a great way to witness how materials provide an infinite amount of possibilities for how they can be used. Additionally, I enjoyed getting to learn more about how people think and seeing how they express themselves. After this group bonding, I then allowed them to use the materials however they wanted, while providing guidance, ideas, and support for constructing the mobiles. In addition to being an artistic exercise, this workshop proved to be an engineering challenge as well. Students had to figure out weight distribution in order to keep their mobile from collapsing, and they had to find unique ways of putting all of the materials together. For example, I was impressed by the way some utilized the clay to stick materials together and looped the string to add structural support while creating an aesthetic design. I also loved how each art piece had a different function; some were practical or symbolic, and others were purely decorative. In this project, the personality of each student really shone through, and for this reason many teens mentioned that this was one of their favorite activities. The experimental format of this workshop proved to be a huge success, and I’m excited to do more open ended projects like this in the future.

Please find attached a few photos of the hanging sculptures that students created:

For those interested in creating hanging sculptures themselves, here is a transcript of instructions:

Materials used in the Open Studio:
Wooden dowels
Air Dry Clay
Bells and Beads
String

Tags:
#tactilceart, #Artfortheblind, #touchart, #visuallyimpaired, #blindartist,, #accessibleart, #artforall, #sensoryart, #BlindandVI, #accessibility, #inclusion, #artmuseums, #artforeveryone, #accessiblemuseum
Art for the visually impaired, Art for the Blind