Touch & Create Studio (TCS)

Touch and Create Studio (TCS) was founded by artist Rishika Kartik with the mission to provide opportunities and outlets to the Blind and Visually Impaired Community to experience and create accessible art and develop Tactile Arts curriculum to be incorporated into regular schooling as an integral part of holistic education for the Blind and Visually Impaired. TCS advocates for equitable public spaces and inclusion in arts/culture.

TCS has joined forces and partnered with industry experts in the field of museum accessibility like Cheryl Fogle-Hatch - Founder of Museum Senses, Matt Gesualdi - Owner - Tact-Ed, Tactile Artist Ann Cunningham, Accessibility Researcher Abigale Stangl, Deborah Kent Stein - Editor, Future Reflections and started a Museum Accessibility committee at the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) to make museums more accessible for people with vision impairments.

TCS has collaborated with various local museums in Denver like Museum of Contemporary Art and conducted workshop series featuring blind artists for blind teens interested in accessible tactile art. 
MCA Denver Teens Tactile Workshop - Creating with Clay
MCA Denver Teens Tactile Workshop - Sculpture from Raised Line Drawings
MCA Denver Teens Tactile Workshop - Creating Clay Pinch / Coil and Whistle Pots

Rishika recently conducted Touch this Art! at Clyfford Still Museum: A multisensory open studio for people of all ages that raised awareness around the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). 
Touch this Art! In Celebration of the Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) - Clyfford Still Museum

Stay tuned for “Canes Chiming In” project, an interactive multisensory art exhibit to be installed in May 2022 to highlight the artistic voices of blind students. The project is the recipient of 2021 INSITE Fund grant administered by RedLine Contemporary Art Center and made possible by the The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Regional Regranting program.