A few years ago, Sharon Bartz had a gentleman walk up to her and start touching her three-opossum relief-art piece. He was feeling and feeling but couldn’t guess what it was, so Bartz told him.
After the gentleman felt the rest of the art in the gallery, he came back to Bartz and thanked her for showing him what opossums looked like.
“Now that — that brings tears,” Bartz said.
Bartz was one of many artists who brought artwork to the sixth annual MindSight at the Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art on Saturday. MindSight offers an opportunity for individuals who have limited or no sight to experience art through touch.
The art consisted of relief and tactile art, or art that people can touch. Sitting right by the art pieces, the artists were there to help the visitors feel and understand each piece.
“We do this because you can’t just go into a museum and start touching art,” said Rachel Fernandez, the former president of the Gator Lions Club. “And for the blind community, they get to finally experience art.”
MindSight, though, is not just for the visually impaired. It offered an opportunity for those who can see to be blindfolded and led around the exhibit.
“For those that can see, when they take the blindfold off, they tend to say, ‘This is what I was touching?’” Fernandez said.
Julian Rey, a 19-year-old biomedical engineering sophomore, attempts to guess the shape of a sculpture while receiving hints from annual volunteer and artist Diane Voyentzie on Saturday during MindSight at the Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art.
