Originally posted by creator of the Vision Council Katherine Allen on her blog “the accessibility portal” on February 16, 2016.
A Vision Council
In 2012 I started a conversation with Teresa Jaynes, a friend and Philadelphia artist, about an advisory position on a project she was working on with at the Library Company of Philadelphia (LCP). Well, actually, she started the conversation with me, by calling one day very intrigued with working on this project, which entailed reflecting on the Michael Zinman Collection of Printing for the Blind and production “something”, not sure at that time what that would be. The project that resulted was, The Moon Project, a 2014 multisensory exploration of “Moon”, a font designed by a British educator, Dr. William Moon in 1845, for those late to lose their sight.
And next— by way of a much more in depth study of the Zinman collection at LCP—Common Touch, The Art of the Senses in the History of the Blind, to open April 4th at The Library Company, 1304 Locust Street, Philadelphia.
This is where the Vision Council comes in the picture. At artist Jaynes’ request, I gathered a group of people with a wide range of visual acuity, to “counsel” and advise her during the project. Ranging from totally blind at birth to myself, an early onset person with macular degeneration. The Vision Council is comprised of people I know professionally, (that does overlap into the friendship realm-they are such fabulous individuals!). They are: Dorrie Rush, Director, Henry A. Grunwald Technology Center, at the Lighthouse Guild in NYC, Henry Butler, a Billboard top-50 jazz musician, Suzanne Erb, a choral singer and teacher at Networks for Training in Philly, Edery Herrera, a computer teacher to the blind and visually impaired and a tri-athlete based in NYC and myself, a former corporate Creative Director and now accessibility consultant and artist, having transplanted myself to Philadelphia.
In my next several posts I will be introducing the Vision Council members individually and linking you to their audio interviews with the Library Company’s artist-in-residence, Teresa Jaynes.
And follow me on twitter: Katherine L Allen @not_quite_blind.
![Picture shows exhibition installation shot of Touching the Book: Embossed LIterature for Blind People, taken from the back of the room and facing the exhibition entrance at the further end of the room on the right hand side. The flooring is light wood, and the walls are painted white. The photograph shows three free-standing display cases all containing 4-5 books opened and resting on cradles; two framed items on the right hand side of the wall as well as a large vinyl graphic of Moon's alphabetic system; and information panels are installed on the wall. At the further end of the room, and to the left of the entrance, is a large fixed display cabinet with three shelves holding artifacts (books and a writing frame). To the left of the cabinet is a blank TV screen and below that a table with a red covering that has been laid out with glasses of wine. [end of description]](https://commontouch.librarycompany.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/GWY2729-80x80.jpg)
![Picture shows a four-story rectangular building with many rectangular windows. The building includes two front entrances with porticos. The structure is white, and its front is lit by sunlight. Pedestrians – eight total with six men, two women and one boy – walk on the sidewalk in front of and across from the building. Small trees evenly line the sidewalk in front and to the left of the building. A dark-colored watchman’s guardhouse, shaped like a chimney, stands across the street from the building. A man with a cane, and a boy, holding his hand, walk past the guardhouse. The boy appears to be gesturing in the direction of the guardhouse and the building. Text printed below the images reads: “Lith. Of J. T. Bowen, Phila. Pennsylvania Institution for the Instruction of the Blind. Published by J.T. Bowen at his Lithographic & Print Colouring Establishment, 94, Walnut St Philada. Entered according to act of Congress in the year 1840 by J. T. Bowen in the Clerk’s Office of the Dt. Ct. for the En. Dt. of Pa.[End of description]](https://commontouch.librarycompany.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Pennsylvania-Institution-for-the-Instruction-of-the-Blind.-Philadelphia-w277-80x80.jpg)