Advisors
VISION COUNCIL
Teresa Jaynes collaborated with her Vision Council—advisors who have experienced varying degrees of vision loss at different stages of life—on how to make the exhibition accessible to wide audiences, including people who are visually impaired. The advisory committee is comprised of individuals who have a range of experience with the arts, education, and public outreach. Read and hear their stories below.
Katherine Allen
Allen, Marketing and Outreach Coordinator for Common Touch, is also the originator of the Vision Council. The Vision Council includes a number of Allen’s colleagues from her social and professional networks in New York City, where she lived and worked for several years. Twitter: katherine L Allen @not_quite_blind. Blog: the accessibility portal
Butler is a musician and photographer who has been blind since birth. Playing the piano since he was six years old, and arranging, composing, and performing professionally since he was twelve, Butler is a ten-time Pinetop Perkins Best Blues Instrumentalist Award nominee. He and his photographs exploring the sighted world’s relationship with the flat representational image were featured in the 2009 HBO documentary Dark Light: The Art of Blind Photographers.
Suzanne Erb
Erb is a teacher at Networks for Training in Philadelphia, an expert in computer technology for the disabled, a community organizer, and a professional musician in voice and organ who has been blind since birth. She holds a BA in musicology from Bryn Mawr College and an MS in Psychological Services from the University of Pennsylvania. She has worked for Philadelphia’s School District, the city’s Department of Human Services, the University of Pennsylvania’s Office of Affirmative Action, and Abilitech. Erb has also served on the boards or committees of several advocacy groups, including the Mayor’s Commission on People with Disabilities, Associated Services for the Blind, and the Tenants’ Action Group of Philadelphia.
Edery Herrera
Herrera is an educator and social worker in New York City, as well as an accomplished triathlete who has been visually impaired since birth. He attended the Lighthouse Guild (formerly the Jewish Guild for the Blind), and holds an AA in Liberal Arts from Bronx Community College and a BA in Social Sciences and MA in Social Work from Lehman College. He has taught English as a Second Language and writing, in addition to working with students with special education needs. Herrera is an inspiring educator who endeavors to motivate students to overcome the challenges presented to them.
Rush is Director of Accessible Technology at Lighthouse Guild (formerly Lighthouse International) who became visually impaired as an adult. She joined the Development Office of LHI in 2001 following a twenty- year career in the apparel industry. Rush speaks, writes, and consults on accessible technology and oversees the Information & Resource Service that provides answers to a wide array of inquiries about vision loss from around the world. She is also a member of the Foundation Fighting Blindness NYC Chapter Leadership Group and serves on the board of the Association for Macular Diseases.
