UPDATE: Common Touch catalog now available.
Common Touch Catalog Coming Soon!
![Picture shows the catalog cover illustrated with a profile, close-up of Teresa Jaynes’s Gift #1, a brown and white paper owl. Text in red letters is printed to the upper right of the image of the owl. Text reads: Common Touch [next line] The Arts of the Senses in the History of the Blind. [end of description]](https://commontouch.librarycompany.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/catalog-cvr-jpg-770x1030.jpg "Front cover of Common Touch catalog, 2016.")
We are pleased to announce that the Common Touch catalog should be available by late summer. Designed with different textures of paper and other tactile elements, the illustrated catalog includes contributions by scholar and acclaimed author on disability Stephen Kuusisto, art historian and curator Sheryl Conkelton, and Common Touch curators Erika Piola and Rachel D’Agostino.
The catalog begins with the eloquent words of Kuusisto who writes about the historical blind and art. Succeeding essays explore Teresa Jaynes’s artistic process; discuss the compelling interrelationship between visual culture, disability studies and historical collections; and details the captivating history of the Michael Zinman Printing for the Blind Collection at the Library Company. Images of the exhibition and Jaynes’s art works and the historical artifacts on display, as well as transcriptions of the Common Touch gallery labels further engage the reader.
Thank you to the essay contributors for your thoughtful words; exhibition photographers Concetta Barbera and Gary McKinnis for your inviting images; Tony Smyrski for your design savvy; and the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage for your generous support.
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![Photo shows a large group of individuals gathered in front of Teresa Jaynes’s Gift #4 of nine green, yellow, and brown screen prints. The screen prints depict grid patterns. In the right of the image, a young woman attired in black pants and a short-sleeved teal blouse with a flower pattern on the edge, slightly hunches over as if listening to something. Her right hand is to her ear and her left hand holds a large envelope to her waist. To her left, are two women. They lean and bend over in listening stances. In the left of the image, is a group of men and women in summer clothes. They look toward the women standing in front of the screen prints. The screen prints are hung above a short white-colored floor riser. [end of description]](https://commontouch.librarycompany.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Photo-Aug-18-12-08-59-PM-2-80x80.jpg)