Sensory Art at DBSM
Children and young adults ages 6–21 were invited to participate in a unique art experience through DeafBlind Services Minnesota (DBSM), exploring a simple but powerful question: What kind of artwork would you like to encounter in the world?
Creative Connections
The workshop was designed to honor a wide range of communication styles, sensory experiences, and artistic approaches. Alongside traditional art materials, participants explored a variety of tactile elements, allowing each artist to create work that reflected their own interests, ideas, and lived experiences. Some artists worked independently, while others collaborated with family members or DeafBlind Interveners, demonstrating that creativity can flourish in many different ways.
After completing their artwork, each artist participated in a personalized interview to share the inspiration behind their piece. The finished works were professionally photographed and exhibited at the Vision Loss Resources office in Minneapolis as a fully accessible gallery experience. Visitors were encouraged to touch the artwork, while artist statements were available in large print, braille, and audio formats, ensuring the exhibition could be experienced by as many people as possible.
The workshop was designed to honor a wide range of communication styles. As an educator, this workshop was also a meaningful learning experience for me. While I have experience working with individuals who are DeafBlind, I am not fluent in American Sign Language (ASL). Rather than interacting directly with participants in the ways I typically do, I relied on a collaborative communication process that required patience, trust, and intentionality. That experience deepened my appreciation for accessible teaching practices and continues to influence how I design inclusive art experiences.
More than an art class, this project celebrated the creativity, perspectives, and voices of DeafBlind artists while challenging traditional ideas about how art is experienced. It was an inspiring opportunity for participants to create, share their stories, and contribute to a gallery where accessibility was not an accommodation, but the foundation of the experience.