Giving Compass' Take:

• Kate McLeod explains how the Center for the Visually Impaired in Atlanta and the High Museum of Art partnered to bring art education to students with visual impairment.

• Are museums in your community accessible for people with various abilities? How can funders work to increase access to art and cultural experiences? 

• Learn about technology is bringing science education to students with visual impairment.

“You mean an artist made this for us?” A student with a visual impairment is seeing a work of art for the first time at an art museum. The student had just been told that a visual artist recreated Native American on Horseback by Ronald Lockett for their group especially.

The group is part of a program called STARS (Social, Therapeutic, Academic and Recreational Services) at the Center for the Visually Impaired in Atlanta, Georgia. This year-long program is for students with visual impairments and helps them “gain the self-confidence and skills necessary to thrive.” The Center for the Visually Impaired (CVI) is in Midtown Atlanta, less than two miles from the High Museum of Art. CVI and the High officially began a partnership in 2016 through a Museum Access for Kids contract from the Kennedy Center VSA. One of the High’s overarching goals in the past few years is to grow and expand inclusive programming for all visitors, including students on the autism spectrum and students with visual impairments. And who better to partner with then our next-door neighbors, CVI?

Read the full article about the partnership between the Center for the Visually Impaired and the High Museum of Art by Kate McLeod at Americans for the Arts.