This 3rd grade class begun by discussing the qualities that all artists share... which lead to my question, "do you have to be able to see in order to be an artist?" The students were divided.
I then introduced my students to Esref Armagan, a blind painter born without eyes, and John Bramblitt, a blind painter who went completely blind at age 30. We watch short video clips on both artists, specifically talking about they can "see" using their other senses, especially that of touch, as well as their imagination. You could hear a pin drop as the students were in complete awe. As we talked about what we learned from the video, I was impressed by the students comments, remembering everything that was said in the videos.
Students then were paired up, one being the "blind artist" and the other being "the guide" (they switched after the exercise). The artist had one hand in a brown bag with an unknown object in it (e.g. shell, action figure, spoon, sunglasses, keychain, etc.) with their other hand free to paint. The guides helped to direct the artists to their paint, specifically what color they wanted to use, as well as where on their paper they wanted to put the paint down. When the artist was done the guides then wrote on the paper what the artist thought the object was before the big reveal - blindfolds off and opening of the bag to see the object. The guides then wrote what the object really was, which will help explain the process to viewers in our hallway display.
