3D Printing Helps Create Visual Art Exhitbit for the Visually Impaired

[Brian_Krassenstein]

While the visually impaired have long been at a disadvantage when visiting museums displaying works of visual art, 3D printing is now on its way to helping everyone understand more of the arts. Through a partnership between the Robert C. Byrd Institute (RCBI) for Advanced Flexible Manufacturing and the Huntington Museum of Art in Huntington, West Virginia, visual artworks are now more accessible to visually impaired museum goers. Dr. Stephanie Skolik, an opthamologist and artist, now has art featured in the "Inner and Outer Vision: The Paintings of Stephanie A. Skolik, M.D.," an exhibit with 60 pieces of art. Visitors can listen to descriptions, read about the works in braille, and then touch a 3D relief of the paintings to feel the shapes present. While many reliefs are clay tables, RCBI created a 3D printed version of Skolik's "Joy of Love." Find out more about the exhibit and its use of all senses to convey visual art in the full article: http://3dprint.com/44981/3d-printed-visual-arts/


Below is a photo of the 3D printed relief:

[Hypatia Studio]

Great article, Brian! Thank you for writing this piece!
My husband Matt Roesle's 3D printed fractal sculpture won a Tactile Art for the Blind competition, in Denver Colorado hosted by the American Council of the Blind of Colorado and the Denver Art Society. After earning this award, I have been wondering how blind and non-blind people take in information with all of our senses. I it is great that people are trying to find new ways of societal connection.

[bkmeans]

We've done some work along these lines for archaeology: https://vcuarchaeology3d.wordpress.c...-curation-lab/

[Hypatia Studio]

Thank you for your reply!
I read the link, and I look forward to watching the webinar. Please send it to me if you get a chance!
Matt and I just returned from India, as my family is Tamilian.
Matt printed this statue of Ganesha and gifted it to my mother. You can see a little a mudra, Indian hand dance gesture, in the bottom also. It is a scan from a museum in the United States, and the scan is hosted by Thingaverse.


I am a mechanical engineer, and I also have worked alot in the arts. My father designed the Hindu Temple of Minnesota, and when I lived in Minnesota I met the sculptors, called Silhpis in Tamil, that were brought in from South India to cast the statues. They partied alot, and had amazing skills!

The collaborative project you are working on in North India sounds really interesting. History and religion, anywhere in the world, always piques the wonder of another time, and how their actions in the past affect us now.

[bkmeans]

Thank you for the response. The webinar has happened, but when it becomes available, I will post about it at vcuarchaeology3D.wordpress.com

I look forward to the collaboration with the Indian archaeologists. I did archaeology in southern India years ago and your scan reminds me of that. I will look for and print my own copy!

Thank you for your reply!
I read the link, and I look forward to watching the webinar. Please send it to me if you get a chance!
Matt and I just returned from India, as my family is Tamilian.
Matt printed this statue of Ganesha and gifted it to my mother. You can see a little a mudra, Indian hand dance gesture, in the bottom also. It is a scan from a museum in the United States, and the scan is hosted by Thingaverse.


I am a mechanical engineer, and I also have worked alot in the arts. My father designed the Hindu Temple of Minnesota, and when I lived in Minnesota I met the sculptors, called Silhpis in Tamil, that were brought in from South India to cast the statues. They partied alot, and had amazing skills!

The collaborative project you are working on in North India sounds really interesting. History and religion, anywhere in the world, always piques the wonder of another time, and how their actions in the past affect us now.

[Hypatia Studio]

I signed up for your blog, and look for your upcoming post of the webinar.
Send me a picture of the scan and print of the statue when you are done!