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: