The Cincinnati Art Museum Makes Art Accessible for the Visually Impaired and Blind Community Through Ad Touch Tours

The Cincinnati Art Museum provides the visually impaired and blind community with an accessible way to embrace the world of art for over a decade through the power of AD Touch Tours.  

With the help of their partner Clovernook Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired, the museum continues to improve their accessibility for AD Touch Tours.  

Clovernook helps the museum create braille content and tactile images, according to Sara Birkofer, the Assistant Director of Gallery & Accessibility Programs.  

“We want them to have an equitable experience as a person who has vision,” said Birkofer. 

The AD Touch Tours are generally for adults who are blind or partially sighted. There are specific objects of artwork that are approved to be touched with nitrile gloves according to Birkofer. Audio descriptions of artwork are also included.  

Prior to the AD Touch Tour Birkofer will select a couple of artwork selections based on the person’s interests. If someone loves animals or has a variety of interests Birkofer will make sure to have an interesting collection of artworks available, she explained.  

During a typical AD Touch Tour, objects that aren’t approved to be touched such as paintings are accompanied with detailed audio descriptions.  

“So obviously, you can’t touch a painting and even if you could, you wouldn’t be able to feel what the subject is,” she said. 

 As a result, the audio descriptions allow the individual to comprehend what the image looks like.  

 Kim McEachirn a blind individual, who has worked for the Clovernook for 13 years has had the opportunity to experience the AD Touch Tour himself.  

McEachirn explained that during the AD Touch Tour he’ll have the chance to feel a specific piece of artwork on a wall that has been reproduced to feel as if it’s in a “raised” format. According to McEachirn the piece of art almost feels 3-D but is still mostly two dimensional.  

“But then there are three dimensional items, such as items where we may have a fence and some animals on a farm and you get to feel what birds feel like,” he said. 

Sighted people can visually see the art, but blind individuals are able to feel what the art is bringing to them according to McEachirn. 

“You can talk about an eagle, and you can feel that eagle. But when you feel how majestic that eagle is with [its] wings spread, you learn about what that eagle is like and how keen that eagle is when it hunts for things you get a better feeling, [an] in depth feel for what you’re touching. That’s really what it’s all about,” said McEachirn.