Shaista Vally, a second-year student in the OD program at the SUNY College of Optometry in New York City, has developed a new art program for blind and visually impaired adults that will launch next month at the college.
The SUNY Blind Art Program, which has been entirely conceived and developed by Vally, and supported by a grant from the Optometric Center of New York, is a four-session tactile art workshop that will be conducted on Saturdays this June in the new Center for Student Life and Learning at the College’s campus in midtown Manhattan. The course is designed specifically for adults with no previous art experience. Many of Vally’s fellow SUNY students will act as artist assistants during the workshop to help participants with their projects.
“All too often art exhibits rely so heavily on vision that those who are blind or visually impaired are excluded from the experience,” Vally says. “My hope is that this workshop will help deconstruct the idea of visual art and make art more accessible to the blind community.”
An accomplished artist herself whose work is on display SUNY’s Harold Kohn Vision Science Library, as well as at Park Slope Eye, a private optometric practice in Brooklyn, NY, Vally has an acute interest in the intersection between art and science. This interest grew exponentially while she was an undergraduate student at the University of California at Berkeley and began working as a teaching assistant for Katherine Sherwood, an acclaimed mixed-media artist who focuses on the point at which art, medicine and disability intersect.
“I’ve had this interest in the way that art and science intertwine for as long as I can remember,” Vally says. “But working with disabled artists inspired me to pursue disability advocacy and accessibility, and in particular, I started thinking about ways in which I could bring all these different passions to life.”
Vally soon developed and piloted a tactile art program at the Hatlen Center for the Blind in San Pablo, Calif. The program had a profound effect on both Vally and her students.
“During the Hatlen program I witnessed the students have a deep, visceral reaction to the art and the act of creating the art,” Vally says. “They gained confidence, they developed skills and I learned as much as they did.”
Vally is looking to bring this profound experience to the SUNY Blind Art Program.
“Ever since I came to SUNY, I’ve wanted to develop this program,” she says. “I’m really excited about getting started. “
The Blind Art Program will take place at the SUNY College of Optometry (33 W42nd Street, on the 3rd Floor) on June 1, 8, 15 and 22, 12 pm-3 pm. Participants must be willing and able to participate in all four workshops. The program is free and available for visually impaired or blind adults who are 18 years or older.
Those interested in registering for the program can contact Shaista Vally directly: svally@sunyopt.edu
