Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the public affairs show of your favorite iHeartRadio
station right here in Seattle. And now we're going to
talk about a very cool art exhibit happening over at
the Seattle Center at the an T Theater.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
And the name of the show.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
Is called Please Touch, as opposed to please do not
Touch the objects of art. This one invites you to
the curator of this show now through August twenty fifth,
is Barbara Oswald. Good morning, Barbara, Welcome.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Hi Bellie.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
This is not the first time you've had a Please
Touch exhibit it at the Seattle Center, is it? It
is not.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
This is our tenth annual Please Touch Techtal Art show.
So I've been curating this show through Revision Arts, which
is a nonprofit, for ten years.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
That's so great.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
So let's talk about the artists that are contributing. And
there's a lot of them, and I want to get
to what this does for people who come. So let's
talk first about who this group of artists are.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Who do they represent.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
Absolutely well, because this is our tenth year and I
wanted to reach out to a large number of artists.
We have twenty five artists that are represented in the
exhibit and the norm is usually around fifteen artists because
I like to invite individuals who want to make tactle art,
(01:29):
and I started by designing the Police Touch Tactle Art
Show for individuals who had low vision or no vision,
and soon found out when I had it at a
public benefit exhibit at and T that cited, people were
as excited to touch the art as individuals who did
(01:52):
not have vision. So on Saturday when we had our
opening reception, there were one hundred and fifty patrons who
came and I just kept saying, please touch the art,
and They're like, huh, I'm not supposed to. Oh no,
you do touch this art. So we had forty one
pieces that were tactle and could be touched, and we
(02:14):
had both print and braille so that people could see
what the title and the artists was and how much
the work was for sale. And then we also had
a QR code that were marked in braille so that
people could listen to us for the description of each
(02:34):
art piece if they chose to do that, that's so great.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
So let's talk about the artists.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
Are all feel like they're underrepresented in some way.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
So I Revision Arts is an arts organization devoted to
individuals who are quote underrepresented, and that may include individuals
who language is not you know, English is not their
first and so it's it's for folks who have some
(03:07):
challenges however they define them. One of our artists talks
about being autistic and his piece is a uh. He
has three pieces in the show, and he says that
his autism actually has helped him create the art pieces
(03:29):
that he has there. And so when we talk about,
you know, other ways to see or other ways to be,
sometimes individuals who are creative have challenges that are sensory
or challenges that are you know, physical, and it can
(03:52):
enhance their art. And that also helps with the patrons.
So Cherry Richardson, who is one of our patrons, created
the braille labels and she went with me to put
them on the pieces to make sure that they were
correctly positioned. And one of the pieces of art is
(04:15):
called burn Brightly, my friend, and you can imagine this.
It's a piece of madrona that was hand carved to
mimic what flames look like. And she was touching this
and she said, is this what flames really look like?
(04:40):
And Sherry has been blind to her whole life, and
so one of the things that happened for her is
that she learned about life by touching Jacob's piece, because
you don't touch flames to find out what they look like.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Yeah, I'm looking at the piece right now. It's really
truly beautiful. Jacob Lucky's piece burned bright, my friends, and
it is. It really looks like flames and just beautiful.
I love would work anyway, So that is very cool
that somebody could come and feel this art and see
what flames are really like. The exhibit runs through August
(05:23):
twenty fifth over at the Seattle Center. You want to
tell us where it is in the center, The.
Speaker 3 (05:28):
Best way I describe it to people is that it's
next to Kyarina and across from the.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
Fountain, Okay, perfect.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Were these pieces already made and happened to be techtile
tactile or were a lot of these pieces made in
the hopes that people would touch them.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
I think the answer to that is both. There were
some pieces. There's one called Reef Treasures, and it was
specifically for this show. And you know, when the jurors,
which were composed of three blind individuals, were feeling it
(06:12):
to decide if they wanted it in the show. They said, well,
you know, it'd be great if in addition to the
variety of textiles, it made noise, And so the artist
went back and added an audio component where when you
(06:32):
put your hand in the what's shaped like a cornucopia,
you find three pearls and when you squeeze them, it
makes the sound of water. So it enhances the title
in terms of reef treasures.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
Wow, that is so great.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
Now, I've also seen photos of the gallery of people
at the gallery and looks like you have sided people
with eye guards on so they can't see.
Speaker 3 (06:59):
Yeah. So one of the things that Revision Arts does
to give people an opportunity who are cited to experience
the art by we call them sleep shades, by putting
sleep shades on and being led by a sighted guide.
And if people who listen to the show are interested.
(07:22):
On the eighteenth, Mary Ellen Haley is going to be
a cited guide to take people through. People can request
they know they're going to come, they can call me
and say, hey, I would really like to be guided
through the exhibit with sleep shades, and I will make
(07:43):
sure that there's someone there to guide them through.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
Hey, these pieces are really exquisite. I mean, I'm looking
at so many of them. They're fun to touch, but
they're just beautiful too. Are they for sale?
Speaker 3 (07:59):
Most of them are art and we sold eight pieces
on Saturday night, So the pieces that are sold obviously aren't,
but the others are. And the prices are really affordable.
And I think that's another thing that's important to Revision
(08:20):
Arts is that, you know, it's not only supporting the
artists who create it in terms of them getting the money,
but it's also for people coming who you know, maybe
they have seventy five bucks, but they don't have seven
hundred dollars. And so artists for all and artists for
(08:44):
everybody's Yeah, so we try and provide, you know, access
to everyone.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
Okay, I want to ask about a piece and it's
by Passl Helenski, Healzin Helsinki, pass Passil.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Health, Passil Hillmensky hel Minsky.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
It's called Glit and it's like a puppy but it
looks like it's made out of cotton, candy, yarn.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
What is that?
Speaker 3 (09:14):
Passil is an amazing artist and she also has an
amazing story. She was our featured artist in Please Touch
a couple of years ago. And she that's her guide dog.
It's a replica of her guide dog. And she is
a marathon runner and so she always runs with her
(09:36):
guide dog. And it it is a small piece. You
can hold it in your hand, and it's made with
as you say, a very interesting fiber and and you
know it kind of glitters.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
Yeah, it's really it's a really gorgeous, really great piece.
And one more I'm going to talk I'm going to
talk about it's Nancy Stokely's the Wolf. It's like a
little head of a wolf and it looks like it's
really fund it really fun to touch.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
What's that made out of? What does she what's her medium?
Speaker 3 (10:11):
That's ceramic?
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Wow?
Speaker 3 (10:13):
And she she has been a long time artist in
our show. She makes art specifically for Please Touch, as
as well as other art. And she's a photographer and
had the opportunity this year to photograph the Northern Lights.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
Oh wow, nice.
Speaker 3 (10:36):
Many of my many of my artists, you know, have
several talents.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
Yeah, really great. What a sensory experience that people will have.
And this is at the A and T Gallery at
the Seattle Center. And my guest today, the curator of
the show Barbara Oswald, and it's called Please Touch, a
great exhibit at the Seattle Send or please check it
out just go to Revisionarts dot org. I want to
(11:04):
thank you so much for being on the show today.
This is such a great idea.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
Well please come and touch the art.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
Lee, you know it gonna I'm coming down. Thank you
so much.
Speaker 3 (11:13):
You're very welcome.
This is the public affairs show of your favorite iHeartRadio
station right here in Seattle. And now we're going to
talk about a very cool art exhibit happening over at
the Seattle Center at the an T Theater.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
And the name of the show.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
Is called Please Touch, as opposed to please do not
Touch the objects of art. This one invites you to
the curator of this show now through August twenty fifth,
is Barbara Oswald. Good morning, Barbara, Welcome.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Hi Bellie.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
This is not the first time you've had a Please
Touch exhibit it at the Seattle Center, is it? It
is not.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
This is our tenth annual Please Touch Techtal Art show.
So I've been curating this show through Revision Arts, which
is a nonprofit, for ten years.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
That's so great.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
So let's talk about the artists that are contributing. And
there's a lot of them, and I want to get
to what this does for people who come. So let's
talk first about who this group of artists are.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Who do they represent.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
Absolutely well, because this is our tenth year and I
wanted to reach out to a large number of artists.
We have twenty five artists that are represented in the
exhibit and the norm is usually around fifteen artists because
I like to invite individuals who want to make tactle art,
(01:29):
and I started by designing the Police Touch Tactle Art
Show for individuals who had low vision or no vision,
and soon found out when I had it at a
public benefit exhibit at and T that cited, people were
as excited to touch the art as individuals who did
(01:52):
not have vision. So on Saturday when we had our
opening reception, there were one hundred and fifty patrons who
came and I just kept saying, please touch the art,
and They're like, huh, I'm not supposed to. Oh no,
you do touch this art. So we had forty one
pieces that were tactle and could be touched, and we
(02:14):
had both print and braille so that people could see
what the title and the artists was and how much
the work was for sale. And then we also had
a QR code that were marked in braille so that
people could listen to us for the description of each
(02:34):
art piece if they chose to do that, that's so great.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
So let's talk about the artists.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
Are all feel like they're underrepresented in some way.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
So I Revision Arts is an arts organization devoted to
individuals who are quote underrepresented, and that may include individuals
who language is not you know, English is not their
first and so it's it's for folks who have some
(03:07):
challenges however they define them. One of our artists talks
about being autistic and his piece is a uh. He
has three pieces in the show, and he says that
his autism actually has helped him create the art pieces
(03:29):
that he has there. And so when we talk about,
you know, other ways to see or other ways to be,
sometimes individuals who are creative have challenges that are sensory
or challenges that are you know, physical, and it can
(03:52):
enhance their art. And that also helps with the patrons.
So Cherry Richardson, who is one of our patrons, created
the braille labels and she went with me to put
them on the pieces to make sure that they were
correctly positioned. And one of the pieces of art is
(04:15):
called burn Brightly, my friend, and you can imagine this.
It's a piece of madrona that was hand carved to
mimic what flames look like. And she was touching this
and she said, is this what flames really look like?
(04:40):
And Sherry has been blind to her whole life, and
so one of the things that happened for her is
that she learned about life by touching Jacob's piece, because
you don't touch flames to find out what they look like.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Yeah, I'm looking at the piece right now. It's really
truly beautiful. Jacob Lucky's piece burned bright, my friends, and
it is. It really looks like flames and just beautiful.
I love would work anyway, So that is very cool
that somebody could come and feel this art and see
what flames are really like. The exhibit runs through August
(05:23):
twenty fifth over at the Seattle Center. You want to
tell us where it is in the center, The.
Speaker 3 (05:28):
Best way I describe it to people is that it's
next to Kyarina and across from the.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
Fountain, Okay, perfect.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Were these pieces already made and happened to be techtile
tactile or were a lot of these pieces made in
the hopes that people would touch them.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
I think the answer to that is both. There were
some pieces. There's one called Reef Treasures, and it was
specifically for this show. And you know, when the jurors,
which were composed of three blind individuals, were feeling it
(06:12):
to decide if they wanted it in the show. They said, well,
you know, it'd be great if in addition to the
variety of textiles, it made noise, And so the artist
went back and added an audio component where when you
(06:32):
put your hand in the what's shaped like a cornucopia,
you find three pearls and when you squeeze them, it
makes the sound of water. So it enhances the title
in terms of reef treasures.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
Wow, that is so great.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
Now, I've also seen photos of the gallery of people
at the gallery and looks like you have sided people
with eye guards on so they can't see.
Speaker 3 (06:59):
Yeah. So one of the things that Revision Arts does
to give people an opportunity who are cited to experience
the art by we call them sleep shades, by putting
sleep shades on and being led by a sighted guide.
And if people who listen to the show are interested.
(07:22):
On the eighteenth, Mary Ellen Haley is going to be
a cited guide to take people through. People can request
they know they're going to come, they can call me
and say, hey, I would really like to be guided
through the exhibit with sleep shades, and I will make
(07:43):
sure that there's someone there to guide them through.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
Hey, these pieces are really exquisite. I mean, I'm looking
at so many of them. They're fun to touch, but
they're just beautiful too. Are they for sale?
Speaker 3 (07:59):
Most of them are art and we sold eight pieces
on Saturday night, So the pieces that are sold obviously aren't,
but the others are. And the prices are really affordable.
And I think that's another thing that's important to Revision
(08:20):
Arts is that, you know, it's not only supporting the
artists who create it in terms of them getting the money,
but it's also for people coming who you know, maybe
they have seventy five bucks, but they don't have seven
hundred dollars. And so artists for all and artists for
(08:44):
everybody's Yeah, so we try and provide, you know, access
to everyone.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
Okay, I want to ask about a piece and it's
by Passl Helenski, Healzin Helsinki, pass Passil.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Health, Passil Hillmensky hel Minsky.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
It's called Glit and it's like a puppy but it
looks like it's made out of cotton, candy, yarn.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
What is that?
Speaker 3 (09:14):
Passil is an amazing artist and she also has an
amazing story. She was our featured artist in Please Touch
a couple of years ago. And she that's her guide dog.
It's a replica of her guide dog. And she is
a marathon runner and so she always runs with her
(09:36):
guide dog. And it it is a small piece. You
can hold it in your hand, and it's made with
as you say, a very interesting fiber and and you
know it kind of glitters.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
Yeah, it's really it's a really gorgeous, really great piece.
And one more I'm going to talk I'm going to
talk about it's Nancy Stokely's the Wolf. It's like a
little head of a wolf and it looks like it's
really fund it really fun to touch.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
What's that made out of? What does she what's her medium?
Speaker 3 (10:11):
That's ceramic?
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Wow?
Speaker 3 (10:13):
And she she has been a long time artist in
our show. She makes art specifically for Please Touch, as
as well as other art. And she's a photographer and
had the opportunity this year to photograph the Northern Lights.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
Oh wow, nice.
Speaker 3 (10:36):
Many of my many of my artists, you know, have
several talents.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
Yeah, really great. What a sensory experience that people will have.
And this is at the A and T Gallery at
the Seattle Center. And my guest today, the curator of
the show Barbara Oswald, and it's called Please Touch, a
great exhibit at the Seattle Send or please check it
out just go to Revisionarts dot org. I want to
(11:04):
thank you so much for being on the show today.
This is such a great idea.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
Well please come and touch the art.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
Lee, you know it gonna I'm coming down. Thank you
so much.
Speaker 3 (11:13):
You're very welcome.
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