A new art exhibition by artist Sarah E. Barker at the Ohio State University Urban Arts Space has an unusual target audience: the visually impaired.
Her exhibition, Tactile Color, is on display until Feb. 6, at 50 W. Town St. It is open for viewing Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m to 6 p.m, with additional hours until 8 p.m. on Thursday.
Barker has developed a system of quilting that uses textures to allow the blind to take part in famous works of art from which they are usually excluded. Unlike at most traditional art exhibits, patrons at Tactile Color are encouraged to touch the artwork.
Barker’s system is simple and accessible. She sticks to six colors and assigns them each a texture: blue is wool, red is silk or satin, yellow is flannel, orange is taffeta, green is velveteen, and purple is linen. White and black are both cotton but still vary in texture.
After a tutorial on how Barker’s system, B-code, works, the visually impaired are able to feel what they cannot see. Barker even includes a color wheel in her collection as a demonstration with the included colors and textures. While the visually impaired experience the artwork with their hands, there are descriptions to be read as well.
The system is so simple that when Barker contacted an attorney about copyrighting her work she said she was told “the concept of assigning colors to fabrics was too primitive; too basic. Anybody could do it and there was no way to ‘police’ it.”
Barker’s entrance into the art world did not come about until she neared retirement. While visiting an art museum she recalled meeting a deaf client who enjoyed music. Barker then asked herself, “if a deaf person can enjoy music how can blind people enjoy great works of art?”
Barker is a former accountant and mother of two. “I was more comfortable being a CPA during my working life. I use that side of my brain much more naturally than the creative side that suddenly reared its head,” Barker said in a phone interview.
Being labeled as an artist is not the only new thing in Barker’s life. All her artwork is hand-sewn, which is a hobby that she is revisiting after many years.
“I learned to sew as a child during 4-H in school and stayed with that during the first years of my marriage,” Barker said, “but then when I got into the business world there was just not time. It’s something I went back to after thirty or forty years.”
Tactile Color has become a great success. Barker has been commissioned by The Ohio State School for the Blind to produce teaching aids for students. She hopes that her hands-on exhibit might spur more interest into making great works of art accessible to people with other disabilities.
