Art at Your Fingertips St Swithun's Community Centre
Art at your Fingertips explores how art can be experienced through touch as well as sight.
This project was supported by funding from Arts Council England enabling artist Ruth Fones to research and develop tactile wall murals that can be experienced through touch as well as sight. Drawing on insights gained through collaborations with sight-loss organisations, the project explores how artworks can be designed to be more accessible and inclusive. Central to the work is the principle of inclusivity by design: creating artworks that can be experienced through touch as well as sight, and expanding meaningful engagement with art for visually impaired audiences and the wider community.
During the development process, Ruth visited several activity groups and spoke with staff at St Swithun’s Community Centre to understand how the community experiences the space, and what colours and natural motifs they would like to see represented. Each colour and element within the mural has been carefully selected through these conversations.
Using joyful, contrasting colours, and recognisable motifs that are easy to trace with your fingers, the mural celebrates a sense of growth and a feeling of being connected.
The work is on display at St Swithun's Community Centre, Eastmoor, Wakefield for the public to visit and interact with.
