Touch Gallery

Located in the Ryan Education Center, the Elizabeth Morse Touch Gallery is specifically designed for visually impaired visitors to the museum but available to all. On display are four specially treated sculptures from different time periods and places that visitors can actually touch! The sculptures in the gallery all represent the human face, and by feeling these marble and bronze objects, visitors can discover elements of the artworks—from facial expressions and styles of dress to form, scale, and texture—in ways that merely looking cannot provide.

Accompanying the artworks are text panels and labels presented in both large type and Braille. Labels were written with the assistance of a consultant, who is blind, from the Catholic Guild for the Blind. He explored the works of art while staff recorded his observations. Labels provide historical information and focus on a detailed description of the work of art to guide the visitor in touching.

Learn more about this exhibition and related programming.

Sponsor

The Touch Gallery has been funded by the Elizabeth Morse Charitable Trust.