For Immediate Release: September 18, 2008
Contact: Jeff Morgan
Public Relations
515.281.3858
Jeff.Morgan@iowa.gov
Artist selected to create projects for Department for the Blind building
Projects to incorporate multi-sensory elements of sight and touch
(DES MOINES, Iowa)— The Iowa Arts Council, in collaboration with the Iowa Department for the Blind, today announced Ann Cunningham of Golden, Colo., has been selected to create two works of art for IDB’s six-story building at Fourth Street and Watson Powell Junior Parkway in Des Moines.
The project is part of the Art in State Buildings program enacted by the Iowa Legislature in 1979 to ensure fine arts play an important and integral role in state construction projects. Iowa law requires one-half of one percent of the total cost of state construction projects be used for the inclusion of fine arts in state building projects.
The Iowa Arts Council administers the AiSB program, which provides building designers and planners, artists, state agencies, state employees, arts professionals and the citizens of Iowa the opportunity to collaborate in planning and implementing public art projects for a specific public site or place for the public and employees to experience.
“The Iowa Department for the Blind maintains and promotes a strongly positive philosophy of blindness – it’s okay to be blind,” IDB Director Allen Harris said. “We believe that with the proper training and opportunity, a blind person can participate fully in any endeavors he or she chooses including employment at all levels, civic and community involvement, family responsibilities, educational opportunities and personal independence. The artwork commissioned for the building will be designed to reflect this positive philosophy of blindness and be fully accessible to blind persons and visually appealing to employees and the public.”
Cunningham has been carving stone since she was 15 years old, when she began her journey to explore how her sense of touch might be trained through art to function on a higher level.
Her interest in tactile and visual art led to her first commission to create low-relief stories and exhibits at the Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind; the Denver Art Museum in Denver, Colo.; the Museum of Outdoor Arts in Englewood, Colo.; the Morton-James Public Library in Nebraska City, Neb.; and the National Federation of the Blind in Baltimore, Md.
Recently, the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center Tactile Art Gallery commissioned Cunningham to create a sculpture entitled “In Touch with the Seasons.”
Cunningham teaches art classes to develop self-expression through the sense of touch at the Colorado Center for the Blind. She has also taught tactile picture recognition and creation at the Anchor Center for children who are blind or visually impaired.
She said the driving force behind her work is her desire to learn and teach how people share ideas through works of art, and it is important that her work is accessible to both touch and sight.
In addition to her public work, Cunningham launched Sensational Books!, a publishing house dedicated to printing visually and tactually accessible books. These multi-sensory books are designed to create engaging experiences and provide meaningful information for people of all abilities and ages. She also works as an illustrator for the National Braille Press.
The IDB building houses the Iowa Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped; the Adult Orientation and Adjustment Center; the Vocational Rehabilitation; Access Technology and Independent Living programs for blind and visually impaired Iowans; the Business Enterprises Program; and the department’s accounting and administrative services.
The design development and construction phase of the IDB AiSB project is expected to be October 2008 through summer 2010. The total art budget is $25,000 and includes artist fees and expenses to design, fabricate, transport and install the artwork.
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The Iowa Arts Council is a division of the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs and works to enrich the quality of life for Iowans through support of the arts. Funding for the Iowa Arts Council and its programs is provided by the State of Iowa and the National Endowment for the Arts. Please visit www.iowaartscouncil.org for more information.
The Iowa Department for the Blind provides Library, Vocational Rehabilitation, Independent Living, Orientation and Adjustment, Business Enterprises, and all related services to Iowans who are blind or visually impaired. Its mission is to be the means for persons who are blind to obtain for themselves universal access and full participation as citizens in whatever roles they may choose. Please visit www.blind.state.ia.us for more information.