Come to the Museum: Events November 22 – June 2023

Planning museum events has been tricky the last few years, what with the pandemic, of course, and then APH’s plans for the new museum. Now we have a confirmed deadline. Until new construction starts, the museum will be open 8 AM -4:30 PM on weekdays, and 10 AM-3PM, on Saturdays. We’ll continue to hold our monthly special events. We wish you’d come.

Here’s what special events we have planned for the next sixth months:

Family Day Open House

Saturday, November 26, 2022, 10:30 AM-3 PM

Looking for something uniquely Louisville to show friends and relatives visiting for Thanksgiving? Bring them to APH’s one-of-a-kind museum! Visitors can write their names in braille, see a book from Helen Keller’s Bible, learn about guide dogs, play games, and read books designed for children who are blind. The Museum also has on display the 1829 book written by Louis Braille in which he describes his new method for writing with dots. Holiday goodies and spiced cider will be served. The event is free. No registration is required.

Holiday Craft Workshop

Saturday, December 3, 2022, 10:30 AM-12:30 PM

Visit the museum to learn how people who are blind and low vision “see” with their fingertips. Then craft your own Christmas, Hanukah, or Kwanzaa ornament, card, or holiday decoration. All materials are provided. Admission is free but registration is required. Call 502-899-2213 or email kcarpenter@aph.org to register. Best for adults and children age 6 and up.

Blindness History: A Tactile Account

Saturday, January 7, 2020, 1:00-3:00 PM

To celebrate National Braille Literacy Awareness Month, we’ll meet people in the past who changed the lives of people who are blind and low vision. Objects are powerful; their heft, shape, and textures can send our minds and imaginations hurtling back to the past.  Free to the public, but registration is required.  Call 899-2213 to register or email us at kcarpenter@aph.org. For adults and kids 8 and up.

Making Tactile Valentines

Saturday, February 4, 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM

Do people who are blind or low vision like to give valentines?  Of course, they do!  Our guest artist, Patrice Ising, returns to help us explore how the elements of art can appeal to our sense of touch as well as sight. Your completed valentines will be one-of-a-kind tactile art pieces. Free to the public, but registration is required. Call 502-899-2213 or email kcarpenter@aph.org to register. Best for adults and children aged 8 and older.

Kids’ Day

Saturday, March 11, 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM

Bring your younger children for an event full of entertaining games and activities that help them understand what it means to be blind. They’ll investigate some of the products APH has made to help students who are blind learn. They’ll also meet a guide dog and learn a little braille. Our instructors are all museum associates who are blind or low vision.  Call 502-899-2213 or email kcarpenter@aph.org to register. Especially for kids ages 6-12.

Phillipa Campsie: Changing History

Saturday, April 15, 2023, 1-3 PM

The past doesn’t change. But history changes all the time because of new findings and different interpretations. Canadian historian Phillipa Campsie took a deep dive into Charles Barbier, the man thought to have inspired Louis Braille. At a museum in Paris, she asked the director about him, and the director brought Ms. Campsie an archival box of unread documents. The results of her research ended up transforming the way our Museum interprets the history of blindness.  Call 502-899-2213 or email kcarpenter@aph.org to register. For adults and older teens.

Braille Readers Theater: Fanny Crosby

Friday, June 10, at 7 PM, Saturday, June 10, at 1 PM

Our guest director, B.T. Kimbrough, directs an ensemble of community members to celebrate the life and music of Fanny Crosby. Ms. Crosby, blind since infancy, wrote more than 9,000 hymns, using nearly a hundred aliases so that the hymnals wouldn’t be filled with her name alone. Many of her hymns are still sung today, including “Blessed Assurance” and “Jesus is Tenderly Calling You Home.” She was a popular public speaker on religious issues, and met with presidents, generals, and other dignitaries. Admission is free but registration is required. Call 502-899-2213 or email kcarpenter@aph.org to register. Best for adults and older teens.

Katie Carpenter is the Museum Educator at the Museum of the American Printing House for the Blind