Opening InSights Art Submissions

One of my favorite experiences as InSights Art Coordinator is when I can finally blow the dust off my box cutter, usually around mid-February, and gently tear into the first package of artwork that has arrived on my office desk. The box itself is not all that exciting, other than the occasional presence of a bright red ‘FRAGILE’ sticker that lines each side of the cardboard barrier. The shipping boxes I receive somewhat remind me of oysters. They are unassuming on the outside, but on the inside, much like a pearl, is a grand artwork that I am overjoyed to file as the first entry of the InSights Art Season.

I find it ironic that one of the most exciting aspects of my position can equally be one of the most anxiety-inducing. Did the artwork make it to APH safely? We have some that travel internationally, after all. Even cross-country, this is a major journey for a little box that has such an exciting treasure waiting to be marveled. I find myself picturing the InSights Art Coordinators before me who would perform their own procedures as they opened each box that arrived. Did they gravitate toward ceramics, or abstract canvases? I jump to conclusions and find myself guessing what is hidden beneath careful layers of bubble wrap.

The InSights Art Program has been a part of the APH family for thirty-one years. The American Printing House for the Blind established the program in 1992 to promote and uphold visual arts for blind and low vision students and adults. Visual arts often succumb to the chopping block time and time again, usually overlooked and underfunded throughout the country. When considering the access of visual arts for blind and low vision individuals, this number dwindles even further. The Printing House’s goal was to put an immediate stop to that.

Since the early 1990s, the program has grown exponentially. Each year, the program receives anywhere between 300-500 entries, then concludes in the Fall with a spectacular exhibition displaying the winning artworks and numerous other participants. Lively, the exhibition is a wonderful way to bring BVI artists together to encourage creativity and community.

The man considered the founder of the Impressionist Movement, Claude Monet, began to develop cataracts much later in his career. He began visiting a German ophthalmologist around 1913. Monet’s Water Lilies series, painted from 1915 to his death in 1926, are among some of his most memorable works! They are so well-known, in fact, that one of our winning artworks of the 2022 InSights Art season was titled Magical Monet. The artwork was a thoughtful ode to the late impressionist, adorned with bright, tactile water lilies that scatter across the cool, inviting water.

Meg Outland is APH’s Visitor Services and Insights Arts program Coordinator and oversees APH’s Gift Shop.