Art museums like the AGO are leading the charge of inclusiveness, with progressive access strategies for admissions and membership. And while fewer barriers to entry is important, for many art-lovers with low or impaired vision, a gallery full of paintings presents a much larger obstacle. So how can we create models of accessibility that overcome the confines of the medium itself? The Canadian Institute for the Blind (CNIB), Ontario College of Art and Design University (OCADU) and the AGO have an answer.

Launched in 2010, the AGO’s Multisensory Tour program is set to celebrate a decade of offering visitors the opportunity to explore, touch, hear and smell their way through the art museum. Directed by Melissa Smith, the AGO’s Assistant Curator of Community Programs, these tours feature voice-guided descriptions of works in the AGO Collection as well as interactions with sculptural pieces that can be touched, such as our Rodin statues. Taking a community-driven, participatory approach, the AGO has partnered with the CNIB to receive important stakeholder feedback about this initiative. However, it wasn’t until we connected with our next-door neighbours at OCADU that the program took its most innovative turn.

For the last three years Peter Coppin, Director of Graduate Studies in Inclusive Design at OCADU, along with co-instructor Melissa Smith, has tasked his students with creating 3-D reinterpretations of works at the AGO. Students find a painting that resonates with them, research its background and technical composition and then create a small interactive 3-D model using shapes and materials that capture the painting’s essence. After beta testing with members of the community with low or impaired vision through the CNIB, a number of these dynamic student projects are added as stops on the AGO’s Multisensory Tour. This wonderful innovation has been met with rave reviews by both tour participants and members of the media.   

Our most recent cohort of projects features a captivating reinterpretation of Kent Monkman’s The Academy (pictured above). In it, miniature wooden art dolls are used to depict the poses of the painting’s many characters, while also being adorned with corresponding clothing or fabric. Another project reinvents Lake and Mountains (pictured at top) by Group of Seven member Lawren Harris, using ambient water sounds, cotton batting clouds and bright blue UV lighting.                                        

The tour brings art alive in so many ways. It’s a reminder that art is about so much more than what you can see. It’s also about what it makes you think and feel.

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