access/ABILITY and Discover What Art Is... Opens May 26, 2007, at Minnesota Children’s Museum


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For Immediate Release
March 29, 2007

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Minnesota Children’s Museum announces a new exhibit, access/ABILITY, opening May 26, 2007. An engaging and interactive exhibit promoting disability awareness, it celebrates the differences and similarities in everyone. In conjunction with access/ABILITY, the Museum also brings Discover What Art Is… an artistic exploration of the personal meaning of art to K-12 students with disabilities. The exhibit runs until August 19, 2007.

access/ABILITY is a sensitive and myth-dispelling exhibit that presents people living with disabilities as participants in the world and features fun and engaging activities that show the similarities and differences in how each of us – with or without disabilities – goes places, communicates, has fun and learns. Visitors will have a chance to learn phrases in American Sign Language, type their name in Braille, try a hand-pedaled bike and take part in a multi-sensory City Walk. Throughout the exhibition, “My Way” kiosks introduce individuals living with disabilities who talk about themselves, their accomplishments, and how they overcome challenges in their lives.

Exhibit Highlights

Going Places
Try out a wheelchair obstacle course and the Multi-sensory City Walk using an eye mask, cane or sighted guide. Visitors can used vision impairment goggles to try to locate objects while simulating a visual disability.

Talk With Me
Learn phrases in American Sign Language, type your name in Braille, and communicate with someone in a pictorial language.

Just For Fun
Try a hand-pedaled bike and create art that can be experienced through sight, touch and sounds.

Think About It
Visitors learn about the eight different kinds of intelligences at “What Kind of Smart Are You?” by testing their attention and memory skills.

Invent It
Experience a design challenge, see how there is more than one way to do something and learn how things can be designed to work for the greatest number of people.

Resource Center
Provides additional resources and support to learn more about disabilities through books and online.

Minnesota Children’s Museum unites access/ABILITY with Discover What Art Is… from VSA arts, made up of contributions from K-12 students with disabilities from around the nation and participating countries. These works of art reflect the students’ perspective of what art is and why it is important to them. The collection was designed to raise awareness of the importance of the arts and art in education for students of all abilities.

access/ABILITY was created by the Boston Children’s Museum for the Youth Museum Exhibit Collaborative (YMEC).

VSA arts is an international nonprofit organization founded to create a society where people with disabilities learn through, participate in and enjoy the arts. Locally, VSA arts of Minnesota makes the arts available and accessible to people with all types of disabilities throughout the state through educational programs, artist residencies, professional development, cultural access and inclusive arts services, public awareness and outreach. Visit the Minnesota chapter at http://www.vsaartsmn.org. For more information on the exhibit and national tour, visit www.vsarts.org.

Editor’s Note: For more information, contact Samantha Moy at 651-225-6015 or smoy@mcm.org.

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