4 / AMAM.OBERLIN.EDU HIGHLIGHT / OBERLIN COLLEGE GRADUATE’S PROJECT PLEASE DON’T TOUCH THE ART The exhibition Digital Reimaginings: Printing Towards Accessibility aims to introduce accessibility as a cornerstone of inclusion, equity, and education. It emerged in response to the fundamental questions about a museum’s societal role and responsibilities. These questions surfaced duringmy time in an art history seminar, Accessibility and Disability in Contemporary Art, led by former Oberlin College Visiting Assistant Professor Charles Eppley. That seminar introduced art and disability through an intersectional lens, building on a cultural framework that encompasses ableist culture, political economy, public infrastructure, race, gender, sexuality, immigration, and decolonization. As a third-year student at Oberlin College, I focusedmy thesis on 3D printing as a tool for accessibility, looking to examples from other museums that have begun rendering sculptures and two-dimensional works into a tactile, visitor-friendly form that can be handled. I have a background in crafting as the previous manager of Oberlin College Makerspace, and an academic understanding of disability studies and art history; these interests merged into a proposal to scan and print 3D replicas of sculptures in the Allen’s collection. I took Practicum in Museum Education—a course offered by Jill Greenwood, Eric & Jane Nord Family Curator of Education—which was a fundamental and comprehensive overview of museumprofessions, strategies of gallery teaching, and practical training, and then became a Gallery Guide at the Allen. As a student, this was formative in my decision to focus in art history, and led me to cross my fields of study in art history, comparative American studies, and education studies. I consulted with Hannah Kinney, Curator of Academic Programs, on how I could connect my accessibility thesis to a practical project. Working as a Gallery Guide allowedme access to the Allen’s Education Collection, objects that are cataloged separately from the permanent collection to be used as hands-on tools during tours and in-school programs. Followingmy proposal came “proof of concept,” performing a test scan at Case Western’s think[box] with an object from the Education Collection. While this initial test was successful, it raised the question as to what equipment could be brought into the Allen, prioritizing those least disruptive. Multiple scanners were tested before selecting Polycam, a photogrammetry 3Dmodeling app that works with most contemporary phone cameras. A critical point of this exhibition is to create a more inclusive space, and I tested out ideas to increase accessibility through feedback from community members. Key to the planning process was assembling a focus group of blind and low-vision participants. This teammet and
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