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May 20 1998
vol.89, no.40
The Vancouver Courier
Vancouver, BC
Sculptor Teaches Blind Students Art of Moulding
by Ann Sullivan
Enhanced tactile sense gives visually impaired advantage, says James Picard
James Picard was part-way through teaching a clay sculpture course in New York City when the school's dean asked if he would mind taking on two new students.
The course, part of a summer school program for teens at the New York School of Art, was flexible, and Picard readily accepted them. But he was astounded when they arrived in his classroom. Both were blind.
Using a plastic model as a guide, the students worked a block of clay into a shape of a skull, using their hands to "see" curves and indentations.
"I wasn't sure what to do, but they started getting right into it," Picard said. "I was just mesmerized by what they were capable of doing."
They also gave Picard an idea. When he returned to Vancouver after the summer, he researched art classes for the blind. Because there was nothing offered in Vancouver-or anywhere in B.C.- Picard decided to organize his own.
The East Side painter and sculptor contacted the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, which encouraged him to develop a course and sent out notices to its members. He also worked with the Vancouver School Board, which set him up in John Oliver secondary.
Picard's first clay sculpting course started in mid-April with six students, and he is pleased with their progress.
As
an art form, he said, clay sculpture is particularly well-suited to people
with visual impairments. In fact, blind people may have an advantage,
especially in the shaping and molding, because they have a better tactile
sense than sighted people.
"With sculpture, though I'm using my eyes, I'm caressing (the clay),I'm feeling it," Picard said. "I'm observing what I'm doing, but it's my hands that are creating it."
Picard has taught other courses in sculpture, and said the biggest difference in this class is that the basic techniques take longer to teach. Instead of seeing what each tool can do, for example, blind students must experiment and feel the tool's effects. Once they master the basics, though, they create pieces with both hands and, for those who could once see, with their memories.
For blind students, one of the most satisfying aspects of clay sculpting is that they can "see" the finished product.
"You've created it, you can feel it, you know every inch of it." Said Picard, who finds teaching blind students highly rewarding.
James Picard: "You've created it, you can feel it, you know every inch of it."