Age Group: Middle-school and up, for both visually impaired and sighted participants
Materials: modeling clay, preferably several colors
Coming from an emphasis on tactile art projects for the visually impaired, this tutorial works well for a range of students and abilities. A discussion of mandalas in art is followed by a practical exercise in making a mandala with clay that has strong tactile features. Several design elements are explained and demonstrated in the example.
Rishika Kartik is a 15 year old “creative activist” committed to using art as a catalyst for justice, equality, and change. She currently runs the Tactile Art Club in Colorado, a program for the visually impaired with international participation that fosters community building and therapeutic development. Rishika is the creator of an after-school educational arts program for the blind and visually impaired teens called “Vision of the Artist’s Soul” (VAS). She has also founded Touch and Create Studios to work with museums in Denver to make their youth programming accessible to students with visual impairments, and has started a Museum accessibility committee at the National Federation of the Blind.