I wonder whether the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art intended the double meaning of the title of Collection, Reframed: We Are Here, Beyond Vision.
In one sense, it describes an ambitious attempt to give vision-impaired museum-goers a way to experience art and the building that contains it. In another sense, it’s a proclamation by those potential audiences: “We are here, beyond your vision of what we might enjoy and what a museum ought to do.”
The Bechtler went down this road in another way in the 2010s, creating a Low to No Vision program I wrote about for The Charlotte Observer. Attendees donned the latex gloves curators use for a hands-on experience, running fingers over tapestries and sculptures. As they touched these surfaces, museum staff explained what they were feeling and what the artist intended them to perceive.
