Exceeding Expectations

This project was one of the most incredible murals my wife Alisa and I have ever worked on. We were asked by The Children's Center for the Visually Impaired to create a piece for their students to experience different levels of sight. For years, I have been blessed to have my work recognized by people in the area, and it wasn't until I started working on ideas with Alisa that I realized how much we couldn't rely on that. The team at the center gave us a variety of goggles to wear that replicated varied types of sight impairments. This experience changed our approach to the style and color choices. Blues, reds, and yellows stand out to some with specific abilities. Some have a fuzzy type of sight, so we spread out the eyes and beaks to account for the blur, and some were able to focus on the contrast. All the students were going to be touching it, so Alisa found fabrics that could stand the test of time and be cleaned along with me, adding bark textures and glass beads with cutouts. The last part also added the donor element for those who supported the school.

It was humbling to see the students come in on the first day and start their routine of touching the wall and counting steps to the interruption of a new mural. Alisa and I cried as the children smiled and explored everything about this latest piece in their environment. We will never forget it.