Yes, visitors to the newly-remodeled Braille Institute Los Angeles library can touch the art.
An L.A. cityscape-themed sensory wall at the library invites visitors to not only touch, but to listen and interact.
From Angels Flight to Hollywood Boulevard and the Griffith Observatory, the wall features tributes to L.A. and California — from its car culture to its diverse terrain, plant species and wildlife.
Made of individual pieces from sanded-down ceramics to soft fabrics, the sensory wall invites kids to explore different textures, sculptures and objects, which provide comfort.
“We want our library to be this dynamic library for the blind and visually impaired; serving their needs,” said Braille Institute L.A. library director Lisa Lepore. “This library very much puts them at front and center, and is all about access and community.”
The 104-year-old nonprofit in East Hollywood is part of the Library of Congress’s National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled. Officials unveiled the new library space to patrons on Wednesday, April 26 — part of a multi-million renovation project they say has been years in the making.
The “reimagined” library includes an open-plan main reading area; a state-of-the-art recording room for audiobooks, podcasts and sound-mixing classes; an accessible tech hub, a teen hangout room, and an interactive LED light bright wall.
“We want to encourage people to come into the library and use our space, get technology assistance, read books (and) do everything they would do in a public library, centered for the blind and hard of hearing,” said Lepore. “Books open up the world to us.”
The new sensory wall, called “Many Hands Many Roads,” is in the library’s new children’s room.
One part of the wall features musical elements the kids can interact with, like wind chimes and a xylophone. Pre-recorded audio clips, playing soundscapes of L.A. and children talking, can be heard via a QR code on the wall.
The project was created by L.A. artists Carla Tome and Megan Whitmarsh, who are neighbors and longtime collaborators.
“Neither of us are visually impaired or blind, but we both work in very tactile mediums. In all the artwork we do, we invite people to interact and touch,” said Whitmarsh. “So to have a project that’s made for that was exciting for us; to be presented with a challenge of making something with all these interactive, visual elements, that can also excite the imagination. Our culture says to not touch the art, and that’s hard for the blind community, especially children. (Touching) is a lot of how they interact with and understand the world.”
Tome said that the sensory wall celebrates the multiculturalism of Los Angeles; its native landscape, wild species, historied architecture and diverse communities.
Individual pieces — from the felt bunny-occupied apartment building; to a little sculpture of P-22, L.A.’s beloved mountain lion — flow together and are meant for children to reach out and touch.
“We want to encourage people to love and appreciate the surroundings they live in, and take care of it. We have to be stewards of our land and make sure it’s active for future generations,” Tome said.
The artists hope to create a children’s curriculum at the library that talks about different elements of the wall, in a way adding to it and bringing it to life.
“It’s this living, breathing organic piece in their building,” Tome said.
The Braille Institute has seven centers serving patrons throughout Southern California.