A pink zebra made from felt and papier-mâché stares up at viewers from its place next to a large snake made of colored yarn. Paintings of a brightly colored pickle man, a mosaic of Venetian glass tile, a ghostly photograph of a face and hand and many other expressive works displaying diverse color and texture adorn the walls.

INSIGHTS 2007 is an international juried, or judged, art exhibit put on by the organization LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired. This is the 18th year of the exhibit, located in City Hall in San Francisco, which features 43 blind or visually impaired artists from all over the world, including Scotland and Los Angeles.

Kari Orvik is the Artist Coordinator of INSIGHTS 2007. She explains that the exhibit has become an important advocacy tool and a great venue for the artists to showcase their work.

“What most people will find is that [their] expectations may have been low. Many are surprised by the quality of the work,” says Orvik. “It allows people to confront these issues. Many find that they change their hearts and minds about [how they see people who are visually impaired].”

You can listen, view and feel your way through the 120 diverse pieces of this unique exhibit. About one-third of the art pieces are touchable sculpture, and at least one piece from each artist is featured on a cell phone accessible audio tour. Visitors can call a free phone number and enter extension numbers located on the participating pieces of art to access a recording with statements from the artists and descriptions of the work. The signage by each piece of art has a Braille overlay and copies of the exhibit’s program are available translated into Braille.

“The exhibit is a model of accessibility,” Orvik says. “Most art galleries have the art completely off-limits to the viewers.”

This is the eighth year that LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired has presented INSIGHTS 2007 with the San Francisco Commission Gallery. LightHouse is an organization aimed at helping those with vision loss to live independently. Volunteers convert audio programs and newspapers into Braille and help the visually impaired access information from various places or with any tasks they might need completed around town.

Tamar Solomon, one of the featured artists of INSIGHTS 2007, graduated from California College of the Arts (CCA) in 2004 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration. She lives in an artful clutter: tubes of acrylic paint are aligned in a row, sketches and paintings of friendly faces, cats, children, whimsical elephants and jumping frogs are taped to the wall and scattered on a well-used table. Big windows illuminate the 25-year-old artist’s studio apartment.

At the age of seven, Solomon was diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa, an inherited eye disease that causes her to have a very narrow field of vision; at the age of 19 she was declared legally blind.

“It hit me pretty hard. I knew I couldn’t see well, but labeling me legally blind made me more aware of my downfalls,” says Solomon.

Since her last check up, her eyesight measures at about 20 degrees of vision — most people have 180 degrees. Her condition creates a tunnel-vision effect giving her low peripheral sight. Solomon is also sensitive to very bright light and suffers from night blindness. For now, she avoids using a cane or any special vision assistance, but she comments that using something would at least make people notice her more and not be upset when she accidentally runs into obstacles.

“Most people don’t realize that people who are considered ‘blind’ can still see something, whether it’s light, shapes or just more narrowly,” says Solomon.

Even though her eyesight grew progressively worse since she first saw an eye doctor at the age of six, she’s never let it slow down her passion to do illustration.

“I’ve been doing art since I was a tiny wee child,” she says. “I’ve been drawing since I can remember.”

In one of her pieces, Solomon depicts children in a field of tall grass catching fireflies. Another shows a young girl falling among bright monarch butterflies through a blue sky. Her whimsical style evokes a sense of magic and child-like wonderment. The young subjects have expressive faces, which Solomon hopes will lead the viewer to create his or her own narrative for the image.

“I used to read a lot, even when I was very young,” says Solomon. “I’ve read so many amazing children’s books that were beautifully painted. I never forgot them.”

For now, Solomon is trying not to worry about the future of her vision. She’s focusing on her illustration, hoping to gain attention and network through her latest phase of family and pet portraiture. Solomon, who participated in INSIGHTS for the first time last year, has three acrylic paintings in this year’s exhibit, entitled On Rolling Hills, In the Thick of It and The Great Fall. She sees one of the most important aspects of the exhibit as educating anyone who might come in to see it.

“It’s a good way to see how others see. For some people it’s hard to understand what it’s like to see things differently than others,” explains Solomon.

And Solomon is just one of many young artists participating in the exhibit. 20-year-old Quin Graddy, who was diagnosed with Achromatopia at the age of three, holds a camera up to one eye, careful to keep the other closed. For Graddy, his camera is more than just a tool, his photography more than merely pictures.

“It’s a way of reconstructing my life, a reflection on a moment in time, and it’s especially significant with my visual disability,” says Graddy. “It helps me see things I didn’t notice at first. I can look back at my pictures and zoom in. It really is like a mechanical eye.”

Graddy’s disorder causes him to see only in grayscale and black and white, and he must use red-tinted sunglasses to function in bright conditions. He studies photography at CCA and is especially interested in documentary photography. He wants his artwork to impact the viewers by making them think about what it is that they see. Graddy attempts to express everything he experiences in the moment he captures his image by representing them through visual elements.

Graddy has two pieces exhibited in INSIGHTS 2007 — Arteries and Hollow. He’s a longtime veteran, having participated in the exhibit every year since 1998. His work deals with the idea of decay, particularly in abandoned buildings.

“I want people to look when typically they would only glance — I want them to look at what they want to forget,” says Graddy. “I want to represent the vibrancy and life that was, while at the same time embracing their current state and future.”
Graddy sees INSIGHTS 2007 as a great opportunity to encourage the public to see people who are visually impaired as people with a broad spectrum of capabilities and potential, not as merely disabled.

“It gives other visually impaired people inspiration and encouragement in talents they never knew they had,” he says.

INSIGHTS 2007
October 4 — December 7
City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, San Francisco
Grove Street Entrance (between Van Ness and Polk Streets)
Weekday Hours
Monday – Friday, 8 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Polk Street Entrance (between Grove and McAllister Streets)
Weekday Hours
Monday – Friday, 8 a.m. – 8 p.m.