[real-eyes] Fw:From the Kansas City Star, Dialogue In The Dark Article
- From: "Reginald George" <sgeorge@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <real-eyes@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 25 Aug 2008 12:47:37 -0500
From Ruby, for those who haven't seen the full article text.
Union Station exhibit will lead visitors into the world of blindness
MATT CAMPBELL and DEBRA SKODACK, The Kansas City Star
Union Station's next big exhibit is nothing to look at.
The station will announce today that it is offering an opportunity for sighted
people to experience what it is like to be blind:
To go to a park when you can't see the grass.
To cross a street when you can't see the cars.
To pay for something when you can't see your money -- or what you're buying.
It's called "Dialog in the Dark," and it runs Oct. 17 through Feb. 8.
For more than an hour, visitors will be immersed in darkness and led through a
series of everyday activities in which they will depend on guides who really
are blind or visually impaired.
"You gain respect for that person and begin a dialogue with them that expands
your perceptions of the world of the disabled," said Cheryl Mure, education
director for Premier Exhibitions, which is bringing the exhibit to Union
Station.
Though it has been experienced by millions of people abroad, it is new to the
United States. A version opens in Atlanta next week; Kansas City will be only
the second U.S. city to offer it.
Union Station officials acknowledge it will be a challenge to promote an
exhibit that has no images to post on a billboard or in an ad. In fact, there
will be no photographs allowed of the layout of the exhibit. The point is that
visitors should have little or no mental picture in advance of what they will
experience.
As a result, Union Station will rely heavily on word of mouth to promote the
exhibit.
"One of the challenges is helping people to understand what the exhibition is
all about because it's so innovative," Mure said. "Most people are used to
going to museums and looking at objects and listening to audio tours and
viewing things, and this is complete darkness."
Visitors will have to place their cell phones, BlackBerrys and similar devices
in a locker before entering. Even wristwatches with glowing displays will be
forbidden. Definitely no sneakers with blinkers.
What else to expect: Tickets will be sold for specific dates and times. Groups
will be limited to 10 people, but there will be four identical sets of
galleries, so 40 people can enter every 12 minutes.
Upon entering, you will get a cane and meet your guide, who will be your
anchor.
On your journey, you will use all your senses other than sight. You will walk
on grass or gravel. You will hear animal sounds, smell flowers, taste a drink.
"The plants will be live; the water will be real," said Linda Segebrecht, Union
Station education director.
But the visitor will not experience anything unpleasant or dangerous.
The exhibit is designed to give people empathy for the sightless and a better
understanding of how they navigate their lives. It can be a powerful connector
for people with a sightless parent, child or sibling.
"I think the first thing people will walk away with from this exhibit is that
the everyday acts that you and I do, blind people also do every day and do it
so very effectively," said Reinhard Mabry, president and chief executive
officer for Alphapointe Association for the Blind, a Kansas City nonprofit that
offers visual rehabilitation services.
Mabry said about 10,000 people in the Kansas City area are legally blind, and
an additional 50,000 have such severe visual impairments that they cannot read
normal print even with corrective lenses.
He said the numbers are expected to rise as more people lose eyesight because
of diabetes or aging.
"Of all of the disabilities that exist, blindness is the one people are most
fearful of," Mabry said.
Mabry hopes the exhibit will bring awareness of the abilities of those living
with blindness, who struggle with high rates of poverty and unemployment.
Union Station assembled a local advisory group to help ensure the exhibit was
presented with sensitivity. Members include Mabry's group, the National
Federation of the Blind, the Whole Person Inc. and the Children's Center for
the Visually Impaired.
The exhibit will employ 40-60 local people who are visually impaired to work as
guides. Premier Exhibitions works with Manpower, an employment service that
will help the guides find sustainable local jobs after the exhibit is over.
Employment applications for guides will be available beginning today on the
station's Web site, www.unionstation.org.
"Dialog in the Dark" will be the second exhibit to be housed in the Bank of
America Gallery in Union Station's sub-basement. It will use all 15,000 square
feet of finished space and some unfinished space as well.
"Bodies Revealed" was the first to use the space. It closes Labor Day.
Station officials hope "Dialog in the Dark" will be profitable for the station
as well as enriching for visitors.
"This may not be a blockbuster exhibit like the Dead Sea Scrolls," said station
CEO Andi Udris. "But in terms of offering an exhibit completely new and
different that most people in the United States have never experienced, we are
on the cutting edge, as we were with the scrolls."
Union Station will offer an educational guide for grades 4 and up that teachers
can use in their classrooms in conjunction with the exhibit. Rachel
Toledo-Miller, Union Station marketing manager, said the exhibit would be also
well-suited to corporate team-building exercises.
About "Dialog in the Dark"
** Runs Oct. 17 through Feb. 8
** Tickets available Oct. 1 at the station, at 816-460-2020 or at
www.unionstation.org
** Adults $22; children 4-12, $18; group rates available
Kansas Citians will be able to experience what it is like to be blind even
before the exhibit opens -- Alphapointe Association for the Blind will hold a
fundraiser called "Dining in the Dark" on Oct. 2 at Union Station.
The meal will be served to 144 guests in total darkness by blind servers.
To help organizers decide on a menu, there will be a tasting of items by a
committee that will be blindfolded.
"We probably won't have barbecue; we won't have broccoli and cheese soup or
spaghetti," said Reinhard Mabry, Alphapointe president.
Dinner will be served on china, but wine will be poured into stemless glasses.
To assist diners, there will be voice-over help from David Westbrook, chief
executive officer and president of Corporate Communications, who is being
honored that night for his support of Alphapointe.
Tickets cost $250 and are available by calling Pat Papenfuhs at 816-237-2026.
To subscribe or to leave the list, or to set other subscription options, go to
www.freelists.org/list/real-eyes
Other related posts:
- » [real-eyes] Fw:From the Kansas City Star, Dialogue In The Dark Article
