By: Seth Johnson

On Thursday, March 5, Indiana School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (ISBVI) art teacher Leslie Walsh presented on accessible painting strategies for students with visual impairments as part of the National Art Education Association (NAEA) National Convention in Chicago, alongside esteemed staff from Purdue University.

Inspired by a scholarly article published by Walsh, along with Jasmine Begeske and David Ray Gutierrez Miranda of Purdue, the presentation at NAEA’s National Convention focused on several strategies that art instructors can implement to make painting more accessible for students with vision impairments, from adapting the contrast of materials used when painting to providing tools that help students to identify the borders of their painting surface. Through the workshop, convention attendees had a hands-on opportunity to explore these strategies, while also engaging with Walsh and the other accessibility-in-the-arts experts on hand.

With years of experience as an arts educator in Indiana — including a decade in Lawrence Township — Walsh originally learned of an art teacher opening at ISBVI through the daughter of former Superintendent Jim Durst.

“I had actually taught in Lawrence Township with [Jim Durst’s daughter] Gretchen,” Walsh says. “She had moved on to Noblesville, but we kept in touch. She called me one day and said, ‘My dad is looking for an art teacher. Would you have any thoughts on possibly teaching at the Blind School?’ I was like, ‘Huh. I feel like after 16 years of teaching, that would be a good challenge and something new.’”

Specifically drawn to the school’s smaller class sizes, Walsh accepted her current role as ISBVI art teacher in December 2016 and has learned a great deal from her students along the way.

“The students taught me more in the first year than I did,” she says with a laugh. “There are not a lot of books or helpful resources out there for people who are coming in and teaching students who are learning differently. I just learned by introducing things and making them very tactile. I still taught two-dimensional standards but made them mean something to the students tactilely.”

Having now been the ISBVI art teacher for nine years and counting, Walsh says there is no place she’d rather be now.

“I took the leap and have really loved it ever since,” she says. “I’ve designed my classroom in the new building when it’s done [at 75th St. and College Ave.], and I hope that’s where I’ll retire.”

Please join us in congratulating Leslie Walsh on her recent opportunity to present at the NAEA National Convention!