Story Descriptions

A flat white circular base, representing a visual field, fills most of the photo. A pair of eyeballs are in the center. Five hands are reaching in from all sides. The hands are placing little whimsical toy monsters around the periphery.

HUNGRY LITTLE MONSTERS
A Story of Loss

Explore the process of going blind. Little monsters represent the scariness of losing one’s vision. At our interactive story time, we will stick whimsical, toy monsters on the model’s periphery as we imagine they are slowly nibbling away our visual field. Through storytelling, we then rearrange the monsters in patterns representing other kinds of vision loss as we share our own experiences.

Centered on a tray is a stacked rock cairn. Two cutout cartoon bubbles are leaning against the rocks. One bubble says, "I'm going WHAT?!?" The other says, "I feel like I've turned to stone." Linda's posture represents exhaustion and despair.

I’M GOING WHAT?!?
A Story of Diagnosis

Explore the process of going blind. At our interactive story time, we will discuss the never-ending set of circumstances that I faced on the day I got the diagnosis of going blind. Many people report feeling like they have turned to stone. It is hard to take it all in when we feel like that. The audience will pass around a rock cairn representing a person, and use handmade speech bubbles to fill a basket, representing the overwhelming thoughts and feelings that accompany a diagnosis.

A pair of hands are wearing ladybug finger puppets. Above is a wild colorful bundle of toy tires, chained together. They're descending on the ladybugs, nearly crushing them. One hand is trying to grab a tire, the other appears startled.

TINY INSECT
A Story of fear

Explore the process of going blind. At our interactive story time, we will discuss fear. Going blind is scary. Crossing a street can sometimes inflate my fears. It has become a recurring dream for me. Join me in play as we re-enact the wild and bizarre scenarios that take my power away leaving me in fear, using colorful toy tires and ladybug finger puppets. We will discuss coping skills for anxiety.

A big silly goldfish is stuck in a fishbowl that's too small for it. It's shoved headfirst into the bowl with its fins extending out the top. It has bulging eyes and a crooked mouth expressing discontent. Two hands are feeling the fish.

I FEEL STUCK
A Story of Isolation

Explore the process of going blind. At our interactive story time, we will discuss how vision loss makes it hard to go places. We will play with toy cars and discuss how difficult it is to not be able to drive. Next, a big whimsical, handmade goldfish too big for its bowl, will be passed around. We will jam it headfirst into its bowl. The fins stick out the top. The fish is stuck. We can easily feel stuck ourselves. It’s hard!

A model of a hallway with four doorways along the sides, runs through the photo. The wall and rooms are left to the imagination. The doorways are cocked at goofy angles. Eight hands are interacting with the model. They're holding baby shoes.

SPINNIN’ DOORS
A Story of Adapting

Explore the process of going blind. At our interactive story time, we will explore a model of a hallway. As doorways are touched, they spin unexpectedly. Blindness can be disorienting as we travel from room to room. We will each play with a pair of baby shoes to carefully plan our stepping patterns. The spinnin’ doors evoke the seriousness of learning how to adapt our walking skills to our vision loss.

A textured image of a tunnel shows the path of a wide-angle view and narrowing as it reaches the rounded opening. Sunbeams shine on the path & walls. A silhouetted person walking with a guide dog has reached the light at the end of the tunnel.

MY LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL
A Story of Hope

Explore the process of going blind. At our interactive story time, I will share my story of living with tunnel vision and my hopes for the future as I planned and prepared in anticipation of getting a guide dog. I am proud to say that I now have my own guide dog. He is my light at the end of the tunnel. Ah, independence regained! This presentation is focused on a highly textured piece of textile artwork that participants can use both sight and touch to experience.

A pair of hands are feeling a stylized eye made from a coil of clay. A central spiral creates the pupil, then wraps under for the lower lid. A point shapes the tear duct. The coil sweeps above and beyond the pupil, creating the mascara line.

SPIRAL PATHS
A Story of Healing

Explore the process of going blind. Spirals have been found in art from cultures around the world. Often, they are considered a path of healing. At our interactive story time, we will discuss our own paths of healing as we touch and feel many clay shapes, each of which is an object that has a spiral incorporated into its stylized design. Many everyday objects and experiences can have meaning and help us on our own paths. This is a good exercise in mindfulness.

News Article:

“From the moment Linda entered my classroom with her guide dog, she captured the hearts of my fourth-grade students. It was a wonder to witness my students experience the feeling of losing their eyesight through interactive play with her tactile art. I recommend this artist’s storytelling program to any class teacher who wants their students to experience empathy and understanding of eyesight loss through art.”

— Rosie Cole, Artist and Educator, at City of Lakes Waldorf School, Minneapolis, MN