Take a second and consider all of the images you have seen today. How many of those were images composed by an individual? Since the invention of the printing press, cultural interaction with intentionally created images has exploded. Today, the internet, smartphones, advertising, print media and billboards bombard us with an unprecedented number of images.
With so much more media consumption, our ability to communicate with visual language has increasing importance. Visual literacy expands from the idea of literacy in the conventional sense, tackling the language of shape, color, form and line. Activities such as reading maps, road signs, directions for an Ikea coffee table, and interpreting the meaning of an artwork all depend on visual literacy.
Director, president, and CEO of the Toledo Museum of Art since 2010, Brian Kennedy has pushed a campaign that closely focuses on visual literacy, showing that an increased focus on visual communication enhances our ability to understand the world.
Conference in Toledo
Cross-disciplinaryprofessions will soon come together for the 2014 International Visual Literacy Conference, hosted this year at the Toledo Museum of Art (11/5-11/8). Lynell Burmark, PH.D, who has done award winning work in visual literacy, documentarian Stephen Apkon, MoMA director of education, Phillip Yanewine, and many others will present as keynote speakers.
Two exhibitions will be put on in tandem with the conference. Before the PhDs and academics tackle the issue, take time yourself to explore the meaning of visual literacy through the many different resources Toledo has to offer.
- The Art Supply Depo will soon host “Art Journaling Workshop: Word and Image,” instructed by local artist David Lymanstall. Students will explore how the written word and drawn image can come together to expand and intensify meaning. The workshop will provide a travel watercolor set, Cottonwood designer sketchbook, and a micron pen to help the student continue with practice and inspiration after the class concludes. Wednesday, October 29, 6-8pm. $40 per person. 29 South St Clair Street. artsupplydepo.com
- The Toledo-Lucas County Public Library will utilize technology and display cases to showcase visual literacy’s practical applications in an in-depth, educational exhibit. Curated by the Library's Humanities Department, “Look Again: Exploring Visual Literacy” is on view through November 23 in the Wintergarden of the Main Library. Monday-Thursday, 9am-8:30pm. Friday and Saturday, 9am-5:30pm. Sunday 1-5pm. 325 Michigan St.
- Joel Lipman, the first Poet Laureate of Lucas County, of ABRACADABRA Poetry Studio, has hosted various classes that deal with the concept of visual literacy. An ongoing exhibition “On the Walls: Visual Literacy, Spatial Poetics & the Page” explores the concept and provides rich examples. On alternate Wednesdays, the studio will host a conversation on the origin of the visual poem and how poetry can expand the visual resource of language. Part history lesson, part discussion, Lipman will share his passion for the discipline and invite attendees to begin their own process.October 29, November 12, both from 6-8pm, with two more sessions to be arranged. $5 per person.
- Lipman has also judged and helped organize the Toledo Museum of Art's annual Ekphrastic Writing Poetry Contest. The contest focuses on poetry as a form that enhances visual description. Docent-led tours through the museum in conjunction with the contest will continue until February 20. Poetry entries for the 2015 Contest are due through the museum by March 20, 2015.
- The TMA will soon present two exhibitions to better explore and educate guests about visual literacy:
“Speaking Visual: Learning the Language of Art” will debut October 31 and run through January 24, 2015. Curated pieces from the TMA's collection will be exhibited with text describing methods and approaches to engaging with art. “InSight: Contemporary Sensory Works” will consist of a special installation where visitors will be engrossed in a sensory experience. Three major contemporary artists’ works will be featured throughout the museum. Pinaree Sanpatik of Thailand will present conceptual, hanging origami cubes lit with fiber optics that will respond to gallery movement with sound. Visitors will recognize human form in Kenyan-born artist Magdalene Oduno’s ceramic vessels. Hailing from Columbus, Aminah Robinson's sculptural works rely on visual history and stories to provide an ancestral narrative.
For a more comprehensive list of other free, public lectures and other special events during the conference, or to learn more about visual literacy through short videos and other resources, please visit vislit.org/welcome
