Blind Kids Art - Helping Blind and Visually Impaired Children

Attention: Arts/Entertainment Editor, City Editor, Education Editor, Health/Medical Editor, Lifestyle Editor

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(CCNMatthews - April 26, 2006) - Alex Travnickova, a ceramic artist and sculptor, was visiting a small gallery in Prague when she stumbled upon an art exhibit that would one day change the lives of many Canadian children. Statues carved from African ebony were displayed for visitors to view, as well as touch and feel. As soon as Travnickova placed her hands on the artwork she was accustomed to experiencing only with her eyes, she realized how exciting and liberating art could be for those who aren't able to see it.

Fueled by a passion for art and a desire to contribute to the community, Travnickova founded Blind Kids Art - a charity dedicated to helping blind and visually impaired children make their own great works of art while challenging ill-conceived notions of what it means to be visually impaired or blind.

Four years after its inception in 2002, Blind Kids Art now offers three nine-week trimesters consisting of 16 to 20 classes. Through one-on-one instruction, students are encouraged to touch and feel objects before recreating them with clay. Students have assisted access to pottery wheels, and their masterpieces are fired in the studio kiln.

Blind Kids Art has been greatly successful in its efforts to provide artistic education to some of the 3,500 blind/visually-impaired children of the GTA. Parents of students enrolled in the program have reported cases of immediate improvement in their child's social encounters, confidence and self-esteem. As a result of such positive feedback, additional classes have been added to the program's schedule, and field trips and summer workshops have been added to the curriculum to increase artistic exposure and facilitate more students. A satellite program has been established for in-patients of the ophthalmology and neurological treatment programs at Sick Kids Hospital to reach children unable to attend classes.

Such success has superseded the expectations - and budgets - of Travnickova and her staff of volunteers. The charity strives to keep all classes free of charge so as not to add to the high costs associated with raising a visually impaired child. In doing so, Blind Kids Art relies heavily on donations to help pay for increasing amounts of equipment and art supplies. Donations are needed more than ever to keep classes cost free, to assist in obtaining larger client-friendly studio space and a Braille library for student use. In the future, funds are also needed to help expand the program beyond the GTA, as there are over 30,000 blind/visually impaired children in Canada.

While fundraising efforts are ongoing, it is the generous donations of corporate sponsors that make the greatest financial impact. The benefits of donating to such a worthy program are abundant. Through ArtVision, the Blind Kids Art PATRON Program, benefactors have the opportunity to meet a student receiving their support -- a personable and meaningful demonstration of how donations are both so needed and so appreciated by Blind Kids Art students.

Long term partners and patrons have their logos placed in a prominent location on the Blind Kids Art website and on all printed materials. Sponsors also receive the program's monthly e-newsletter, as well as invitations to all special events. Charitable tax receipts are available to individuals and businesses interested in helping visually impaired children to explore new and imaginative methods of self-expression while learning, playing and simply being "just the same as the other kids."

/For further information: on Blind Kids Art, or to make a donation, please visit www.blindkidsart.org
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IN: EDUCATION, HEALTH, MEDIA, SOCIAL, OTHER