Over the past four years, we have been focused on making our site and programming more accessible to all people – a project we call “Visionary Art for All”. This project was the result of community engagement activities surrounding our most recent strategic planning exercises. That work led to the establishment of our Accessibility Task Force in 2021. This group includes Ohio residents living with disabilities, accessibility professionals, and museum professionals with accessibility experience. Following a series of focus group sessions that summer, we adopted an Accessibility Plan that aimed to improve accessibility for people who use wheelchairs and walkers, create a new tour experience for visitors who are blind or have low vision, ensure that all audio components include transcriptions and/or captions, and offer sign language interpreters for all tours and programs.
Missing sidewalks were reintroduced in July 2024 as part of our Visionary Art for All project.
We are excited to announce that we have met all of the objectives outlined in our 2021 plan. This included a blitz of activity this summer with the launch of our new Touch Tour and the installation of new sidewalks:
New Sidewalks
In July 2024, we invested over $20,000 to improve physically accessibility with the installation of new ADA-compliant entry sidewalks and the reintroduction of narrow sidewalks inside the garden. This included the removal of two small concrete steps at the entrance and the introduction of a curb-cut at the street. With this improvement, visitors are able to gain access to the main garden for the first time in our history. The narrow sidewalks, missing since the 1990s, provide a solid, flat surface to aid visitors with limited mobility on their exploration of the Hartman Rock Garden. This project also enhanced garden’s historic charm by removing an awkward landing pad (installed in 2009) and returning historic elements that had been missing for over 35 years.
Touch Tour
Our new Touch Tour focuses on enhancing the tour experience for visitors who are blind or have low vision. This project was developed in partnership with Arts Possible Ohio, as well as the Springfield Chapter, National Federation of the Blind. On this tour, one of our trained and knowledgable guides leads visitors on a tactile exploration of the Hartman Rock Garden. The guide shares the history and significance of ten iconic object, along with a detailed visual description and a touch component. These tour elements include concrete casts of Ben’s original art, scaled models of larger art objects, and rock and other materials that Ben sourced in the construction of the environment. This tour is free for all audiences, but requires advance registration.
We would like to thank everyone who supported this work, including the Springfield Foundation, Ohio Arts Council, Ruth Foundation for the Arts, Arts Possible Ohio, Culture Works, Turner Foundation, and Ohio Humanities. Our work, however, is not done. We continue to meet and strategize about the next steps in our vision to the Hartman Rock Garden more inclusive and welcoming to all audiences. Please reach out if you have an idea or would like to support future work!
