In conjunction with its Sight Unseen: International Photography by Blind Artists exhibition, the Massillon Museum will host a resource fair on Saturday, April 5, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. 

Admission is free to the Massillon Museum and the resource fair. And everyone is welcome. The exhibition includes braille labels and audio guides and Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities will provide an ASL interpreter for the resource fair. MassMu is fully accessible and a Sensory Room is available.

Guests can view the exhibition, enjoy  complimentary refreshments, and meet with regional and statewide organizations that provide services to individuals with disabilities. Art Possible Ohio, the Philomatheon Society, Stark County Board of Developmental Disabilities, The Workshops, Inc., and the Massillon Museum will display resource tables in Gessner Hall. The Massillon Public Library Bookmobile and the Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities Mobile Service Unit (OOD) will be outside.

Sight Unseen presents work by 12 of the world’s most accomplished blind photographers who explore ideas about the nature of seeing: Ralph Baker, New York, New York; Evgen Bavcar, Paris, France; Henry Butler, New Orleans, Louisiana; Pete Eckert, Sacramento, California; Bruce Hall, Irvine, California; Annie Hesse, Paris, France; Alex de Jong, The Netherlands; Rosita McKenzie, Edinburgh, Scotland [with tactile drawings by Criss Roden]; Gerardo Nigenda, Oaxaca, México; Michael Richard, Los Angeles, California; Seeing With Photography Collective, New York, New York; Kurt Weston, Huntington Beach, California; and Alice Wingwall, Berkeley, California.

Sight Unseen, which will continue through May 18, is curated by Douglas McCulloh and originated by UCR/California Museum of Photography, an affiliate institution of ARTSblock, the University of California, Riverside, and toured by Curatorial Assistance Traveling Exhibitions, Pasadena, California.

The Massillon Museum implements accessibility by providing physical and sensory accommodations; by making its programs available across a variety of platforms and communication channels; by eagerly accepting and providing new information and knowledge, listening, and hearing; through its practice of hiring and recruiting of staff, volunteers, and board members; through social media and website presentation; and through exhibition interpretation.

“We strive to make the Massillon Museum a haven for visitors with all abilities,” said Executive Director Alexandra Nicholis Coon. “Our Accessibility Committee—comprised of staff, board, and community representatives—is attentive to current standards and our institution’s inclusive atmosphere.”

The Massillon Museum is grateful for operating support from the Ohio Arts Council, ArtsinStark, and the citizens of Massillon, as well as marketing support from Visit Canton.Sight Unseen and the resource fair are supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Also on April 5, a free special needs community resource fair will be held at First Christian Church in North Canton from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. To learn more about that event, email [email protected].

MassMu is located at 121 Lincoln Way East in downtown Massillon. A visit is always free and everyone is welcome. Free parking is available on adjacent streets and in nearby city lots. For more information, call 330-833-4061 or visit massillonmuseum.org.