BEYOND SIGHT
Beyond Sight is a multisensory exhibition that reimagines how we engage with art by exploring the relationship between aesthetics, functionality, and accessibility. In its third iteration, the artists selected collaborated to create an immersive, tactile, and interactive environment that invites visitors to experience art through more than sight.
Through touch, sound, texture, and spatial awareness, audiences of all abilities are encouraged to explore artworks in ways that challenge traditional gallery expectations. Each piece transforms the viewer from a passive observer into an active participant.
Rather than treating accessibility as an accommodation, Beyond Sight embraces it as a guiding design principle. Each artwork considers how form, material, and sensory elements can communicate ideas beyond visual perception, opening new pathways for audiences who are blind, low vision, neurodivergent, or simply curious to experience art differently.
Artists: Abby Edwards, DeAndré West, Joshua Gary, Lois Harvey, Lucas Benitez, Samantha Mack
Otis S. Johnson Cultural Arts Center
DIRT AND STARDUST
Dirt and Stardust explores the relationship between our inner worlds and the outer cosmos. Imagining the compositions of other worldly beings, reflecting on the inner self, and intertwining the two to better understand the whole. Everyone has an entire universe inside of them that they experience, while also having an entire universe outside that we collectively share the experience of. These works take the unknown and inject it with playful curiosity. The element connecting everything is that we are all made of dirt and stardust.
Jepson Center: The ninth annual Boxed In/Break Out features the unique sculptures of Abby Edwards, whose work explores the human experience through absurdity, humor, and child-like curiosity. Her installation Dirt and Stardust examines the relationship between humankind’s inner worlds and the outer cosmos through bold and colorful compositions.
Dr. Katie Geha, Director of the Dodd Galleries at the University of Georgia noted: “Abby Edwards proposal for Boxed In/Break Out is accomplished and realized. Her works have a playful approach to the unknown, UFOs, and the awe that accompanies the exploration of the unknown. Her sculptures, exaggerated in form and color, display an absurdist examination of our inner and outer galaxies. Her work will read particularly well from the street and inspire joy in the casual passer-by.” Recognizing that the unknown can be an unsettling topic, Edwards ultimately invites curiosity, inspiring viewers to ask questions, and reignite their imaginations.
Jepson Center
UPSIDE AROUND
