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Liberty Exhibit Tactile Painting by Clovernook

Nationally renowned historical artist Don Troiani's paintings of scenes from the Revolutionary War are dramatic and densely packed with meticulously researched details that bring the compelling stories about the diverse people and complex events of the American Revolution to life. Using a masterful combination of “artistry and accuracy” (New York Times), Troiani has dedicated much of his artistic career to transforming the modern understanding of what the Revolutionary War truly looked like.

So when we opened our newest special exhibition, Liberty: Don Troiani's Paintings of the Revolutionary War, which plunges visitors into some of the most pivotal events of America’s fight for independence and reveals Troiani’s research-based artistic process, we faced a difficult question: how do we distill these nuanced paintings into a meaningful experience for people with visual disabilities?

Enter the Clovernook Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired.

Clovernook provides life-enriching opportunities while empowering people who are blind or visually impaired to be self-sufficient and full participants in their communities. Its braille printing house produces books, magazines, and other materials for the National Library Services and braille patrons worldwide. For Liberty, Clovernook created and donated raised tactile images of three of Troiani’s paintings — including Brave Men as Ever Fought, The Boston Massacre, March 5, 1770, and The Oneida at the Battle of Oriskany, August 6, 1777 — for use at the Museum by guests with visual disabilities.

These tactile versions of Troiani's paintings utilize a variety of raised textures, complete with a key to understand what each texture represents, to interpret the painting through touch. Because many of Troiani's paintings are so densely packed with detail, it left the challenge of making sure the tactile versions got to the heart of what each painting was truly trying to convey. However, working through user testing on early versions alongside Clovernook helped to refine the final result. For example, an early version of the tactile image of Brave Men as Ever Fought featured the inclusion of a gray cat on a windowsill near the center of the painting, but testers were left confused as to why it seemed like a cat was floating in the middle of the painting. The cat was removed from the final version.

In addition to the tactile paintings, Liberty also features an audio tour with transcriptions. Liberty is open at the Museum through Sept. 5, 2022.

Read more about the tactile images from reporter Peter Crimmins' recent story for WHYY.

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A Museum staff member views a painting in the Liberty exhibit
 

Liberty: Don Troiani’s Paintings of the Revolutionary War

October 16, 2021 - September 5, 2022
Liberty: Don Troiani’s Paintings of the Revolutionary War immersed visitors in the dramatic and research-based works of nationally renowned historical artist Don Troiani to bring the compelling stories about the diverse people and complex events of the American Revolution to life.
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Don Troiani's Victory or Death, Advance on Trenton 1776
Victory or Death, Advance on Trenton (Courtesy of Don Troiani) 

Liberty Exhibit Audio Tour

Listen to the audio tour for the Museum's special exhibition, Liberty: Don Troiani’s Paintings of the Revolutionary War, which was open Oct. 16, 2021 through Sept. 5, 2022.
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This image depicts the book cover of the Museum of the American Revolution’s Liberty: Don Troiani’s Paintings of the Revolutionary War exhibit catalog. The cover is a painting by Don Troiani titled “Battle of Bunker Hill.” The painting shows solders behind a dirt mound, with their rifles pointing toward the right of the image. There are cannonballs lodged into the ground in  front of them and smoke fills the sky.
 

Liberty

Read an excerpt from Don Troiani and the Museum's book Liberty: Don Troiani's Paintings of the Revolutionary War, which accompanies the exhibit of the same name.
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