Neosho Arts Council adds audio component to city wide murals
Neosho Arts Council is debuting their new Murals of Neosho Guide and Descriptive Audio Tour. Everyone can now visit the town’s murals in person or online while watching and listening to a descriptive audio tour of each piece.
The audio descriptions will guide viewers through the work using descriptive language while weaving in historical and cultural narratives. This will make these works of art accessible to more members of the community including those that are blind or partially sighted, according to Sarah Serio, President of the Neosho Arts Council.
“What’s great about these descriptions is that they are something everyone can benefit from. They’ll guide you through not only the color and design aspects of the mural but also historical references. This will help identify notable subjects in the murals that might not be recognizable to everyone,” Serio explained.
“We hope that those visiting the murals in person will take time to access the audio descriptions as standing in front of these large scale works of art can be overwhelming to the eye and viewers can miss some of the details the artists put in their work. These descriptive audio guides help everyone see the works in greater detail,” Serio said.
The organization was awarded a grant from Missouri Humanities to help in the creation of the audio descriptions of several town murals specifically to make them accessible to the blind or partially sighted. “We vocally record a description that attempts to give a thorough description of the work without projecting our own assumptions or bias and without getting too bogged down in the fine details,” explained C. Jade Nicholas, audio description writer and narrator for the project. “This ideally allows the listener to learn about the work, understand what it visually looks like, and allow their own emotions, imagination, and reasoning to come up with their interpretation and feelings of the piece.”
Nicholas received special training that was specifically geared toward audio description writing for visual arts. “Working with Neosho Arts Council on this project has been a wonderful experience and I applaud the organization for working to make the arts more accessible for all,” Nicholas said. “This project truly brings down barriers in accessibility.”
“Our organization has a mission, in part, to grow appreciation for the arts. We want everyone to be able to come to Neosho and enjoy the art we have to offer,” Serio said. “Some of these murals have been here for generations but not everyone has been able to access them and we hope this project helps change that.”
“Along with the audio component we’ve added a video element that helps guide viewers through the works,” Serio added. “This includes zooming in on specific details and showing specific sections while the audio element explains what you are seeing both descriptively and historically.”
Viewers will also be able to access the descriptions along with high resolution photos, location details, transcripts, and additional information on the Neosho Arts Council’s website. The guide also includes a virtual map of mural locations with easy to access directions for in-person viewing. All of this is available at neoshoarts.net.
“We’ve taken the project a step beyond just creating a descriptive audio tour,” Serio said. “Additional information has been included on our website for each mural such as information on their design, images detailing their creation, or historical documents.”
The murals are accessible at locations across Neosho including four in Neosho’s historic downtown. “You can walk from Neosho’s City Hall to Big Spring Park and see our town’s oldest mural from 1939 celebrating Neosho’s centennial, a unique tile mosaic mural by the park, and a mural by Thomas Hart Benton’s grandson Anthony Benton Gude,” Serio said. “Most of the murals are located inside public facilities that welcome the public or at parks and viewable even from your car.”
Those willing to make a short drive to the south side of Neosho can visit the Rocketdyne Mural which is located at Crowder College. The mural was painted in 1963 by Lawrence Sanchez inside the cafeteria of the Rocketdyne facility in Neosho and depicts the future of space exploration. Rocketdyne was a manufacturer of rocket engines for NASA, making engines for programs such as Mercury and Gemini, and the Saturn V which brought Apollo 11 to the moon.
“Our murals all tell unique stories,” Serio said, “They show Neosho from its earliest residents, members of the Osage Nation, to our natural resources, to our contributions to the space race. The audio descriptions help grow everyone’s understanding of the murals and their stories.”
Missouri Humanities is dedicated to enriching lives and strengthening communities by connecting Missourians with the people, places, and ideas that shape our society. It is the only state wide agency in Missouri devoted exclusively to humanities education for citizens of all ages. It has served as a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities since 1971.