Welcome to the digital exhibition of Drawing As Seeing at the Siena Art Institute from the summer of 2023. These images represent snapshots of our adventures.
Drawing As Seeing is a multi-sensory drawing class for people with any level of sight. Using the city of Siena and its surroundings as our studio, we explored the spaces through touch, movement, sound, and scent, learning about the art, architecture, and history through process-oriented artmaking.
Unlike an in-person exhibit, this format takes you, the viewer, on our journey, providing context and a cast of characters, including students from New York city, as well as Sienese participants, with and without sight, and interns from Italy and beyond.
Day 1
Warming up in the studio through mark-making, discovering how diverse materials feel, with Professor Pamela Lawton and participants.
Day 2
Our passeggiata from The Siena Art Institute to the Piazza del Campo, carrying our sturdy boards.
Panorama of the Piazza del Campo, where we circled the periphery before drawing 
Sensory walk around the Piazza del Campo, drawing by Lorenzo Lippi, pastel and tape 
Piazza del Campo, drawing by Media Berghout, pastel, tape, graphite 
Detail from previous image, drawing by Media Berghout, pastel, tape, graphite 
Piazza del Campo, drawing by Lin Jacobson, pastel, tape, graphite, collage 
Drawing in the Piazza del Campo, with Mario Borghi, Lorenzo Lippi and Co-Instructor Danny Licul
Day 3
Drawing to Verbal Description in the Palazzo Pubblico.
Day 4
Val de Montone Contrada Museum, drawing through touch.
Days 2 & 3
Tactile Rubbing from street.
Tactile Memory Map, Media Berghout, collage, frottage, pastel 
Tactile Memory Map collage, Lorenzo Lippi, collage, frottage, pastel, Wikki Stix, tape 
Tactile Memory Map, Mario Borghi, pastel, Wikki Stix, tape 
Tactile Memory Map, Berke Bayraktar, frottage, collage, Wikki Stix, pastel, tape 
Tactile Memory Map, Danny Licul, frottage, collage, Wikki Stix, pastel 
Tactile Memory Map, Lin Jacobson, frottage, collage, Wikki Stix, pastel, tape 
Mario Exploring Berke’s Memory Map through touch 
Mario at work on Memory Map 
Mario exploring Media’s collage through touch
Day 4
Basilica di San Francesco, with Father Alfred Parambakathu.
Basilica di San Francesco, exploring relief carving with Father Alfred Parambakathu 
Father Alfred showing details through touch 
At the Basilica di San Francesco, Mario drawing through touch with graphite and Wikki Stix 
At San Francesco, drawing through touch by Mario Borghi, Wikki Stix on paper 
Drawing at San Francesco, Lin and Media 
At San Francesco, drawing by Lin Jacobson, graphite on paper
Day 8
View of Boboli Gardens in Florence.
Boboli Gardens, drawing by Co-Instructor Danny Licul, water-soluble pastel on paper 
Boboli Gardens View, Lin Jacobson, water-soluble pastel on paper 
Boboli Gardens View, Media Berghout, water-soluble pastel, ink, collage and tape on paper 
Detail, Boboli Gardens View, Media Berghout, water-soluble pastel, ink, collage and tape on paper 
Boboli Gardens view in context, Media Berghout, with her artwork 
Boboli Gardens Drawing, Pamela Lawton, drawing, water-soluble pastel on paper 
Boboli Gardens group photo, with artwork 
Palazzo Pitti, drawing through touch
Day 9
At the Pinacoteca Nazionale di Siena, drawing to verbal description.
Drawing to Verbal Description from Simone Martini’s Blessed Agostino Novello 
Drawing to Verbal Description from Simone Martini’s Blessed Agostino Novello 
Drawing to Verbal Description from Blessed Agostino Novello Simone Martini by Mario Borghi, Wikki Stix and graphite on paper 
Group at work, at the Pinacoteca 
At the Pinacoteca, drawing by Lorenzo Lippi, Wikki Stix and graphite on paper 
Drawing by Lin Jacobson, graphite on paper 
At the Pinacoteca Nazionale, drawing from Blessed Agostino Novello, Simone Martini by Media Berghout, graphite on paper 
Touching a Tactile Diagram of Sassetta Painting “Castle by the Lake” at the Pinacoteca Nazionale di Siena 
Sassetta, “Castle by the Lake” 
Drawing, Media Berghout, graphite, pastel 
Drawing, Media Berghout, graphite, pastel
Day 10
Sensory Garden exploration with Bernardo Giorgi.
Day 11
San Gimignano Collegiata di Santa Maria Assunta, interior view.
