The 'BATS' Service

The Living Paintings Trust has successfully developed from its thermoform concept a method of making works of art available to visually impaired people who visit galleries and museums, thus considerably enhancing the experience for them. It is a simple idea: having made a thermoform (relief image) it is then applied to a lightweight piece of wood, the 'Bat', and the cavity that is created is foam-filled. Braille and Dymo tape headings are fixed to the reverse of the 'Bat' along with a postcard. This means that the thermoform can be easily used anywhere in the gallery by a visually impaired person with the aid of either a taped commentary or sighted guide/companion. The Trust also supplies relief images in the form of white or bronze effect plaques. These are durable, wipe-clean and ideal for permanent display.

GALLERIES AND MUSEUMS OFFERING THE 'BATS' SERVICE

• The National Portrait Gallery 4 topics available
• The Royal Academy of Arts 10 topics available
• The Tate Gallery 12 topics available

South/South-East

• Weald and Downland Open Air Museum, Chichester 4 topics available
• Reading Museum 6 topics available
• Stevenage Museum 1 topic available
• Hove Museum & Art Gallery 1 topic available
• Southampton Art Gallery 1 topic available
• Watford Museum 3 topics available

Midlands

• Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery 2 topics available
• The Royal Pump Rooms, Leamington Spa 5 topics available
• Nottingham Castle Museum & Art Gallery 3 topics available
• Herbert Art Gallery and Museum, Coventry 5 topics available
• Leicester City Museums 4 topics available
• Bridge Cottage, Flatford, Suffolk (National Trust) 2 topics available
• Alfred East Art Gallery, Kettering 2 topics available
• The Castle Museum, Norwich 2 topics available
• Warrington Museum & Art Gallery 3 topics available

North

• Bagshaw Museum, Batley, West Yorkshire 2 topics available
• Doncaster Art Gallery and Museum 1 topic available
• Hull & East Riding Museum 4 topics available
• City Art Gallery, Manchester 1 topic available
• Laing Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne 3 topics available
• Harris Museum and Art Gallery, Preston 2 topics available
• Killington Bridge, Yorkshire Dales National Park 4 topics available
• Shire View Garden, Leeds 1 topic available

Scotland

• Aberdeen Art Gallery 2 topics available
• Duff House Country House Gallery, Banff 4 topics available
• The Burrell Collection, Glasgow 10 topics available
• Kelvingrove, Glasgow 3 topics available
• The St. Mungo Museum of Religious Art and Life, Glasgow 1 topic available

Eire

• Ulster Museums, Belfast 2 topics available
• National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin 10 topics available
• Crawford Municipal Art Gallery, Cork 1 topic available

Many of the topics available as 'Bats' in these galleries and museums can also be found in Albums from the Living Paintings Trust's free library. If you would like further information, or wish to discuss a visit, please contact the Living Paintings Trust or the individual gallery/museum.

"It is a wonderful service. I wasn't looking forward to the visit very much, as all the other ladies in my group are sighted. But in the end I wanted to stay even longer than them!" Visually impaired visitor to Watford Museum

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