Does Art Activism Affect Pre-school Children’s Attitudes towards Individuals with Blindness?

ABSTRACT

We tested whether viewing an exhibition of works by artists with visual impairments had a positive effect on the attitudes of children viewing it towards individuals with blindness. The study involved children (N = 226) aged 4–6 divided into three groups: (1) who viewed the exhibition in the art gallery with a guide, (2) who viewed the exhibition in the art gallery on their own, (3) tested in a pre-school, without viewing the exhibition and without any knowledge about the exhibition (the control condition). We controlled participants’ gender and their familiarity with individuals with blindness. All children were asked to assess their attitude towards the persons who are blind (using a thermometer of feelings). Moreover, the children who visited the gallery assessed to what extent they liked the exhibition. We showed that visual art might be a tool for social change as the young gallery visitors had more positive attitudes towards people who are blind than children who did not view the exhibition. However, art activism affected pre-school children’s attitudes towards individuals with blindness only when young visitors explored the exhibition on their own.

KEYWORDS:

• Art activism
• attitudes
• awareness intervention
• blindness
• children
• disability awareness programmes

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the contemporary art gallery Galeria Labirynt in Lublin, and especially Agata Sztorc, Emilia Lipa, and Rafał Lis, for their cooperation in conducting this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Ethical issues

Only children whose parents provided written consent took part in the experiment. The

study was approved by the ethics committee of The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin.

The research was anonymous and entailed minimal risk (no more than in one’s everyday life).

Notes

1. Polish pre-school (przedszkole) covers pre-year 1 and year 1 under the Australian system.