Please Do Touch — This Houston Arts Exhibition Defies the Usual Expectations to Create a Sensory-Friendly Show For Kids and Adults

“Do not touch” are not words you’ll hear at one Houston art exhibition. The Alta Arts is home to “Multi-Zen-Sery,” an inclusive show for kids with disabilities on view through this Saturday, August 5th.

“Multi-Zen-Sery,” a project from the nonprofit The Eclectic Arts Movement, breaks the traditional boundaries of art by including interactive elements that can be experienced by differently-abled people. In typical museums or art galleries, the artwork is inaccessible and meant only to be viewed from a distance. But not here. Kids and adults alike can touch, listen, smell and even taste as a part of their experience with the artwork.

The exhibition, curated by Nelson Delgado Jr., features 30 different artists from all across the world, many of them based in Houston. Interactive tables are scattered throughout the gallery, each one decorated by an artist to pair with their work and designed to be touched and felt. The tables are also fitted with sets of headphones that play music selected by the artist, allowing those who are blind or visually impaired to experience “Multi-Zen-Sery” too. 

The entire show has a vibrantly playful atmosphere that welcomes the kids and families who come to visit. The work exhibited is colorful and bold and every individual collection is distinct from the next, reflecting the essence of the Eclectic Arts Movement. 

Beyond expanding accessibility to art, the exhibition represents a new creative opportunity for the artists involved. Incorporating touch and other sensory experiences allowed for experimentation and added an extra dimension of meaningfulness to their work. 

“Kids can embrace this. People who don’t see — they can touch it, feel it,” says Nancy Ofori, one of the artists featured in the show. “It was just fun to go out and do something that could be explored a different way.” 

Ofori’s collection “RE”  is themed around renewal and rebirth, originally inspired by a health diagnosis that forced her to confront the idea of death. She utilizes texture and textiles, using a unique process of stitching over painted fabric to create her designs. “RE” features a phoenix, the ultimate symbol of rebirth and an interactive nest of “phoenix eggs” covered with braille. 

Other collections in the show feature similarly reflective and uplifting themes, such as “Being Different, Being Beautiful” by Fabrice Plantard, an artist originally from France who is now based in Houston. His work utilizes a smattering of different techniques and mediums, including glue, collage, resin and acrylic ink.

The largest piece, entitled I Know That I’m Different, is surrounded by smaller works that were inspired by figures like Marilyn Monroe (who had a stutter) and Andy Warhol (who many experts believe had autism, though he was never officially diagnosed).

The central color is green, which symbolizes hope in Plantard’s native France. His interactive table is covered in soft, grass-like textures and small sculptures. It is even scented like freshly-cut grass. 

Brittany Ellis, a Houston native, brings a touch of Space City to “Multi-Zen-Sery.” Her collection dubbed “Space to Earth” is inspired by Houston’s connection to space and the idea of evolution. Kids can touch the sculptures of the Earth, moon and a rocket ship she suspended in midair or enjoy her textural paintings that depict the phases of Earth’s evolution.

For an extra treat, Ellis has plenty of rock candy prepared. 

The work featured in “Multi-Zen-Sery” is also for sale, and the earnings from the show will go towards eventually establishing a permanent space with interactive and sensory-inclusive artwork. Much of the work will also travel to Miami, where Lucid Art Gallery will host the show for two weeks. Some artists even will be chosen to show at Art Basel.

William Braemer, the owner of Art Fusion Galleries in Miami, helped to make Miami-based artists a part of “Multi-Zen-Sery” and contributed to the show’s creation. M E Klesse and Edgar Medrano were also instrumental to the project’s success.

The closing reception for “Multi-Zen-Sery” will be held this Saturday, August 5 from 5 pm to 8 pm. at The Alta Arts gallery space. For a full list of the artists involved and more about their work, go here.