Renowned Blind Painter John Bramblitt Makes Lasting Impact with Visit to Indiana

By: Seth Johnson

John Bramblitt is an internationally recognized artist, award-winning author, and motivational speaker who lost his sight in 2001 due to epilepsy and Lyme disease; turning to painting, he became the world’s first blind muralist, with work reaching more than 120 countries. Featured in outlets like The New York Times and BBC, he has collaborated with institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and brands including Coca-Cola and Delta Air Lines, where he painted a Boeing 737 for the Rock in Rio. Named a U.S. Cultural Ambassador, he continues to inspire through murals, speaking, and his creative hub, The Yellow Dog Art Bar, proving that obstacles can lead to new ways of seeing.

During the week of March 23, John Bramblitt made his way to Indiana for a creative arts residency at the Indiana School for the Blind & Visually Impaired (ISBVI), as well as a pair of Community Painting Workshops in Indianapolis and West Lafayette.

Made possible with support from the Indiana Blind Children’s Foundation (IBCF) and the Robert and Toni Bader Charitable Foundation, Bramblitt’s visit marked the beginning of a new chapter in the No Limits Arts Series focused on fostering increased family engagement opportunities across the state. The workshops engaged a total of 65 participants, with 20 attendees in Indianapolis at the Indianapolis Art Center on Tuesday, March 24, and 45 attendees in West Lafayette at West Lafayette Intermediate School on Wednesday, March 25. These free, family-friendly workshops offered a unique, multi-sensory creative experience designed for ages 10 and up, fostering inclusion, increasing awareness of blindness and low vision, and strengthening community connections through shared artistic exploration.

John Bramblitt is seen standing in front of one of Leslie Walsh's art classes. Students have plates with paints arranged in front of them.Of the 29 individuals who filled out their post-workshop surveys, nearly 69% of participants reported this was their first community creative arts experience, and 90% had never participated in a multi-sensory workshop. Participants also overwhelmingly reported that the experience helped them think about art in new ways, increased their understanding of accessibility and inclusion, and provided insight into the lived experiences of individuals who are blind or have low vision.

John Bramblitt’s ISBVI Residency

On the first day of his residency at ISBVI, John Bramblitt introduced himself to students of all ages in Leslie Walsh’s art classes, filling them in on his many accolades while also showing them a few of his paintings. Bramblitt then led the students in a variety of hands-on drawing and painting workshops, including one where the students were instructed to use all of their senses to dream up a piece of their own.

“There’s no limit to creativity,” said ISBVI high school student Cooper when asked about the lasting impression Bramblitt’s instruction left on him. “It’s just your imagination.”

After experiencing the workshops, Cooper is excited to explore new horizons with his artwork, especially when it comes to making them more textured.

A colorful painting of a red electric guitar. The guitar is centered vertically, with a red body and a long neck. The neck is brown with horizontal striping, and there is a yellow decorative shape running up the middle of the neck. The headstock at the top is red with a rounded, cut-out shape. The guitar body has black outlining and small dark dot details that resemble hardware. The background of the painting is abstract, made of broad brushstrokes in purple, blue, teal, green, red, orange, and yellow. The right side is dominated by warm reds and oranges, while the left side has more cool blues and purples.The photo shows an indoor classroom scene with John Bramblitt leaning over a table while working with children on a colorful art project. John has light skin, dark hair, a full gray-and-dark beard, and is wearing dark sunglasses and a light blue button-up shirt with sleeves rolled up. His hands are near the center of the table, interacting with a child's hands.“I was always good at drawing but not great at painting. I really saw what I could do to improve, and I really liked the puff paint with making my outlines,” Cooper said. “It actually helped separate the paint from what I made. I also like that it helps people who are blind feel what I made. I really like that you can feel that and visualize it in your head.”

While working alongside Bramblitt to ensure his work with the students went smoothly, ISBVI art teacher Leslie Walsh found it admirable how much John let the students steer their experience with him.

“He wanted to learn more about our students,” Walsh said. “He wanted to let them lead.”

Over the course of his four-day residency at ISBVI, Walsh believes Bramblitt was able to help her students grow all the more confident in their art-making skills.

The photo shows an adult man (John Bramblitt) with light skin, a gray beard, and dark sunglasses standing in front of a student. He is wearing a light gray button-up shirt over a darker shirt and has one arm extended with an open hand, as if explaining something. In the foreground, a student with light skin and shoulder-length blond hair sits facing a canvas on a desk. The painting shows a stylized face with round glasses; bright orange and blue shapes appear in the lenses, and the head covering or hair is painted in vivid reds, oranges, and yellows against a dark blue background.“He absolutely showed us that anything is possible and that you don’t have to have your vision to create amazing and beautiful things,” Walsh said. “I think he gave the students self-esteem to be able to create and do anything, just by seeing what he’s done without his vision.”

While Bramblitt’s career accomplishments may be vast, Walsh felt he really gave ISBVI students his undivided attention, helping them to grow through his heartfelt instruction.

The photo shows an indoor room with two adults standing several feet apart and a light-colored service dog lying on the carpet between them, wearing a blue vest.  The person on the left (John Bramblitt) has short dark hair, a full beard, and sunglasses, and is wearing a light blue button-up shirt and dark pants, facing toward the right with one arm lowered as if gesturing. The person on the right (Leslie Walsh) has light skin and hair pulled back, wearing a sleeveless light-colored top, a dark skirt, and a multicolored striped apron or wrap, standing with arms behind their back and facing toward the left.  Behind them on the wall is a large, colorful textured artwork made of many fabric-like strips.“He kept saying that he loves to paint, but he also loves coming to schools and teaching them what he does,” Walsh said. “And because he’s such a charismatic person, I think it works really well.”

The Community Painting Workshops

During the evenings of March 24 and March 25, John Bramblitt led a pair of two-hour Community Painting Workshops in Indianapolis and West Lafayette, engaging with workshop attendees of all ages and skill levels.

At both of the workshops, Bramblitt kicked things off by sharing about his journey as an artist and how it had been impacted by vision loss. Bramblitt was very open and honest about the struggles he went through, which had a significant impact on attendees.

“I really loved how much he shared about his struggle-to-hope character arc,” said Erin Schmeer, who attended the West Lafayette workshop with her teenage daughter. “I tend to give up easily on things that are hard or avoid doing them at all. Hearing John talk about how he committed, like, ‘I’m going to draw one thing every day for a year, and I’m not going to judge it. I’m just going to do it.’ I felt very encouraged by that. We don’t just become perfect at things by taking one step into it. Everyone has to start somewhere, commit, and see change over time.”

Bramblitt’s sincere spirit also had a lasting impact on Camille Richard, who attended the Indianapolis workshop with a few of her friends.

The photo shows John Bramblitt speaking to a small group seated at a long table. John is standing near the front of a room, wearing a black shirt and dark sunglasses, with dark hair and a gray-and-white beard, gesturing with both hands as if presenting. Several people are seated with their backs to the camera; one person has “Wish” printed in large pink letters on the back of a light-colored shirt. The table is set with paper plates, pens or pencils, and multiple water bottles, suggesting a class or workshop.“I really liked him as a person,” Richard said. “He just came across as being so genuine. I had two friends from North Carolina I brought along, and they had the same impression, too.”

The picture shows a group of adults seated around long tables in a bright room with tall windows. Many people are smiling and holding up their paintings toward the camera. The paintings appear to be colorful, with flower-like shapes and abstract blobs in red, blue, yellow, and purple on white paper. The tables have black tablecloths and are covered with painting supplies and drinks, including several water bottles and a few cans.With both the Indianapolis and West Lafayette workshops, Bramblitt led an initial exercise where attendees used their senses of hearing, smell, taste, and touch to draw a creation of their own.

“I really liked using the different senses. That was new for me. I had never considered it as a way to encourage someone to imagine,” Schmeer said. “It just pushed boundaries that I had never considered while drawing.”

Later in the workshop, Bramblitt also led attendees in a blindfold painting exercise, where each paint had a different texture. For these workshops, Bramblitt had sand in the red paint, birdseed in the yellow paint, flour in the white paint, and left the blue paint without a texture. Attendees then used raised-line drawings to paint a flower while being blindfolded.

“Painting with my eyes covered was very much an experience that I think I want to repeat with my students,” said McChristie Brooking, who attended the Indianapolis workshop and is an elementary art teacher in Martinsville. “I want them to feel what it’s like to change what you rely on. I’m planning to do something like that in May with them.”

Like Brooking, Hannah Velpel also attended the Indianapolis workshop and then took some of what she learned back to her third-grade classroom.

“I made a lesson for my students, where I actually had people from the Blind School donate some blindfolds,” Velpel said. “We did a very similar activity, so it really just inspired me to teach them because they’ve been learning about how you experience art. Hearing John’s story was just amazing — that’s the only way I can even put it.”

After taking part in the Community Painting Workshop in Indianapolis, ISBVI Director of Outreach Cara Burchett was impressed with Bramblitt and the example he sets for others who are blind or visually impaired.

“He’s just a powerful reminder that creativity and talent aren’t limited by disability,” Burchett said. “He has such innovative techniques with his textures, raised lines, and how he mixes materials. I just appreciate his approach to resilience and adaptability.”

While Bramblitt’s artwork is certainly impressive, it was his story of resilience that seemed to hit home with so many who took part in the workshops, including West Lafayette attendee Bethany Madore.

The photo shows a child painting while wearing a blue blindfold. The child has light skin and light brown/blond hair swept over the forehead, and is wearing a red Coca‑Cola T-shirt.The photo shows a young girl with long braided hair sitting at a table doing an art activity. She is wearing a bright yellow T-shirt with a rainbow graphic and a yellow sleep-mask-style blindfold covering her eyes. Her expression is neutral and focused, with her head angled slightly downward.

Thank you to our IBCF supporters and the Robert and Toni Bader Charitable Foundation for helping to support these community painting workshops! Stay tuned for more No Limits Art Series programming in the coming months.

The Robert and Toni Bader Charitable Foundation logo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sorry, this website uses features that your browser doesn’t support. Upgrade to a newer version of Firefox, Chrome, Safari, or Edge and you’ll be all set.