Sample Press Release Re Verbal Description(s)
Feel Free to Adapt to Your Needs: Print on Your Letterhead
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: [ insert date sent ]
[ insert name of local celebrity/politician/business person ] Discovers There's More to Art Than Meets the Eye
[ Local celebrity ] joins [ your instutiton ] and museums, schools for the blind, libraries and service agencies around the world to raise awareness of how important it is that art and culture be made available to children and adults who are blind or visually impaired. To help [ your institution ] celebrate Art Beyond Sight Awareness Month: October 2005, [ local celeb ] wrote a verbal description of one of [ his/her ] favorite paintings, [ name of painting and its artist ]. That painting hangs in [ your institution's name and the specific room/gallery ]. Throughout Awareness Month, [ local celeb's ] verbal description will be on display beside the painting.
Verbal descriptions are among the tools used to teach children and adults who are blind or visually impaired about art. Museum touch tours, tactiles and art-making activities are other useful tools. [ Your institution ] is among the organizations that understand the need to have these tools available. [ Add brief description of what programs you have available for blind and visually impaired people-keep it to a few sentences: this release is to catch reporters' interest so they call you for more information. ] Without programs such as these, the worlds of art and culture would be closed to blind and visually impaired people.
[ Insert a sentence of two re any activities you have planned at your institution for Awareness Month here. ] Many other activities are planned around the world. One easy-to-enjoy activity is Awareness Month's free telephone conference-call crash course on accessibility. For more information on it and other Art Beyond Sight Awareness Month activities, visit www.artbeyondsight.org .
[If you have a photo of your celebrity, ideally with the painting for which he/she wrote the verbal description, insert a caption for it here.]
For information, contact:
[Insert your name, address, phone & fax number, e-mail address]
