`The Eyes of Me’ explores world of blind students

High school can be brutal with the struggles to fit in, prepare for college and live independently. At this month’s John Michael Kohler Arts Center’s Community Cinema screenings of “The Eyes of Me,” follow four students grappling with these usual teenage concerns – all while being blind.

Showing at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 9, and at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 10, the film takes viewers into the hallways of a unique high school – the Texas School for the Blind. There, students juggle with all the usual pressures of high school along with the added challenges of growing up blind. “The Eyes of Me” spans a dynamic year as the teens learn how to fit in and stand on their own. Forced to confront the world without sight, they share their inner visions of the outer world.

Director Keith Maitland reveals a world where learning to cross an intersection, cook a meal or navigate an unfamiliar place can be more difficult than any calculus lesson. Ultimately, viewers cannot understand these students’ perceptions without challenging their own.

“I’ve always been intrigued by questions of perception and identity-building, specifically how teens and young adults define themselves within their communities. After a chance meeting with a staff member from the Texas School for the Blind, I realized that I could delve into these questions … through the experiences of the students at the school,” Maitland said.

The Community Cinema series is free and designed to engage communities through films produced by the Independent Television Service (ITVS). The monthly showings are followed by lively panel discussions that encourage dialogue and action around important and timely social issues.

Tuesday’s post-film discussion will be led by Laura Griffin, MS, ATR-BC, a board-certified art therapist at RCS Empowers Inc. She works with adult participants who have physical and developmental disabilities and chronic mental illness in an open studio format. Griffin has been a workshop presenter for VSA arts of Wisconsin and has presented nationally on art therapy and autism, on the effects of having therapy dogs in an open studio, and on collaborative environmental art pieces.