What Lifts You: International Mural Artist Creates First-Ever Tactile Art Installation for Anchor Center

Interactive, international street artist and illustrator Kelsey Montague has created the first-ever tactile, light-up wings specifically for the children of Anchor Center. All of Montague’s murals are interactive, meaning people are encouraged to stand in front of the piece so they look as if they are part of the art. But this one is unique. In meeting with the Anchor Center team, Montague understood that people with visual impairments need to be able to access art differently or, as Anchor Center’s tagline suggests, to See Life Differently. These specific wings were created with tactile elements throughout, including Braille, and with various light sources.

The hashtag on the piece will encourage people to take a picture and post the image in the #WhatLiftsYou hashtag on social media. Montague wants people to reflect on what is most important to them in their lives. Montague and Anchor Center for Blind Children invite you to come down, experience the piece, take a picture in front of the wings (there’s even a small set of wings for children!), post it online and reflect on ways we can come together.

WATCH CBS4’s COVERAGE OF THE ANCHOR CENTER PIECE HERE.

SEE THE FIRST EPISODE OF THE “WHAT LIFTS YOU” TV SHOW, FEATURING ANCHOR CENTER!

VIEW PHOTOS OF THE FINAL INSTALLATION.

About the artist
KELSEY MONTAGUE is an international street artist who believes that art should not be separated from the human experience, but that the human experience should have a hand in creating art itself. Kelsey has painted large-scale, interactive street murals in six countries on three continents. Each piece has provided an opportunity for thousands of people to become living works of art. Participants are invited to step into the artwork, explore what inspires them and post pictures on social media. Kelsey started her #WhatLiftsYou movement in Manhattan with large-scale murals of her iconic wings. Celebrities including Taylor Swift and Vanessa Hudgens posed with the street art wings while media outlets like Mashable, MTV, Forbes and Refinery 29 have featured her work, making the artwork an overnight sensation.