Linda Brant-Malm studied art at Macalester College in St. Paul, MN and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at Minneapolis College of Art and Design. She spent her 40-year career working in costume design, specializing in animals for mascots, amusement parks, festivals, and stage productions throughout the world. She loves the challenge of changing the human silhouette. Her furry costumes have been hugged by millions!
Linda is in the process of going blind from retinitis pigmentosa. Her guide dog helps her navigate. As she loses her vision, she is often reminded that those with blindness are frequently excluded from art. Her vision loss has driven her in a new direction as a designer. She creates tactile art and presents the pieces to small groups along with storytelling and a goal of bringing awareness to blindness.
Creating Art That Tells a Story
Each presentation and artwork I create, is a sensory-rich, tactile story, shaped by lived experience. My work explores fear, isolation, adaptation, and hope, which are emotional landscapes often navigated by people living with vision loss. Experiencing these stories through touch offers moments of quiet reflection and emotional connection, allowing participants to acknowledge challenges, honor growth, and rediscover hope. – Linda Brant-Malm
Linda’s storytelling experiences are designed to support emotional well-being, self-expression, and connection through art. She has shared these 1-hour presentations with a wide variety of communities including:
Vision Loss Resources Adjustment-to-Blindness Training, Alumni Group, Continuing Education and Community Services (Little Canada, MN)
Greenhouse Village Co-op (Roseville, MN)
Lyngblomsten Community Services (St. Pail, MN)
Sholom Community Alliance (St. Paul, MN)
Walker Methodist (Minneapolis, MN)
The Wellington Senior Living (St. Paul, MN)
Longfellow Healthy Seniors (Minneapolis, MN)
Arbor Ridges (Burnsville, MN)
Stonecrest Assisted Living (Woodbury, MN)
Fairview Community Center (Roseville, MN)
The Kenwood (Minneapolis, MN)
Parkshore Senior Campus (St. Louis Park, MN)
Trinity High Rise (Minneapolis, MN)
Regina Senior Center (Hastings, MN)
Boutwells Landing (Oak Park Heights, MN)
Cherrywood Pointe (Roseville, MN)
The Salvation Army (Maplewood, MN)
More About the Artist
Linda graduated from Vision Loss Resources in Minneapolis, MN as well as Guiding Eyes for the Blind in Yorktown Heights, NY and MN Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities, Partners in Policymaking class 35. She has participated in clinical research studies for 25 years at Harvard Medical School, Berman-Gund Lab, as well as 7 years at University of Minnesota, Low Vision Lab.
Linda loves international travel. One of her favorite trips, was a photo safari in Tanzania, Africa. She can see through the lens of a camera better than she can with her own eyes. Miracles will never cease to amaze her!
Teaching Statement:
I am part of the pioneering movement to introduce tactile art to the world. Do you know what art feels like? You experience it through texture, weight, temperature and resistance. Sensory rich art pieces are physical, present and grounding. Be here, feel this, don’t rush.
I focus on people’s journey in dealing with loss, diagnosis, fear, isolation, adapting, hope and healing, by using playful, whimsical, profound, and meaningful art. For individuals with vision loss, the experience can be empowering and validating. For sighted participants, it offers a rare and meaningful glimpse into a different way of perceiving the world.
These advocacy and awareness of life without sight programs help everyone through story-driven sensory demonstrations. Together, these encounters foster understanding, connection,
and greater awareness of blindness.
These programs are tactile art experiences, not craft activities. Participants will engage with Linda’s tactile artworks through guided touch and storytelling, rather than making their own art.
Program Offerings
Programs / Presentations
A hybrid of Storytelling and Experiential Performance with Sensory-Rich Tactile Art.
1. HUNGRY LITTLE MONSTERS, A Story of Loss
In this sensory storytelling program, handcrafted, whimsical toy monsters represent progressive vision loss, as they nibble away at a peripheral field. Linda shares a personal story about the
process of developing tunnel vision, making her journey relatable to anyone experiencing loss. This presentation provides a safe and lighthearted space to explore the emotional journey of loss.
2. I’M GOING WHAT?!? A Story of Diagnosis
This presentation uses symbolic art to address the overwhelming feelings of a life-altering diagnosis. Participants will interact with a rock cairn that represents a person, and uses handmade speech bubbles to fill a basket, which visualizes the flood of thoughts and feelings that come with the news. This program is a powerful tool for promoting empathy and understanding.
3. !YIKES! A Story of Fear
!YIKES! is an engaging story-driven sensory presentation focused on confronting fear. We use playful, tactile objects like toy tires and ladybug finger puppets to reenact anxiety inducing
scenarios. By providing a hands-on way to explore these emotions, the program empowers both sighted and visually impaired individuals to navigate and overcome their fears.
4. I FEEL STUCK, A Story of Isolation
This experiential art presentation explores the feeling of beingtrapped or isolated. Linda shares her personal experience with this emotion, using a compelling model of a goldfish in a bowl it’s
too big for. Participants are encouraged to handle the tactile models while we discuss their own feelings, helping to build a sense of community.
5. SPINNIN’ DOORS, A Story of Adapting
This guided touch-based encounter with art explores the process of adapting to blindness. Linda shares a story from her own life about navigating a changing world by using an interactive model
of a hallway with unexpected spinnin’ doorways. The program helps participants understand that with training, resilience and a new perspective, obstacles can be overcome.
6. MY LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL, A Story of Hope
Based on Linda’s journey with her guide dog, this presentation shares shares a powerful message of hope and regained independence. Linda uses a highly textured piece of textile artwork to symbolize the journey toward a brighter future, demonstrating how a new perspective and support system can
provide light even after a period of darkness.
7. SPIRAL PATHS, A Story of Healing
A deeply personal and inspiring presentation, Spiral Paths uses tactile art to illustrate Linda’s winding journey of healing and growth. Through a series of storytelling subjects accompanied by clay tactile art, Linda shows that the path to emotional recovery is a continuous process of self-discovery and moving forward.
8. INCLUSION, Stories of Helping
This presentation is a unique look at how innovators are creating new ways for people with blindness to experience art. Linda will use a series of storytelling subjects and objects to guide a
discussion on current accessibility efforts, such as museum touch tours, 3-D printers make replicas of famous paintings into reliefs, theaters provide sensory stage tours with audio-described performances, etc. The goal is to show the many possibilities for a more inclusive future and inspire everyone to find ways to help.
Residency
A hybrid of Storytelling and Experiential Performance with Sensory-Rich Tactile Art.
Story-Driven, Guided Tactile Art Experiences
This residency features 3-8 storytelling sessions accompanied by tactile art designed by Linda (presentations listed above).
“Linda makes talking about the loss of vision inviting and relatable. In watching people interact with her sculptures, it is evident that she has created pieces that provide a sense of healing through art.” – Susan Anderson, Associate Director of Programs, Vision Loss Resources
“Linda shares her passion for interactive art and tells her own personal story with vision loss along the way. It is wonderful to see how Linda connects with the group thereby allowing them to share their experience and ask questions freely.” – Sue Bauer, Community Service Specialist, Vision Loss Resources
“In my experience working with Linda, her creativity, determination, depth
of character and passion for her work and the people she serves, has
always struck me as truly remarkable. – Harry Miller, SORE Volunteer, St. Paul, MN“Losing one’s vision is frightening and incredibly unsettling as there is no way to touch and feel the loss. It is an ambiguous sense or feeling of loss. By working with Linda’s tactual presentations one can feel and integrate in a new way of one’s vision loss.”- Kate Grathwold, Ph.D., President/CEO, Vision Loss Resources
“Linda is an artist, a storyteller, a teacher. As her presentation unfolds, you’ll also discover she has an empathetic ear and sharp sense of humor.” – Benj Vardigan, Writer, Editor, Communications Specialist at AmplifyDMC
“Linda Brant-Malm is a true original. Drawing on her own life and
experiences, she’s created a unique and empathetic set of programs
where difficult topics are explored with care, humanity and an engaging
sense of humor. Linda’s work prompts you to think about how you
perceive the world.” – Andy Sturdevant, Writer, Artist, and Arts Administrator, St. Paul, MN
