Meet the Instructors

Ann Cunningham

Ann Cunningham is an artist, author and innovator.

She is a founding member of the Tactile Art Collective, which received the 2026 Jacob Bolotin Award. The collective believes that consumers of tactile art are perfectly positioned to create tactile art.

Ann taught art at the Colorado Center for the Blind from 1999 to 2022 and organized three National Federation of the Blind symposia on tactile art and graphics.

She is co-owner of Sensational Books; publisher of Sadie Can Count, developer of the Sensational BlackBoard, and inventor of Flip-pics. Her highest priority is creating illustrated concept books for blind babies so that they can learn to read alongside their sighted peers.

Chancey Fleet

Specialties: Assistive tech, origami, tactile drawing, keeping people on task.

Materials Taught: Tactile drawing, origami, approximate perspective, 3D printing, tactile graphics.

Chancey Fleet is the Assistive Technology Coordinator for the Andrew Heiskell Braille and Talking Book Library of the NYPL. She is a blind accessibility advocate, designer, National Federation of the Blind leader, and Brooklyn resident.

Ka Li

Specialties: Tactile design, instruction engineering, UV printing, 3D printing, Legos.

Materials Taught: Approximate perspective, tactile drawing, fabrication, Lego builds.

Marco Salsiccia

Specialties: Tactile drawing, sculpture, SVG coding, embossing, digital and tactile graphics.

Materials Taught: Beginner, intermediate, and advanced tactile drawing, sculpture, approximate perspective, SVG coding, digital and tactile graphics production.

Marco was an animator and a visual FX artist, working in the Motion Graphics industry for 14 years before losing his vision in 2014. He now works as an accessibility consultant and expert for various companies around the Bay Area in California. He loves both introducing and reconnecting students to art no matter where they are on their journey into art and design.

Minh Ha

Specialties: Tactile coloring, origami, tactile texturing.

Materials Covered: Coloring, tactile drawing, origami, crafting.

Minh works at Perkins School for the Blind, and loves to tie her artistic work and teaching in with the mental health benefits that come along with creativity.

Karen Anderson

Specialties: Tactile drawing, facilitation, art program organization, logistics.

Materials Covered: Tactile drawing, art concepts and techniques, Art Room setup and logistics, advocacy.

Instructor profile coming soon.

Danielle Montour Lane

Specialties: Tactile art techniques, curriculum development, emotional support and guidance.

Materials Covered: Instructional and emotional management, tactile art and approximate perspective techniques.

Instructor profile coming soon.

Shelly Smith

Specialties: Art Room facilitation, tactile mapmaking, inclusive instruction, logistics, emotional support and guidance.

Materials Taught: Tactile maps, tactile drawing, origami, sculpture, textured and mixed-media art, Art Room setup and facilitation.

Shelly Smith is a blind educator, tactile learning facilitator, and accessibility advocate who creates welcoming spaces where confidence grows through doing. She brings warmth, humor, practical problem-solving, and a talent for keeping things moving to hands-on learning. Shelly enjoys helping people explore new materials, ask “What happens if…?” and discover what they can do. If she does not know the answer, she will gladly help find it.

Kaiti Shelton

Specialties: Tactile drawing, origami, Flip Pics, emotional support and processing, adaptation and accommodation for multiple disabilities and youth.

Materials Taught: Sensational Blackboard drawing, origami, tactile or textured art materials, Flip Pics.

Kaiti Shelton, MT-BC, is a blind creative from Saint Paul Minnesota. A board-certified music therapist by day, she is passionate about increasing accessibility to and representation of disabled people of all ages and abilities in the arts. Kaiti was a community educator participant in the 2025 Tactile Art Teach-In in Denver, and joined the teaching team in 2026.