17 WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE GO? WE MAKE NEW PERSPECTIVES POSSIBLE. Lehigh University Art Galleries Art helps us gain new perspectives. Striving to be an essential, integrated, and innovative participant in the intellectual and cultural life of Lehigh University, the Lehigh University Art Galleries (LUAG) envisions itself as a convener that enhances the quality of life for campus and community; a leader among academic art museums; and a destination for a diverse range of visitors from the Lehigh Valley and beyond. A generous multi-year gift from Kenneth Woodcock ’65 is significantly impacting LUAG’s work. Initial funding was immediately utilized to hire a new full-time staff member, Elise Schaffer, LUAG’s first coordinator of museum experience and access. In this role, Schaffer is responsible for all visitorfacing services and support, as well as the creation of resources and accommodations for visitors with disabilities. Over the past year, this has included the development of audio guides and audio descriptive tours, large-print exhibition materials, and outreach to groups that may have experienced barriers to participation in the past. This new role has also increased LUAG’s capacity to hire work-study students and interns, which now number more than 20 annually. Schaffer also oversees LUAG’s new Reading Room — a reference library consisting of more than 2,000 books and publications, all accessible through the University ASA library catalog, as well as social media and marketing, including a bilingual campaign to reach Spanish-speaking communities. Schaffer recently presented sessions on LUAG’s accessibility efforts at the Association of Academic Museums and Galleries (AAMG) national conference in Logan, Utah.
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