Braille Oversized Wordsearch Series

Project:

Braille Oversized Wordsearch Series

Duration:

12 months

Locations:

Durham, Huddersfield, Portsmouth

Participants:

Visually Impaired (VIP) individuals, SEND pupils, school communities, and public visitors

Medium:

Hand-painted wooden tiles, raised braille, interactive wordsearch panels

Over a year-long journey, I created a series of four large-scale Braille wordsearch artworks, each embedded in a different UK community. These pieces were made from hand-painted wooden tiles, designed to be tactile, colourful, and fully inclusive.

Each wordsearch was co-created with visually impaired people, schools, and SEND learners — making braille art a public, accessible, and joyful experience.

1. Oriental Museum, Durham

The series launched in collaboration with an elderly group of visually impaired participants, who painted every wooden tile by hand. The group also chose the words, ensuring their lived experience shaped the final piece. It is now proudly on public display in the Oriental Museum, inviting all visitors to touch, read, and reflect.

2. Priory School

At Priory School, I worked as Lead Artist, guiding a creative process where staff and students explored their core values and turned them into a bold visual and braille wordsearch. Their tiles were painted during hands-on workshops that built community and visibility for accessible design.

3. Dalton Junior School, Huddersfield

In Huddersfield, VIP pupils at Dalton Junior School led the charge, creating both the content and artwork for their wordsearch. The experience empowered students to see themselves as makers and storytellers — embedding braille into the school’s everyday landscape.

4. Mary Rose Museum, Portsmouth

The final and most expansive piece, the Everlasting Wordsearch, brought together VIP children, adults, and a local SEND school. Even a guide dog got involved! This piece is now a permanent feature in the Learning Centre at the Mary Rose Museum, where it engages thousands of families and children during school holidays — making inclusive literacy part of a historic learning experience.

Why Wordsearches in Braille?

The series breaks down the idea that braille is “specialist” — instead, it places braille in joyful, public, and interactive art. Through colourful, textured wooden tiles and co-created content, this project says one simple thing: inclusion can be playful, powerful, and proudly on display