Eliza Olander may be visually impaired, but the disability is not holding the nine-year-old back from sharing her artistic talents with the wider public.That’s because Eliza, along with her classmates from the Busy Bees Braille Programme, is determined to show people that art isn’t just something pretty to be looked at.The Bermuda Society of the Arts will display some of their tactile pieces in ‘Hands on Art’, an exhibit running now through July 25.Gallery director Lesley Rego said it was the first exhibit of its kind in the space, encouraging people to touch and smell the pieces rather than just look at them.“Most places you go to it says ‘do not touch’, like in art galleries and special stores, but in this particular place we are encouraging people to touch the art and that’s unique.“You get to make an opinion on something past just your eyes, it makes you think more.”She said it was great to give people with visual impairments a gallery experience. The new exhibit might also challenge people with sight to consider what life is like for the blind.“It’s appealing in many ways and helps people stop and think about what it would be like if you couldn’t see,” said Ms Rego.Blindfolds will be available for visitors who want to experience the exhibit without sight. There are also label cards written in Braille.Ms Rego said she hopes the exhibit brings home the fact “there are a lot of people less fortunate than we are”.She said: “Hopefully it can bring awareness to another sector of our society.”The Busy Bee Braille programme teaches six visually impaired students between the age of eight and 14 from schools across the Island.The classes at Prospect Primary teach them how to read Braille with equipment donated by local companies.Classes are led by William Ridley, a teacher for the visually impaired and Jean Howes, who is blind.The students also participate in art and sporting activities.Eliza said she loved taking part in the art projects.“It was fun to create it. We used a lot of things like a type of foam beads; we used sticks, wood, sand, all types of things from trees, the material and beads.”She said nothing was really challenging for her but some students did need help from their teacher.The youngster said she was excited to have her work displayed at City Hall.“I think people should come to see the exhibit because there are not many pieces of art work like this that people like us do because there is not a lot of kids in Bermuda that are really blind. We had to have a little bit of help, but not all the time, some things we could do by ourselves.”The avid dancer said she hoped to prove to the wider public that people with disabilities still have a lot to offer.“I am trying to prove to people that even though we have problems with our eyes we can still do many things. Some people say ‘A blind person can’t do this, a blind person can’t do that’, but me and all the other children in the Braille programme wanted to prove that we can do it.“It will make me feel happy and a lot of blind people and people with other problems happy to know people look at us differently.”Teacher Jennifer Roberts said she hoped people walked away with a better appreciation for art and the knowledge that everyone can experience art in its different forms and learn from it. “Not just those with sight,” she added.“I believe with the Busy Bee Braille programme, they wanted to be able to exhibit and show the community we can experience art in other ways except with our vision. So we came to the Society of Arts with our idea in February and they loved it.“It just evolved from there with the help of William Ridley, who spearheaded it.“We wanted to do it because when you think of art you typically think of art that you can see, but there are other ways you can experience art, you can touch it, you can smell it and you can play it, there are many different forms.”Part proceeds from pieces on display at the exhibit will go to the Society of the Blind.Useful website: www.bsoa.bm.