By Smruti S Amy Herman is a lawyer and art historian who has designed a programme which uses works of art to sharpen observation, analysis, and communication skills. Her book Visual Intelligence: Sharpen Your Perception, Change Your Life was on both the New York Times and Washington Post bestsellers’ lists. She had recently visited the city’s Museum of Art and Photography where she is an international board member.
While in Bengaluru, Amy held sessions on a programme she developed called the Art of Perception based on ‘visual intelligence’. According to her, visual intelligence is the ability to see what other people do not by gaining clarity from multiple perspectives. ”I teach people to look at works of art to help sharpen their visual intelligence, to see what should be there and isn’t, and to understand the value of multiple perspectives.
Art is the vehicle that we use to do that.” Amy Herman| Photo Credit:Special Arrangement Initially a law practitioner, Amy saw immense value in legal education and training, even though she found it uninspiring. She forged a new path which creatively fused legal and visual analysis.
This resulted in developing the program, which was first designed in 2000. Amy’s training adapts art-based observation techniques to suit different professional groups — nurses, intelligence officers, military personnel and others. She tailors the selection of artworks to address the specific challenges faced by each group.
Although the spec.