ART SOUL AND
Gallery unites disabled people in a space that feels like home STORY BY SARA SANTORA // PHOTOGRAPHY BY ALICIA OSBORNE
W
hen Karen Walker was in the seventh grade, she was inspired to work with blind children. It’s a calling she has pursued tirelessly for years and one that has grown in ways she never envisioned. Walker has worked as a teacher for the blind and visually impaired and served as an orientation and mobility instructor. She founded Allied Instructional Services, an Inc. 500 company that provides schools and government agencies with staff and programs for developing individuals with special needs. She’s been an adjunct professor and a Virginia state councilwoman.
74 March-April 2024 TALLAHASSEEMAGA ZINE.COM
Now, she’s a gallerist. “I knew nothing about art,” Walker said in discussing the opening of her gallery, Able Artists. “I knew what I liked, but I couldn’t tell you the value of one thing over another.” It may seem strange — a gallerist who knows nothing about art. But Walker never planned to open a gallery. Her oldest daughter, Lauren Walker, is an artist who does fractal wood burning and has Asperger Syndrome. She and her mother used to participate in art fairs, but the work and travel involved were taxing. Lauren often needed support setting up and breaking down her booth. Then, most art fairs closed due to the pandemic.