About Us

Trish Maunder

Trish is the Creative Director and co-founder of Philly Touch Tours. Her career as an educator working in art and cultural settings is infused with the belief that curiosity with opportunities to learn in multi-sensory ways are the leading forces behind a socially aware and fulfilling life. Her children, two of whom were born with vision loss, inspired her own sense of discovery. Guided by latest research and principles of best practice, Trish designs and presents creative and inclusive programs and workshops for children and adults about the revelatory nature of the sense of touch in art, nature and in our everyday lives.

Knowing that people who are blind or visually impaired are often constrained in their enjoyment of cultural inclusion by limited access and lack of understanding and misconceptions by others has inspired Trish and her team to redress this in the Philadelphia area with the development of Philly Touch Tours.

In 2013, Trish received the Mae Davidow Community Service Award from Philadelphia Regional Chapter of the Pennsylvania Council of the Blind and in 2014, Insights into Ancient Egypt, a series of specially designed tours and workshops in collaboration with people with vision loss at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, received acclaim in the international press and received Philadelphia's Art-Reach Cultural Access Award.

Austin Seraphin

Austin is the co-founder of Philly Touch Tours. Being blind himself, Austin knows firsthand that cultural access can be challenging. His experience with Penn Museum's popular accessible touch program, Insights into Ancient Egypt, which he co-designed and presents, clearly demonstrates that people with vision loss are active participants in enriching cultural and social programs and events. Austin is excited to respond by creating new and exciting sensory experiences and tours and to also offer training in inclusionary practice and accessible web design to cultural venues and organizations from with a 'People-first' perspective.

Austin is an access technology consultant, working locally with companies to make their websites accessible by screen readers. He specializes in iOS and Linux Operating Systems and presents at local, national and international conferences. In 2014, Austin received the Annual Access Achievement award from the Mayoral Council on People with Disabilities and along with Philadelphia artist, Sonia Petruse, received the accolade 'Visual Artists of the Year' at the Philadelphia Geek Awards for a Braille Street Art project that challenges the status quo with activist commentary.