Classes start up on Monday, and on Tuesday, we have our first scheduled meeting of the “Penelope Research Team,” 5 students and my colleague Robin Mello. We are entering the research stage of the Penelope Project, which will facilitate discussions with family, staff, and residents at Luther Manor Health Center’s nursing home (among other local [...]
Archive for the ‘cultural phenom’ Category
My Hearty Research Team!
Posted in art, cultural phenom, long term care, public education, theatre, tagged Luther Manor, Penelope, Sojourn Theatre, theatre and aging, UWM on January 22, 2010 | 1 Comment »
Seeing the “AHA” in Their Eyes
Posted in art, cultural phenom, long term care, public education, tagged creative engagement, creativity and dementia, memory loss, NADSA, TimeSlips, trainings, WAHSA, workshops on September 28, 2009 | Comments Off
In September I had the great fortune to two training workshops. The first was a TimeSlips creative storytelling training organized by a dedicated group of volunteers who are part of the Minnesota Dementia Care Professionals network. 130 people squeezed themselves around long tables in the chapel of a nursing home in St. Paul, MN. Joyce [...]
Community, Cultural Development
Posted in art, cultural phenom, long term care, public education, tagged community development and aging on September 28, 2009 | 2 Comments »
There is a growing number of programs in the United States (and across the world), that link community activists and social justice workers with the arts and humanities – often by involving students through service learning programs. This is a potential and powerful mechanism for transforming long term care. Imagining America, a consortium of colleges [...]
Hope and Health
Posted in art, cultural phenom, public education, tagged arts and health, hopelessness, Mike White, mind body split, stroke on August 31, 2009 | 1 Comment »
It’s all one system. The way we think is of course, linked to what is happening in the rest of our bodies. “I think therefore I am” doesn’t separate the mind from the body, it announces that the two are linked. A new study out of the University of Minnesota finds that hopelessness leads to [...]
Inspiring meeting of Wisco museums
Posted in art, cultural phenom, tagged art museums, dementia on August 25, 2009 | Comments Off
Not many meetings are inspiring…that’s for sure. But today, I attended a gathering of the 5 museums in Wisconsin planning programs for families with dementia. 5 museums, normally in competition for funds and members, agreed on a common name, looked for economies of scale in trainings of staff on the basics of dementia, shared plans [...]
Wisconsin Museums Visit NYC
Posted in art, cultural phenom, disability, tagged alzheimer's, cultural programs, dementia, MoMA, museums on August 4, 2009 | Comments Off
In July, I accompanied museum educators from 5 Wisconsin museums to NYC to learn about developing programs for families with dementia. The John Michael Kohler Art Center (Sheboygan); the Museum of Wisconsin Art (West Bend); the Racine Art Museum (Racine…); the Milwaukee Public Museum; and the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Museum (Wausau) were all awarded planning [...]
Museum in a nursing home
Posted in art, cultural phenom, disability, public education, tagged alzheimer's, art museum, hebrew home, nursing home, riverdale on June 12, 2009 | 1 Comment »
It’s really amazing what MOMA and other museums are doing now – offering educational programs in art to people with dementia and their families. But a NYT’s article today explores an even more radical step – bringing the museum to the nursing home. At the Hebrew Home in Riverdale, they have opened a Judaica museum. [...]
Post Think-Tank Thoughts
Posted in art, cultural phenom, disability, public education on May 29, 2009 | 3 Comments »
Finally. I had a day (sitting in my hotel room in LA) to just think and research and write about all the things that happened in the Think Tank at UWM. Here are my thoughts about core themes and concepts that came out of the incredible mix of people who gathered in Milwaukee May 13-15, [...]
NPR story of a painter with early on-set
Posted in art, cultural phenom, public education, tagged alzheimer's, memory loss, NPR's All Things Considered, representations of dementia on May 25, 2009 | Comments Off
A really lovely story on NPR’s All Things Considered today about a painter in NYC (Ken Rab) in his 50s and experiencing early on-set Alzheimer’s. His partner Stuart Post has created a supportive, loving, challenging world for Ken – one in which his creativity can flourish. It’s a quite a contrast to the HBO stories…positive [...]
