What we do
We work with older adults in care communities, as well as with elders living at home, to provide "creative engagement" opportunities in both the visual and narrative arts. Our activities require no artistic experience on the part of participants. While our activities have been carefully designed for use with people with memory loss, the projects are also enjoyable for people without cognitive impairment. We work one-to-one with individual clients and also facilitate group sessions.
Photo courtesy OMA
Visual Arts
We offer painting, collage and print-making sessions and use the projects and approaches of the Opening Minds through Art (OMA) program. OMA is an award-winning, research-grounded art-making program for people with dementia developed at Miami University's Scripps Gerontology Center.
In keeping with the OMA approach, we use abstract art as the basis for our activities. Each project is broken into manageable steps and uses enticing tools and materials to appeal to elders’ imaginations and keep them engaged.
Also, because choices are incorporated throughout the art-making process, each completed artwork is a unique reflection of the elder who created it.
For examples of artwork created by our clients,
Photo courtesy TimeSlips
Story Creation
We lead group and individual TimeSlips story-creation sessions for people with memory loss.
In that program, elders use their imaginations (rather than feeling pressured to rely on their memories) to create stories about intriguing photographs. The stories are often playful, funny and quirky.
The research-grounded TimeSlips program provides a source of pleasure to participants, while supporting communication skills and building self-confidence.
For examples of stories we've facilitated with clients, click here.