Tuesday 29 November 2011

Luther Manor on American News Channel...

The incredible work that Luther Manor does is now available for all to see on American News - please see link below!!
Storytelling Soothes Seniors with Dementia

John Kohler Arts Centre Proffessional Photographs...

Check out these photographs that the proffessional John Kohler Art's Centre photographer took - they really sum up the fantastic Dementia access programme.

Sunday 13 November 2011

The end is near...

I am sadly nearly at the end of my Winston Churchill Travelling Fellowship and it has being a truly phenomenal experience. I can't thank the trust enough for providing and assisting me with this amazing journey of meeting lots of incredible people, observing and working with astounding organisations in the field of Arts and Dementia Care but also allowing this area of work to be done - to improve the lives of everyone affected with Dementia.
I will be writing and putting together my final 'Arts and Dementia' report over the next few weeks so feel free to get in touch if you would like to have a read (it will be in more depth than my blog), contact me at: claireford88@hotmail.com

Memorials and Statues of DC!!

This weekend being my last - i got to fit in some sightseeing with some friends i had met at the beginning of my trip in Milawaukee!! Ironically alot of what we saw was Memorials and Statues and due to us sightseeing so close to Veteran's day - the wreaths, notes and letters were all still available to see..it was very powerful..

Veteran's Hospital on Veteran's Day!!!

Last Friday - American's celebrated Veteran's Day - either by getting the day off work or celebrating with the numerous Veteran's around the DC area. Connecting and working quite closely with IONA services this week - i got to visit a Veteran's hospital myself to see what was going on!! The hospital was decorated, singing, cheerleading and good food was all happening!! It was a great place and honour to be....

Thursday 10 November 2011

Library of Congress....

I spent more time this afternoon listening to primary stories and
sources of those affected by Dementia Disease. These are very important to my
research and will most certainly be included within my final report....

St. Alban's Church - IONA Program...

I visited and took part in many of the activities that were happening at St.Alban's Church in downtown Washington DC. I even took part in the Aerobics class and could not believe how difficult it was! Wow - American Seniors are very fit and active!!
Midday and afternoon - Mickey Klein, the Artist in Residence from IONA came in to the church to facilitate a Watercolour workshop. This was really interesting for me to observe.
Everyone within the group were engaged within the activities straight away - is this to do with a senior teaching it?
The environment felt so safe and creative - so a great way to explore without getting embarassed!

Wednesday 9 November 2011

Society for the Arts in Healthcare...

I had a very interesting meeting this with Anita Boles and Evelyn at 'Society for the Arts in Healthcare'. They have the huge task of identifying and bridging the gap between Artists and Health Care Staff - and through their dedication they are making this change, not only nationally but internationally too! So more and more health care facilities are becoming aware of the importance of the Arts and the roles they play. As an organisation they hope to develop sound research which supports the Art Impact on an individuals wellbeing.
It was interesting for me to discuss the differences between 'Art Therapists' and 'Creative Practitioners' within Healthcare settings with Anita and Evelyn. Due to Art Therapists being credited they are seen as beneficial to health, therefore training programs have being developed to credit Creative Practitioners to do the same. Which i think is unbelievable! And i would certainly do the training...this maybe another excuse to pop back to the US for a bit and to get extra credentials!
There will be a huge extract on these current issues we discussed during this meeting in my final report, so if you need any additional information, please get in touch at:

Lisner Home Art Program..

After meeting Gay Hanna a couple of days - she fixed me up with visiting and taking part in the 'Lisner Home's Art Program....i am so glad she did!!
The Lisner-Louise-Dickson-Hunt Home is a Care Facility for primarily poor seniors in the Washington DC community. The grounds and buildings are absolutly stunning, i have never seen anything like it!! So i knew that the Art Program would follow same suite...
Entering a conservatory part of the facility, there were tables covered in paint, canvases and various brushes - everyone was ready for Art Action!! It is a voluntary program for any of the residents and it is very open so they can paint anything they feel like. The results were all different - from chance paintings to landscapes and abstracts. All residents left with a huge smile on their face!
This program was very alternative to what i have previously seen - but maybe this type of freedom within Art can also be engaging?
Check out the Lisner's Website:
http://www.lldhhome.org/ (Amazing videos and photographs which capture the importance of Art Program's in Senior Living Facilities...
Check out the Photographs of some of the final creations:
An Annual Art Exhibition takes place every May at The Lisner Home - fetching in funds for the program to keep running! Inspiring!!

Library of Congress

Today i spent a couple of hours in the Library of Congress working with an Archivist - searching, downloading and listening to 'Storycorp' recordings from previous years. These recorded stories provide insights into the lives of individuals who are living with Dementia or family members and caregivers who are coming to terms with the disease.
I will be going back tomorrow afternoon to listen to the remaining clips....

Chuck Baxter Art Class...

Chuck Baxter is a local Washington DC artist who finds many items and rubbish on the streets that he makes into innovative Art Works. He now has developed this concept and brings 'found objects' into IONA for an afternoons Mixed Media Workshop.
It was fab!! And a chance for me to use everyday mundane materials - which i LOVE to do!! See above for some of the fantastic results....
What i really liked was there was no given brief or concept - what was made was very much participant led!! The stories told about the pieces at the end of afternoon..were great...

Lecture by Mickey Kleins..Over 60 Artist in Residence..

OLLI held a lecture, presented by Mickey Kleins - a 60 year old senior who has the fantastic opportunity to be an artist in residence for 6 months at IONA. Her work fills the Wellness Arts Center and the reception rooms as you enter within the building.
Mickey's presentation was ever so interesting. Her Art and Creativity seems to have developed alongside her visions of the world. Through constant travel with her husband. Watercolour, Acrylics and Photographs all respond to her emotions and visions of the world.
A 60 plus senior being an Artist in Residence - what an empowering experience! This should be developed across many Senior Service Facilities, both in the US and UK.
After Mickey finished her presentation, which lasted a good hour, i went and asked her a question which i had being dying to ask the whole way through.
My question was - 'Do you feel your Creativity has developed as you have become older?'
Mickey's response - 'Its having the time to be Creative now, i didn't used to have the time'.
So is having the time and trying out things that you never got chance to do, the same as 'Creative Aging?'

IONA Wellness Center...

As an introduction to IONA, i got to spend the full morning in the IONA Wellness Center. It was such a beautiful space and i got talking to a man called 'Bill' for quite a long time about his life as an Architect. It was fascinating as he designed most of DC!!!
We then discussed relevant USA News and took part in a exercise class. Half of the group ventured out to the Botanical Gardens whilst the other half did some flower arranging. With such a beautiful autumnal day - it was the perfect activity!!
I spoke quite closely with alot of the day center guests and they all said they enjoyed being there and spending time with each other - mentioning that there was always something to be done!!
I hope Bill can put some of his Architectual skills into practice through Art Programs, sharing his love of creativity and design....

Monday 7 November 2011

Kreeger Museum!

I spoke with Derya Samadi this afternoon at the Kreeger Museum. It is hidden into the long pathway of utterly expensive and giant houses down a beautiful street in the middle of Tenleytown.
The Kreeger's built the marvelous house years ago hoping to open it into an Art Museum one day. So when they both passed on...this eventually happened. There collections of Monet's, Picasso's, Braque's and African Art are all displayed around the house along with a music hall which performs regular concerts - not to mention the huge sculpture garden in the houses grounds.
The Kreeger is now developing two programs - one directly for individuals with Dementia and their caregivers, but also one that is Integenerational with a local private middle school - this program is named 'Sweet Readers'. Derya believes that in the future Sweet Readers will take over the solely Dementia program as it is so successful.
This proves the benefits of Intergenerational Work for both young people and the elderly.
Watch out for an update on an Intergenerational Poem that was created at the Kreeger.....

Meeting with National Center for Creative Aging!!

This morning i had the amazing opportunity of meeting with the staff who provide the community with The National Center of Creative Aging!! I spoke with Katie, Adam, Allessi and Gay Hanna the Center's Executive Director.
The National Center of Creative Aging provide carers, organisations and facilities with information, research, webinar's and even online tool-kits and training kits to put 'Creative Aging' into practice...promoting the Arts for this Generation!! Programs such as 'Meet me at MOMA' and Kairos Dances 'Dancing Heart' all get published in the best practice database so that they can be implemented or developed within other facilties.
It was amazing speaking to Gay Hanna too - who worked collaboratively with Dr Gene Cohen, at the end of his life. It was great finding out more about him and how passionate he was about this field of work. Dr Gene Cohen would certainly be proud of The National Center of Creative Aging for its dedication and continuous development within this field.

LAST STOP - WASHINGTON DC!!!

San Francisco - MOMA...

During my last day in San Francisco - i got to flavour San Francisco's own MOMA. It was great but slightly smaller than NY!!
With a light installation welcoming you to the museum...that flickered and showed figurative images as if people were walking through. This was really spectacular and innovative!
The rest of the gallery included artists such as Van Gogh, Joseph Cornell and Eva Hesse. A great way to finish my trip in San Francisco!

Saturday 5 November 2011

Stagebridge - San Francisco

As i had a free day in San Francisco i took up the amazing opportunity of observing and spending time at Stagebridge in Oakland.
Check out there website for live performances and Stories:
First of all i observed a Storytelling workshop in which there were about 12 seniors taking part. 3 of them performed their story. I was blown away and didn't realise how much emotion, movement, voice and music can go into just one story. Each story was very different but all equally brilliant!! This class develops skills to engage audiences through emotion, humour and props. No PAPER allowed! They were all SO talented...
Storytelling to me is very interactive! Through listening and responding through questions, eye contact or even 'sighing or laughing'. Stagebridge was entirely different to other programs i have observed such as 'Storycorps' due to its energetic storytelling. You could feel the emotion without hearing the words.
Afterwards i watched a performance by 'Word for Word'. Where they incorporate either short stories or poetry into theatre. A poem about loss and how the head and heart helped and assisted was acted out. It was also very powerful and confidently done! I would be really interested to develop these techniques myself as it can really promote engagement and relationships within a group.
Last of all, i watched a group rehearse for a show they will perform this Sunday! Around 15 seniors - singing, dancing, acting and reading. It was very humourous! And i was dying to find out their previous careers to really delve into whether this was part of 'Creative Aging'..???
It was really amazing to be at Stagebridge and i hope this older generation will develop in this way...

New Museum of Art, New York....

We had the fantastic opportunity of observing and being the audience at the New Museum of Art in New York before leaving for San Francisco...
It was unbelievable and very interactive, testing all of our senses!!
I began going on a slide down to the rest of the galleries which consisted of flickering and flashing lights - landing on your body in an insane way! We then got given 'happy pills' which we had no problem taking! WHAT YOU DO FOR ART IS CRAZY!! - I found out later that they just consisted of sugar and some were empty (all to do with chance and luck).
Other exhibitions included a carousel, fishtank, balancing etc...the artist for the New Museum was Carsten Holler...and it really made me think about how we use our senses and how they can be tricked into new environments and situations.

Banksy Graffiti Tour around San Francisco!!

It was like a treasure hunt looking for all of the Banksy murals in many parts of San Francisco - great fun!!
Some were behind car lots, some hidden under other Graffiti...it really test our eyes!!
But Banksy is even better up close!!

Vacation to San Francisco!!

The Fellowship Blog is back!!!
After a fantastic holiday and break to San Francisco - it was great to do some sightseeing to Alcatraz, Banksy Tour, Museums and Galleries, Golden Gate Brigde and Park and we even came across an old Amuseument Museum full of Pianola's - my Grandparents would have loved it!! Plenty of Photographs were taken....