Art Program for Those With Dementia Opens Minds and Hearts

Since 2007, Ohio's Opening Minds Through Art program has been offering people with Alzheimer's and dementia opportunities to create art, and the Springfield Art Association has now taught classes over a fall and spring session, reports NPR Illinois . Students are teamed with volunteers across a weekly program that lasts about three months. Helping to supervise the program is the SIU School of Medicine's Greg Kyrouac, with the program underwritten by a grant from the Illinois Department on Aging. Its purpose is to provide community outreach to persons with dementia. Part of the mission is to enable students to make decisions, such as choosing the colors of paint they use and naming their works. "We all want to make our own decisions," Kyrouac says. "That's what a part of our humanity is. But for the art program, we don't overwhelm them with choices." Erin Svendsen with the Springfield Art Association notes she has seen how the program helps participants build self-confidence. "The person with dementia doing the art project can tell, 'Hey, I'm doing this. It's actually turning out like the example,'" she notes. "That feeling of success and accomplishment stays with them and helps them be happy and excited and thrilled with their project."