In 2017, our art therapy programs received McKnight’s Gold “High Tech High Touch” Award for our use of smartpen technology. Read more about this program:
McKnight’s High Tech High Touch Award
Read about integrating technology into art therapy programs, in this 2016 blogpost from McKnight’s Longterm Care News:
https://www.mcknights.com/blogs/guest-columns/integrating-technology-into-art-therapy-programs/
In 2015 our art therapy program received McKnight’s Silver Dignity through Technology Award for our use of stop-motion animation with older adults. Read more about this award here:
McKnight’s Dignity Through Technology Award
Read about art therapy at Mather LifeWays, and how we have integrated music into our art therapy programs, in this article from Today’s Geriatric Medicine:
http://www.todaysgeriatricmedicine.com/archive/0115p10.shtml
Read about one resident’s experience of stop-motion animation within a Mather LifeWays art therapy program from 2012-2014:
http://makeitbetter.net/philanthropy/express-yourself-at-evanstons-mather-pavilion/
In 2014, Mather LifeWays collaborated with CSO composer-in-residence Anna Clyne and Civic Orchestra Citizen Musicians to explore music and memory with residents of our memory care unit. Read more about this program here:
http://csosoundsandstories.org/lookback/
Read about a 2013 Community Weaving Project that travelled throughout the Evanston community. To generate a dialogue about aging well, we ask visitors of all ages: “What do you like about getting older?”
http://www.matherlifeways.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Art-Loom-Roundtable-4.10.14.pdf
Read about the development and exhibition of my art therapy program within a memory care community between 2012 and 2013:
In 2010, I coordinated the Alzheimer’s Art Reach Project, making art-viewing and art-making experiences accessible to people with early and mid-stage Alzheimer’s disease and their caregivers. The program replicated the New York “Meet Me at MoMA” project at the University of Virginia Art Museum. We went on to facilitate art-making sessions in long-term care facilities and adult care centers, also creating a “Mobile Art Museum” to bring the art-viewing experience to people unable to venture out to the museum.
In 2011, I coordinated the Alzheimer’s Community Engagement Program at the Alzheimer’s Association, Central and Western Virginia Chapter in Charlottesville, VA. In partnership with the National RSVP program and local organizations, we connected people living with Early Stage Alzheimer’s disease with group volunteer experiences.
Read more about these programs:
http://www.nbc29.com/global/story.asp?s=13054400
http://news.virginia.edu/content/uva-art-museum-program-reaches-out-alzheimers-patients
http://www.nbc29.com/story/14031296/mobile-art-brings-back-memories?clienttype=printable