People who suffer from dementia have short-term memory loss and difficulty connecting to the environment and people around them. Studies at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and other museums across the nation have shown that art can help these patients regain the memories they’ve lost and reconnect with their loved ones.
In light of this research, Alzheimer’s Services of the Capital Area and the LSU Museum of Art have collaborated for the “Arts and Alzheimer’s” series, which gives caregivers and their patients an
opportunity to engage in art conversation. Laura Larsen, coordinator of the Arts Access Program at Alzheimer’s Services and Lucy Perera, LSU Museum of Art’s coordinator of school and community programs, lead tours through the exhibits and encourage interaction between the art and the program’s participants.
“About 15 years ago, I was reading lot of research that when you show folks with dementia art, it opens up a whole new world to them,” Larsen said. “It just really makes them think differently.”
Larsen, who has a Ph.D in nursing practice and a masters degree in art history, partnered with Perera to create the “Arts and Alzheimer’s” series that premiered last spring. The first formal tour was held in April and continued through June.
The program will operate for the next four months, presenting work from different exhibits. This month’s program will feature pieces from the “LeRoy Neiman: Action!” exhibit. Neiman is a highly acclaimed American sports illustrator.
The tour, led by both Larsen and Perera, will focus on four major works of art. Two are large paintings, one of a circus and one of a jazz ensemble. Larsen and Perera said that these paintings work best because of their size and multiple elements.
The program is very controlled with specific questions asked to facilitate discussion. However, the guides cannot account for the diversity in the answers they get.
“A lot of these patients are always being corrected because their short term memory is failing, but in the museum they’re just surrounded by beautiful objects or interesting things, and there’s no wrong answer,” Larsen said. “It doesn’t matter how they interpret a painting.”
The tour allows individuals with dementia to look at a painting of a basketball game or a circus and remember times in their younger years when they went to such events. It helps them to open up and talk to those now in their lives. Both Perera and Larsen have noticed the program is also beneficial to the caretakers.
“You see there’s a lot of stress that goes on, particularly with caregivers, and they relax and they see either their family member or the people they’re taking care of in a whole different light,” Perera said. “They then participate as well so it’s not just the patient that’s participating.”
“Arts and Alzheimer’s” will begin tomorrow from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on the fifth floor of the Shaw Center for the Arts at 100 Lafayette Street. Admission is free.