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Nancy Lee Hendley interviews Laurentia Doyle, a recent graduate from the 45 Hour Dementia Care Training and a family caregiver shared with me about her impressions of the Greet Art program hosted by the MoMa. Greet Art is a collaboration between the Museum of Modern Art and the Alzheimer’s Association designed for professional and family care givers to introduce the museum as a resource for stimulating conversation to persons with dementia and their caregivers.
Nancy: So previous to this experience, had you been a museum goer?
Laurentia: I had never been to any museum in my whole life. My friends visited museums, I knew that cultured, and educated people often attended shows at museums, I wondered why. I was curious.
When I went to the Greet Art program at the museum I was surprised.
A small group of us were looking at a particular work, a black and white painting. I could not make heads or tails of it. To be honest the work did not appeal to me. It was very confusing in my mind. One person suggested that I try to see the work from another perspective. Each person shared what they saw in the work. I realized that everyone had a unique response to the artwork.
Nancy: Back to Ilene.
It was an eye opener. It stimulated my mind. If I could begin to see life in a painting as a first time visitor, I wondered what it would be like for those who attend regularly.
There are so many things one can learn, not only from books, but also from art, and from listening to other peoples interpretations of art...
Now I realize why people do go to museums. Next week my family and I will be returning to the Museum of Modern Art. We are bringing my sister who has dementia along.
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