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Expressing when words cannot
For local artist and Alzheimer's patient Jacqueline Hill Hardy, painting offers an outlet for communication when words fail.
"It's an expression of what you feel," Hardy said of why she enjoys painting.
Hardy, a retired school teacher, is one of six artists whose work, "Expansion of My Spirit" will be featured in Kansas City, Mo. at the annual Memories in the Making Art Auction, which celebrates the work and voices of artists battling Alzheimer's throughout western Missouri and most of Kansas.
The auction is a major fundraiser for the Alzheimer's Heart of America Chapter and features 53 works of art from Alzheimer's patients in the Missouri/Kansas region.
Five artists from Medicalodges of Fort Scott and one from Fort Scott Manor have been selected to show their work at the annual gala, a formal affair that often raises $800 to $1,000 per painting for the Heart of America Chapter.
Local artists selected for the show are Dean Satzler, of Fort Scott Manor and Hardy, Hattie Homan, Evelyn Kapler, Hazel Hall and Emily Barrett, all of Medicalodges of Fort Scott.
One doesn't have to drive to Kansas City to see the artists' works on display, however, thanks to local business owners Cynthia McFarlin and Tim Pitts, of life+style, 22 N. Main St., who are hosting a Memories in the Making Watercolor Art Exhibit on Sunday, March 17 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at their store. Josh McClelland, of Main Street Gallery and Gifts provided the matting for the pieces.
The exhibit also will include works from other local residents of the two care facilities, where the paintings were created during the Memories in the Making weekly one-hour art programs. The program works to build communication skills among a population of people who sometimes struggle with vocalizing thoughts, feelings, emotions and desires.
Heart of America Volunteer facilitator Jo Ann Meara said the auction in Kansas City is wonderful, but the real value of the program is what happens in the art rooms on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
"In four years of doing this I have discovered that even though they may not always remember my name, when they see me, they want to paint," Meara said.
According to facilitators and those involved in the program, the benefits participants reap from the program go much further than a simple painting on paper, the process also promotes personal interaction, affirms individuality and can even encourage memories.
"So much of who we are lies in our memories," Meara said.
Meara, along with volunteers Elaine Buerge, Pat Kutey and Jeanne Randles conduct the art program on Tuesday mornings at Fort Scott Manor and on Thursday mornings at Medicalodges of Fort Scott. The homes provide the work space, artist-grade materials and a staff person -- Rhonda Hawpe at Fort Scott Manor and Judy Davis at Medicalodges.
"Most of these people have never painted in their lives," Meara said. "These are railroad workers, teachers housewives, attorneys or nurses. They have worked hard all their lives and have been productive members of our society and they are kind of sidelined by this disease. The families tend to see what is lost -- abilities and short term memories -- it's so wonderful for the facilitators, we don't know these people and we come in and see what they can do today. That's a great gift for all of us."
Davis is a strong advocate of the program and said the effects on her residents every Thursday morning are evident.
"They just come alive," Davis said. "And when their families come to visit, they are in awe too, because they have never painted before."
Meara said painting can reach inside a person to touch the part of the brain that processes art.
"That's the last part of the brain that is affected by Alzheimer's," Meara said. "So what we like to do is reach a person and make them start to communicate. Frequently that will bring out memories and that is so much of who we are."
Fort Scott Manor Administrator Lynette Emmerson said the two homes in Fort Scott are the only ones in southeast Kansas who provide the Memories in the Making workshop and believes it is a valuable asset to Fort Scott Manor.
"I think they (residents) really benefit from it. It helps them to reminisce," Emmerson said. "Some of those really great memories from childhood or raising children seem to come out in their art."
She said the painting workshops not only provide therapy for her residents, but it allows them to work together within a cohesive group. She also said the physical activity of painting can help with range of motion issues.
"There are physical, emotional and spiritual benefits," Emmerson said.
Emmerson said the program may even serve to reunite families.
Through eyes welled with tears, Emmerson told the story of how the selection of one of her resident's works into the Kansas City auction brought together a family this past weekend that had been going through a lot of dissension.
"It made me cry when they finally said, 'I love you dad," Emmerson said. "His being picked just kind of pulled them together. It still touches me."
The inspirational stories that have come from the class are many and varied. Meara tells the story of one patient's heartbroken daughter who was considering not visiting her father because he no longer recognized her.
"One day in art class he painted a picture and the facilitator asked him to tell them about his picture," Meara said. "He said it was a map to his daughter's house."
According to the Alzheimer's Association, "through Memories in the Making, individuals with Alzheimer's disease express with watercolor what they can no longer communicate with words. Even if only for a moment, memories stored deep within are resurrected. When someone with Alzheimer's disease is given the opportunity to paint a memory, amazing stories emerge."
All the artists' works that will be auctioned in May in Kansas City may be viewed now at www.alz.org/kansascity/.