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Museums team up with Alzheimer’s facilities to provide art programs
Marsha Goss looks at a small print of Still Life with Brioche by Edouard Manet with Kara Berringer, art therapist at Presbyterian SeniorCare's Woodside Place. Goss and other residents of Woodside in Oakmont took a tour Thursday at the Carnegie Museum of Art.
Residents of Presbyterian SeniorCare’s Woodside Place in Oakmont spend several minutes discussing a piece of artwork during the tour as part of the “In the Moment” program at Carnegie Museum of Art.
Shelby Moore looks at a print with her mother, Vivian Moore, during a tour Thursday at the Carnegie Museum of Art. The residents of Presbyterian SeniorCare’s Woodside Place in Oakmont answered questions about several pieces of artwork.
Kara Berringer, an art therapist at Presbyterian SeniorCare’s Woodside Place, recalled the day a resident suffering from Alzheimer’s disease accompanied her to the Carnegie Museum of Arts and marveled at a piece of artwork in an international exhibit.
Usually, the man had difficulty communicating and, like many Alzheimer’s patients, could at various times be agitated, anxious or apathetic. “There were millions of beads strung in the air, but you couldn’t see the filament so it appeared as if they were hanging in mid-air,” said Berringer. “He was fascinated, and he said, ‘My eyes are telling me one thing, but my brain is telling me it’s not true.’ He was so excited and so articulate in that moment. He was connecting in a way he usually couldn’t.”
For about six years, the Carnegie has offered “In the Moment” interactive gallery tours for people with early or middle-stage Alzheimer’s and their caregivers.
The program began as a collaboration between Berringer and the museum, after Berringer called the Carnegie one day and asked if she could bring a group of dementia patients.
“We work with many special needs groups, but we didn’t have anything in place for Alzheimer’s patients,” said Hattie Lehman, who organizes the “In the Moment” tours at the Carnegie. “It’s been an extremely popular and worthwhile program.”
“In the Moment” is modeled after the Museum of Modern Art’s acclaimed “Meet Me at MoMA” program.
“It’s a pretty powerful experience,” said Berringer, who visits the museum monthly with a group of six Alzheimer’s patients and their caregivers. “I notice a change in their behavior when we go to the museum. They are treated with such dignity by the docents, who are fantastic, and I see them being more engaged, more connected.”
The Carnegie also offers “In the Moment” tours to individuals and their family members or caregivers on the second Monday of the month at 1 p.m.
The cost of the program is $15 per pair, and tours last about an hour.
Five trained docents lead the tours, and the museum recently accepted 10 more docents into its training program, which will allow the Carnegie to increase the number of tours it offers each month.
“These are adults who have had great lives and done incredible things, and now they’re dealing with Alzheimer’s,” said Lehman. “We’re happy to provide the opportunity to make their lives better through this program.”
The University of Pittsburgh’s Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center partnered with the Andy Warhol Museum in 2010 to create a similar program, which includes participants making their own tote bags through silk screen printing and touring the art collection. They also sing along to classic songs by artists who inspired Warhol.
The program is offered four to six times a year.
“At its basic level, this program provides an opportunity to maintain a semblance of normal activity within Pittsburgh’s cultural community. Once there, persons with Alzheimer’s disease and their families can benefit from having a shared experience with others who have firsthand knowledge of what they’re going through,” said Dr. Jennifer Lingler of the university’s ADRC. “Viewing and making art are both mentally stimulating activities, so in addition to the potential for social benefit, there is the possibility for this program to be a form of cognitive exercise.”
A New York University and MoMA study showed that caregivers reported fewer problems with Alzheimer’s patients during the week that followed their visit to the MOMA, and Berringer said she has noticed the same improved behavior, as well as increased appetites and alertness.
Berringer also has enjoyed seeing the connections Alzheimer’s patients make with the art.
“The art often becomes a metaphor for their lives,” said Berringer. “We were looking at a painting of a beach scene once, and a woman who was born and raised in Jacksonville, Fla., said, ‘I know where that is!’ and talked about where she grew up and the things she had done when she was younger and lived near the beach. It’s a fabulous program.”
To register for “In the Moment,” call 412-622-3289. Registration is required three weeks in advance for groups and one week in advance for individuals. For more information about the Andy Warhol Museum program, call 412-692-2721.