Meet Me at the MAG - University of Rochester

Spotlight on Diversity
April 2014
A publication of the Office for Faculty Development and Diversity
Meet Me at the MAG: Art Therapy for Seniors
Museums have a long history of designing programs to serve
audiences with a diversity of perceptual capabilities. In recent decades
as dementia has increasingly emerged as a major health concern,
museums began to develop programs to meet the needs of this
growing population. To the widespread anecdotal evidence about
the success of these programs, Robert Stern, professor of neurology
and neurosurgery at Boston University, confirms that there is an
encouraging body of research demonstrating that the arts can
improve quality of life, reduce stress, and enable those affected by
dementia to better connect to the world. (Weintraub, Karen. “Is Art
Therapy the Answer for Dementia?” The Boston Globe. 27 Nov. 2012.
Web. 1 April 2014.)
In 2009, the Memorial Art Gallery (MAG) in partnership with the
Alzheimer’s Association, Rochester & Finger Lakes Region, launched
Meet Me at the MAG, a program designed specifically to address the
growing regional need to address this issue. Meet Me at the MAG was
initially conceived in response to an inquiry from a staff member from
the Rochester chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association who had learned
about Meet Me at MOMA, a program begun at the Museum of Modern
Art in New York City. Not only had MAG heard of MOMA’s program but
a team from MAG and the University of Rochester School of Medicine
and Dentistry (URSMD) had traveled to NYC to observe the program in
the summer of 2006. (The team included then Director of Education
Susan Daiss, Stephanie Brown Clark, MD, of the URSMD, and Mira
Kistler, URSMD medical student [class of 2009].)
Since the summer of 2009, MAG has offered Meet Me at the MAG,
a program designed specifically for Alzheimer’s patients and their
care partners to spend time with others enjoying the experience of
looking at art together and sharing thoughts, feelings, and memories.
This program is offered monthly during nonpublic hours on the first
Tuesday of each month from 2:30-4 p.m. The visit begins with a brief
concert on the Baroque Italian organ by an Eastman School of Music
student, is followed by a tour, and closes with a reception featuring
light refreshments. Attendees for this program are booked through the
Alzheimer’s Association. On the additional Tuesdays, MAG offers similar
tours (minus the organ concerts and refreshments) to individuals
visiting from residential facilities. All visits require advance registration
to ensure sufficient numbers of docents and staff to welcome and
lead these groups. (The size of the group is ideally limited to 8–10
participants.) Attendance at Meet Me at the MAG has grown over the
past five years, with 486 participants attending in 2013.
Many attend the program faithfully, month after month. Over the five
years of the program, the underlying reality of the disease has meant
that individuals with dementia eventually are no longer able to attend.
For several of the care partners, however, the monthly gatherings
have become so important that they have continued to participate
on their own. The program itself has been generously supported in
part by the family of one of the program’s earliest attendees. In 2011,
in recognition of the success of Meet Me at the MAG, the Rochester’s
Alzheimer’s Association honored MAG at its annual meeting.
The tours are led by MAG docents and former staff member Delores
Jackson Radney. Recognizing the needs of the individuals the
programs serves, Meet Me at the MAG tour leaders are trained by
Alzheimer’s Association in the nature of the disease and related
behaviors. MAG staff adds additional training that focuses on theme
development and practicing interactive skills.
The program is coordinated by Susan Daiss and supported by MAG
administrator of volunteers Mary Ann Monley. Susan Daiss, MAG’s
longtime Director of Education, recently accepted a joint appointment
between MAG and URSMD. Continued oversight and growth of MAG’s
community health and wellness initiatives, including Meet Me at
the MAG, are among Daiss’s new responsibilities. Current initiatives
include coordinating with a national organization to offer additional
training for MAG to work with individuals with dementia and the
related challenge of vision loss and partnering with the Alzheimer’s
Association to address several other facets of their community
outreach efforts.
For more information, contact Susan Daiss at:
[email protected].

Download Report