I went with Maria to the Mansion today. She was teaching one of her very popular art classes, and I wanted to take pictures of the residents, their art, and the aides. Making art is their number one chosen Mansion activity. They take it seriously and are burning through the Mansion art supplies (I’m on it).
It was a special experience for me to photograph the residents as Maria guided and helped them. The Mansion Activities Program is soaring right now, and one of the reasons is the supporters are giving in purchasing art supplies.
They burn through them there. Thanks for your support.
They take making art very seriously at the Mansion; they pay close attention to Maria and show great emotion and concentration while working. They are eager to learn as if they’ve been waiting long for someone to teach them.
This is somehow exciting and empowering for her students and also for Maria. One side fuels the other. Maria encourages them to experiment and put their stamp on things. They revel in that; their energy, in turn, fuels her commitment.
And it’s exciting for me to try to capture the souls of these elderly creatives, unbowed by illness or age, to give up on creativity.
Paryese and Robin, a wonderful and loving aide, and Maria and Alissa stood by to help. Some of the residents needed help, but most didn’t; they wanted to figure it out for themselves. I liked how Maria respected them and let them mess around and experiment.
The pictures speak for themselves; they tell the story of people on the edge of life, turning to their art for healing, exercising their souls, and letting their creative sparks go. These photos are going to the Mansion, hopefully, to be handed out on some walls.
Seeing how much Maria’s class means to them is a gift. I brought Zinia; they are used to my taking pictures; they wanted to see how they looked, though.
Maria loves teaching the Mansion art classes, and the residents are excited by her classes; you can see it on her face and in these photos. Taking their pictures was a treat for me; they speak for themselves. But there was something special going on in Maria’s heart; she glowed with the joy of teaching art. She supported everyone in the room and praised every single one of them.
They returned the favor.
There was no time when someone wasn’t laughing or when we all were. I didn’t know our class could be fun. I didn’t realize older people could be so wonderful to work with. They remain committed to learning and growing and lighting up the creative spark.
Jane is a gifted artist; she paints every morning of her life after breakfast in Memory Care.
Claudia works with great concentration and focus. She cares about what she does.
Maria talked to the residents about lines and how learning them is essential to painting art.
Malissa moved around and around the table, offering guidance and praise. They love praise.
Claudia paints with great emotion, as is evident in her face. She works very hard and does very well. This means a lot to her.
Maria tries to explain why her drawing reminds her of Alexander Calder, the famous sculptor from Pennsylvania. He wasn’t sure what to make of it.
Jane is a gifted artist; she paints quietly and thinks about every mark she makes. She is one of my favorite portrait subjects.
Allissa gives Nancy a hand. She needed some help today.
Maria explained the importance of lines to the class.
Ellen from Memory Care comes enthusiastically to life when doing her art. I love visiting her in Memory Care; she has the most beautiful sense of humanity, and we laugh and laugh.
The plan is for the Mansion Art Class photos to appear on the wall. They are essential to me, and their faces should be seen. From the beginning, I’ve wanted to use my photography that way. I plan to take a portrait of every resident who agrees, and the Mansion staff intends to hang them up along the hallways where everyone walks at least once a day.
I’d love to see that and see my photos used like that.
Your Mansion photos are always some of my favorites. The smiles, the beautiful faces, the focus, the joy………. they are uplifting indeed. The work (for lack of a better word) you and Maria do there is just pure joy for everyone
Susan M
I sing with a group of people at a local care home once a week. They love it. We have taught them some songs but mostly we sing old favourites. It’s amazing how they know all the words. One resident occasionally teaches us some ‘alternative’ lyrics to songs which are often a little saucy. She just turned 100.
Yes. The music sticks.
My mother has Alzheimer’s and she can’t remember 20 minutes after breakfast that she had anything to eat, but I turned to find her singing the tail end of the National Anthem prior to last year’s Army/Navy football game, and later in the year, had no idea what this Christmas caroling was that we were going to, and yet ended up sing 6-7 songs from memory before retreating from the cold. My siblings sometimes suggest tuning to streaming stations of Sinatra or 1950’s or ‘60s music, but that makes her tearfully nostalgic and then disoriented because she’s not physically in that era with the people from those memories. She’s happy enough with the local radio station on, tapping along to Pink or Bruno Mars, or Taylor Swift….
Wonderful… everyone looks so focused and happy. 💕
Wonderful post Jon. A terrific beginning to my day. Keep up the good work!