Free art-therapy classes for people with dementia

REGION — SeniorsPlus, Western Maine’s designated Area Agency on Aging, is launching Opening Minds through Art (OMA) in Androscoggin, Oxford, and Franklin counties. This new program strives to bring joy, art, and pride to people living with dementia and Alzheimer’s in our community. Through a series of classes, OMA engages students with dementia in creating free-wheeling art.

OMA classes will be offered at all three of the offices of SeniorsPlus in the coming months from 1 to 2 p.m. on Fridays: March 24 through April 28 at 284 Main St., Wilton; May 19-June 23 at 9 Marston St., Norway; and July 14-August 18 at SeniorsPlus at 8 Falcon Road, Lewiston. Registration is required by contacting SeniorsPlus, at 207-795-4010 or [email protected] The classes are free.

During the six-week program, people with dementia (the “artists”) are paired one-on-one with volunteers who help them create art using imagination instead of memory. SeniorsPlus seeks students for the program, as well as volunteers to work one-on-one with participants in these art classes. No art background is required.

OMA is an award-winning, evidence-based, intergenerational art-making program for people with dementia. Developed in 2007 at Miami University’s Scripps Gerontology Center, the program is grounded in person-centered care principles. It is designed to provide creative expression and social engagement opportunities for people with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. OMA at SeniorsPlus is funded in part through a grant from the U.S. Administration for Community Living, Department of Health and Human Services.