It’s a universal thing: September is a busy month for students and educators of all kinds, as the relaxed pace of summer makes way for the back-to-school rush. We’re no exception here in MoMA’s Department of Education. Just last week, for example, we kicked off our season of arts engagement programming for people with dementia and their caregivers.
It’s particularly gratifying to commence Meet Me at MoMA, our free public program for people with dementia, in September because September is also World Alzheimer’s Month. And today, Friday, September 21, is Alzheimer’s Action Day, a day to advocate for and support people with Alzheimer’s disease.
As such, we’d like to take a moment to share some of the inspiring action we saw last Tuesday at our first Meet Me at MoMA program of the season. We had over 70 people take part in a lively and collaborative art-making program inspired by MoMA’s Alighiero Boetti: Game Plan retrospective. In the spirit of Boetti, participants adhered to a predetermined set of guidelines in order to create collages.
Participants at the Museum’s September Meet Me at MoMA program create collages.
These works were then assembled into a paper “tapestry,” reflecting both the individual personality of each participant and also the group’s collective creativity. Participants came up with a number of different ways to arrange the individual pieces. At times the arrangement adhered to the orderly grid system Boetti employed in his series of kilims.
Participants first arranged their individual works into a collective grid.
Another arrangement, inspired by the occasional randomness of Boetti’s “word squares,” abandoned the grid altogether in favor of a more chaotic approach.
A more random arrangement of participant artwork
If you were unable to attend our September program, we welcome you to join us for our October 2 Meet Me at MoMA program, wherein specially trained educators will facilitate discussion in the Museum’s galleries. The program is free of charge but preregistration is required. Register online today!
Comments
What great programs! And those collages are fantastically vibrant.
Thank you for this inspiring blog post!
Posted by Evelyn M
As one of my relatives suffer from Alzheimer I can understand how important is this program.Congratulations
Posted by Olga Ioannou
This is so fantastic to see how such a large institution spends its time giving back to the community… glad to know about it!! Love the collages!
Posted by Jessy
It is so fantastic to see that such a large institution is giving back to its community through such inspiring and creative programming. Keep up the good work MOMA!
Posted by Jessy
Very beautiful and very inspiring. Keep the great programming and artwork coming!
Posted by Paul L
Such a great program, and thanks for sharing the pictures! Keep up the good work, MoMA!
Posted by Demi
What a great program! Wish every community could have something like this.
Posted by Reina
Hello
I am an art therapy masters student looking for an internship. Do you have any art therapists among your staff? If so, I could suggest your program as a site for our school.
I study at Hofstra University, Long Island; I also have a previous diploma in Art Therapy and much experience working with the elderly making art.
I find your program very inspiring and hope to hear from you,
Sincerely
Leora Agron
Posted by Leora Agron