Meet me at the museum...The unifying effect of art

Cultural Action for Alzheimer

68 rue des Plantes

75014 Paris, France

                                                                                                                                                                                    May 10th, 2019

                                Acting together for a global outreach of another perspective on Alzheimer’s

Dear donor,

Thank you so much for your generosity! We are very touched that you have chosen to support our cause.

Testimonial from a volunteer:

A unique moment extra ... ordinary

“At the Louvre, Jeanine was at first shy. Then she made comments, asked questions, she was more expressive than the year before. To reassure her, she asked me to stay behind her. She was delighted and expressed it. Each meeting at the Louvre is a parenthesis for me. This is a moment that does not fit in our daily lives. The usual life stops to get into this connection with this elderly person. It was extra ... ordinary, we live wonderful moments. I like old people. We found ourselves in the enchanting setting of the Louvre Museum, as with children who had been given permission to go out. Like us, Alzheimer's people came out of their daily lives, they were happy and touching. No grumbler, no criticism. A parenthesis of solicitude, joy, spontaneity, a moment of humanity. Finally, it is not necessarily the one who is supposed to give the most, the accompanying, who gives the most. I feel that I have received so much, if not more, because of the quality of the relationship with these people.

This program is an excellent and rare initiative. I think other companies should do the same.”

Below you will find an example of our approach to the discovery of a work of art:

What do you see?

A winged horse flies over a seascape. He is seen from behind. his neighing head is in profile. His rider is a naked young man is muscular. He is from behind, his face in profile and leaning on the rump of his horse.

He holds in one hand a long and slender sword, and in the other, he brandishes a woman's head, seen in profile, mouth wide open. On his forehead we see snakes. This young warrior wears a winged helmet surmounted by a female figure. A sea landscape under a blue sky with some clouds fills the bottom of the painting.

The painter, Joseph Blanc uses a specific color palette in this painting. Can you rate them and see how they help to read this scene?

The painter declines the blue on all the tones: deep blue for the sea, azure for the horizon. Light blue for the sky. These variations are the same to paint the feathers of the horse's wings. They are bordered by a jet black visible also on the wings of the helmet.

The milky white of the clouds resonates with the white of the horse's body. His thick, bushy tail curls into long volutes like the hair of the decapitated woman. Only a red-orange drape in the center adds a warmer touch to this painting.

The movements are very accentuated in this extremely dynamic painting. Do you see how the painter had the lines of force and composition in this work?

The rider and his mount very powerful, are profile and back to better account for their upward movement. The woman's head in her mouth still screaming. His abundant blond hair wraps around the warrior's arm like the snake that adorns the top of his head.

The man turns to the right, the horse looks to the sky and the head of the decapitated woman is directed to the left. The hair, the drapery and the tail of the horse fly in the wind. Everything is cleverly arranged in this very energetic composition.

This painting takes a story from mythology. Do you see what myth it is?

Joseph Blanc represents the return of mission Perseus who has just killed the Medusa, the Gorgoe. She had the power to petrify anyone who watched her. Perseus, by cunning, manages to kill her. Blanc obeys the principles of academic art by representing his naked and muscular hero, with an anatomically perfect body.

He takes care not to fall into the macabre, obscuring any trace of blood or violence. His art was very popular in the nineteenth century for his qualities of idealization and charm, particularly visible in this work.

Together we can provide immense benefits to patients with Alzheimer’s and related dementia. We can:

• Prevent loss of autonomy
• Stimulate cognitive and motor functions
• Repair and/or sustain self-esteem
• Stimulate relational capacities and social contacts

The demand is immense:

There are an estimated 5.5 million Americans living with Alzheimer's dementia in 2017; an estimated 5.3 million are age 65 and older. Almost two-thirds of Americans with Alzheimer's are women. Because of the increasing number of people age 65 and older in the United States, particularly the oldest-old, the number of new cases of Alzheimer's and other dementias is projected to soar. In 2016, 15.9 million family and friends provided 18.2 billion hours of unpaid assistance to those with Alzheimer's and other dementias.

Going Virtual, going global through Technology:

In 2016, the association finalized the concept of a website offering virtual visits which permits patients to experience visits at home, accompanied by a trained family member or community service volunteer, and thus dramatically expands the scope of the help brought by the association, even to those who are home-bound because of geographical, mobility, or other health challenges.  The caregiver providing the accompaniment can easily manipulate the basic computer interactions required.  

Each virtual visit includes the guided progressive discovery of four works of art, each in photographic format. This discovery occurs through a series of carefully adapted open questions, comments, explanations of key artistic symbols.  The cultural, anthropological, historical, and/or artistic context is given, which allow the patient to concentrate on the structural elements of a work, and thereby to develop for themselves the meaning or significance of that work.   

Benefits to caregivers:

• Requires no prior knowledge of art by either the patient or the caregiver
• With basic computer skills provides easily managed, enjoyable, adapted, and structured activity to be shared with the patient
• Motivating and purposeful activity is not perceived as a “chore”
• Provides an indirect training for better adapted methods of communication with the patient
• Provides an alternative to negative or frustrating social interactions, through validation, the stimulation of verbal exchange, and affective retrieval of the patient’s personal long-term memories and associations.
• The visits are rich in content and stimulating to the caregiver
• Wide range of choices on the website mean that visits can be adapted to personal tastes and done frequently without repetition.
• Intervention can be done one-on-one or in small groups, at home or in an institutional setting, wherever there is internet connection. 
• Unlike the production of art, requires no additional supplies or space, just a computer and internet connection
• Caregivers note that patients tend to show improved mood and cooperation, as well as a reduction in negative behavioral symptoms.

If you wish, we would be pleased to invite you to take part in our annual meetings or to receive your opinion and testimony about the disease, our experience and our association.

We will post regularly on the website final reports of actions we have done with all the donations we receive.

                                                                                                                                                                                                 Warmly

                                                                                                                                                                                       Cindy Barotte

                                                                                                                                                         Director of the ARTZ Association

For more information about the association here is the link to our website: www.actionculturellealzheimer.org