Artful

Artful: Art and Dementia is a community arts program designed specifically for people living with Dementia and their carers.

Artful: Art and Dementia ran as a pilot in 2022. Artful: Art and Dementia is a community arts program designed specifically for people living with Dementia and their carers. Based at Frankston Arts Centre, the Artful program has been created in response to a need that people living at home with Dementia have for creating connections, exercising autonomy and living creative and fulfilling lives. The Artful program brings together a small group of people living with Dementia and their carers who attend a 2-hour session each week for 6 weeks. These guided sessions are facilitated by trained artist educators who support participants to engage with art in the Frankston Arts Centre gallery spaces, followed by a hands-on creative art making workshop and morning tea.

The Artful: Art and Dementia program was designed by the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) in Sydney in collaboration with The Brain and Mind Centre, University of Sydney and Dementia Australia. The program was chosen due to an identified need in the community, offering a safe space for an often-overlooked group, at risk of isolation.  Frankston Arts Centre was successful in gaining financial support from local community organisations such as the Lions Club of Frankston and most recently, an Arts Projects for Organisations Grant from Creative Australia, which has boosted the capacity and frequency of the program.

Participants have provided heartwarming feedback that certainly demonstrates its impact:

“The people who arranged this event and who were running the program were so warm and welcoming, it’s tricky entering places with someone with dementia, but everyone was so inviting and warm. I hope this continues as it is a fabulous event. Very well prepared and such giving people involved in the program.”

Participants have also reflected on how enjoyable the practice of art making has been and that to revisit it after a long time, has been rewarding; “I have never done art since leaving school but now I want to do it more.”