4 minute read
A Place to Remember
Museums reach out to bring art to the mentally challenged
BY MARCIA BIGGS
In recent years, museums across the country have implemented inclusive programming to allow those with mental disabilities and neurodiverse challenges the chance to experience art, while exploring emotions and memories. In St. Petersburg, a number of museums have stepped up to the plate. Here’s a look:
In collaboration with USF Judy Genshaft Honors College, The James Museum of Western and Wildlife Art has developed dementia-specific therapeutic arts programming for residents of Tampa Bay. Art in Mind is a program aimed at adults living with Alzheimer’s. Led by trained museum docents, many of them USF students, the weekly tours are organized with assisted living and memory care facilities to offer a space for connection, expression and enjoyment of art.
Small groups participate, with each wheelchair-bound visitor assigned a docent.
“We limit the tour to 5 or 6 people with their care partners,” says Michele Valentine, Manager of Docent & Group Learning. “The docents are trained to handle the wheelchairs to give the care partners a break. The tours are centered on personal response activities to generate connections and conversations in the galleries.”
The tours begin in the Wildlife Gallery.
“Being all animals, the people usually find something in the Wildlife Gallery that they really like,” Valentine explains. “We only visit two or three galleries since most are in wheelchairs, and there’s a lot of one on one conversations about what they are seeing and feeling. Each individual may be in a different stage or not able to talk at all, but that’s OK.”
Sensory-Friendly Mornings is a program held quarterly and designed for children and adults with neurodiversity and sensory processing differences. This autism-friendly time is held from 9 to 10 am before the museum opens. The program was developed through the Center for Autism and Related Disabilities at The University of South Florida (CARD). A special arts and crafts room allows visitors to make art; visitors can stroll the galleries where they will find touch carts that accompany paintings with objects found in the painting.
“It’s a stress-free time with not a lot of structure,” says Valentine.
A special visual guide to help visitors with neurodiversity and sensory processing disabilities can be found online at thejamesmuseum.org/accessibility/ Upcoming Art in Mind tours are set for May 18 and July 20. Sensory-Friendly Mornings are $5; to find when the next one is scheduled, call (727) 892-4200.
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The Museum of Fine Arts also works with CARD to offer a Sensory Saturday program the second Saturday of each month from 10 am to noon during which audio components in the galleries are turned down or muted and participants receive a pre-packaged activity bag to guide their experience. The MFA welcomes families with children who have sensory processing disorders and other sensoryrelated disabilities to explore the galleries.
MFA has sensory objects available at the front desk for any visitor who may need them, including noise-canceling headphones. A Sensory Guide to the MFA is available online for anyone wishing to learn about the general experience of visiting the MFA with sensory differences and how a visit can be accommodated. The program is included with the price of a regular admission.
For more information on Sensory Saturdays, visit mfastpete.org/programs/ youth-programs. To find the Sensory Guide, go to mfastpete.org/accessibility-at-the-mfa/
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At the Chihuly Collection, part of the Morean Arts Center, the colorful glass works of Dale Chihuly and other guest artists are used to evoke emotion during Memory Mornings, held every other Wednesday before opening hours from 9 to 10:30 am for those living with dementia and their care partners. Tours include a guided art activity at no cost; maximum group size is 8 visitors and 8 care partners. This program is sponsored by the Pinellas Community Foundation. Tours are by reservation only by calling (727) 822-7872, or online at moreanartscenter.org/memory-mornings/
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Children with special needs are welcome to enjoy the Great Explorations Children’s Museum through the Great Connections program, a monthly program created just for them and their families held the second Saturday of each month from 10 am to noon when the museum is closed to the public. For more information, email info@greatex.org.
