Making Poetry with Scott at the New York Memory Center

 

 

The InnerActive Arts program is customized for residents of each senior community. It is designed to be stimulating, fulfilling, educational and entertaining. This arts-based program is developed around three key concepts:

 

Create…Connect…Collaborate

The goal is that participants will be challenged, motivated, inspired and then empowered by increased self-esteem, social connection and the satisfaction of accomplishment.

We work in a casual setting that is friendly and nurturing, thereby providing the proper environment to learn and grow. A person-centered approach is used throughout to help participants respond successfully. The facilitator infuses those same concepts into the culture of the group. It’s important to encourage curiosity, participation and being open to new experiences. Many seniors may not yet be familiar with the idea of “Life-Long Learning”, but they are likely to be invigorated by its benefits.

 

Create

Making…creating…doing. These are things that make everyone, especially seniors, feel vital, useful and productive. Society respects and admires the creators and the doers. Everyone can be, and actually already IS an artist! To be creative is to draw on one’s own experiences and transform them into something new to share. The arts provide an opportunity for meaningful self-expression. Even as physical and cognitive skills (including memory) gradually decline, people generally retain strong imaginative and creative capability. It is important use and grow these abilities.

 

Connect

The first obvious connection is made through social interaction with other members of the group. The circle then expands to family, community and the world at large. Going even beyond language, expressive arts and especially music, have enhanced human connections for millennia.  It is important to respect and validate the person-hood of those isolated by old age and diminished cognition. Their quality of life improves when they sense that they are still part of a community and can still share with others through artistic expression at any level. Inner connections are made as well: to personal history/experience, to previous art skills, to feelings, and quite literally between neurons in the brain.

 

Collaborate

Social interaction through artistic collaboration is a positive experience and reduces reluctance and fear among those who sometimes lack confidence in their abilities. The facilitator of the group is an arts professional who will also collaborate on projects, guide and encourage participants and produce documentation of the work to share with others. Then feedback from families, friends and the community completes the circle of artistic creation.