When the percussive refrain to John Denver’s “Thank God I’m a Country Boy,” rang through Gari Melchers Home and Studio on a recent Thursday morning, the dozen or so audience members clapped their hands and stomped their feet to the tune.
It marked a special — and likely rare — moment for the participants in Melchers’ “Picturing New Connections” program, which aims to create a community for those who have memory loss diseases such as dementia as well as providing a space for their caregivers to receive information about their disease.
“I think one of the things that usually surprises me is their response to music,” said Murray Corliss, a docent (instructor) with Gari Melchers. “If you watch them with the music, they’re like, ‘Oh yeah, I recognize that song.”
Later, laughter echoed through the studio as Michelle Crow Dolby, the Education and Communications Manager at Gari Melchers, recalled doing chores as a child. She pointed to “In Holland,” a painting by Gari Melchers while an audience member recounted living on a popcorn farm as a kid.
Dolby said she created the program in 2019 as a way to find outlets for those in underserved populations. She was aware of programs in other parts of the state, but nothing in the Fredericksburg area.
“A lot of large museums have similar programs,” said Dolby, “but we didn’t have anything in our region, and I thought that perhaps, being a smaller museum, we might be able to fill that niche a little easier.”
The hour-and-a-half program is split into two parts. The first half is an interactive showcase where participants view various paintings, pass around objects and listen to music that aligns with the “theme of the day.”
Press the Issue
The next Picturing New Connections program will be held on July 31. You can register here.
The theme for the March program was chores, so participants spoke about what it was like growing up and how they helped around their family homes. Various household items were passed around the room: a washboard, a wooden spoon and a milkmaid’s yoke, which is a wooded bucket holder that sits on your shoulders.
The second half is a coloring session where participants can enjoy conversations with each other.
“You don’t have to like art to enjoy this program,” Dolby said.
The program serves as a source of entertainment and provides easy access to a communal space for people who are not able to have social interactions daily.
The museum’s size allows for the studio to be closed during programming, which helps to create a calming experience for the participants.
While doing research, Dolby discovered that certain seating arrangements could cause aggravation among participants, who might feel uneasy about people walking behind them.
The result? A U-shaped seating arrangement designed to ease any stressors people could have while being able to maintain the calm of the space.
“The ease of the program is what makes it special, it’s not a competition and people are not pushed beyond their wits,” Dolby said. “If a person has had enough or becomes overwhelmed, they can leave the program at any time.”
The museum preserves artwork and furniture for public viewing while also conducting tours of the land, hikes and other activities that invite the public to engage with various aspects of history.
Everything about the program is meticulously planned to give participants a glimpse of life beyond their degenerative health conditions.
“It is important to meet them where they are at,” Dolby said, adding: “I think it’s easier for me as an outsider to do that, and it’s harder for family members to do that because they’ve known that person their whole life.”
As a caregiver, it can often be hard to watch a person lose their memory or get diagnosed with a disease about which they know little. But behind those suffering from a degenerative disease are people who support them — and who may also need help making decisions.
Melite Secino, a volunteer with the program said she came to the support group because she was caring for her father-in-law.
“I didn’t know anything about Alzheimer’s or dementia and was not sure what to do,” she said.
Though the program at Gari Melchers is centered around those with memory loss, support groups and programs like this allow caregivers to network with other caregivers. They also create opportunities for members of the Alzheimer’s Association to give advice to caregivers about the development of their loved one’s disease.
“It is not the center of these people’s lives — for two hours they are people with identities outside of Alzheimer’s,” Dolby said.
