UNIQUE TRAINING PROGRAMME TO MAKE ART GALLERIES DEMENTIA-FRIENDLY SPACES.

ARTISTS, educators and charities are collaborating to help make galleries dementia-friendly spaces to encourage more engagement with people with dementia.

Based on the innovative Meet Me at MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) programme in New York, the Azure programme will be rolled out in Ireland by Age & Opportunity (A&O), The Alzheimer Society of Ireland (ASI), the Butler Gallery in Kilkenny and Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA).

The Azure training will run at IMMA from Tuesday, 26 May to Thursday 28 May as part of the Bealtaine arts festival.

The aim of Azure is to deliver specialised training to arts facilitators on making art accessible to people with dementia and their carers in Ireland's galleries and arts centres.

Azure is inspired by the groundbreaking ‘Meet Me at MoMA’ Programme, for people with dementia and their careers, held once a month at the famous New York gallery. Meet Me at MoMA’s trained educators facilitate groups of people with dementia to engage with selected artworks for observation and discussion.

Laurel Humble, an educator from MoMA will travel to Ireland, to share her expertise with Azure facilitators alongside Bairbre-Ann Harkin of the Butler Gallery.

They will be joined by Marie Brett and Kevin Shanahan, who deliver arts projects to people with dementia and Ronan Smith, Line Manager at the Gaiety Theatre and actor. Ronan was diagnosed with dementia last year and is a strong advocate for people with dementia and a member of The ASI’s Irish Dementia Working Group.

“Programmes like Meet Me at MoMA in New York have a tangible effect on people with dementia, says Humble: "People with dementia need what we all need. We all need respect, love, companionship and access to interesting experiences.”

“Arts and creative programmes can give access to experiences that can restore some of those feelings. They can also break down the sort of social isolation that people with dementia can experience. What we've found in MoMA is that dementia can leave people in very socially isolated situations. Programmes like Meet Me at MoMA and Azure can strengthen relationships as well as fostering new ones. Research conducted on Meet Me found, for example, that carers after the programme felt more socially supported."

The course looks at how arts educators can become more dementia friendly and learn how to respond to unexpected issues that can arise when working with people with dementia.

"Learning how to facilitate art to people who have dementia helps you to sharpen up your skills for any group," says Age & Opportunity's Ciarán McKinney. "I think what people are surprised about (with Azure) is how 'ordinary' and 'common-sense' it all is. It is mostly about making people aware of the various behaviours of people who experience dementia, answering any fears or misconceptions about working with them and then building up good habits to make sure that you really listen and respond to what is happening in any session, even if it was not part of your original plan."

Bairbre-Ann Harkin of Kilkenny's The Butler Gallery believes that Azure can help relationships enormously:"What you can feel is a situation where relationships go back to normal. Azure is about trying to create moments where, at least during the programme, people stop being 'the person with dementia and their carer' and, in some ways, go back to being husband and wife, mother and son, father and daughter, sister and brother. Programmes like this allow for that moment, and that is a real privilege to see."

Helen O’Donoghue from IMMA said ‘As the host venue, we are delighted to partner on a national level to develop awareness of the potential of our arts institutions becoming more dementia friendly environments. Sharing skills and expertise at a national level with our international peers is important and empowering for gallery educators and will contribute to making our venues more inclusive and accessible.’

Fiona Gallagher of the ASI said: “Azure is such a welcome and positive programme as we strive to make Ireland a dementia friendly country.  Viewing and discussing art offers people with dementia an opportunity for positive social engagement, self-expression and brain stimulation. For the ASI it is so hugely important that galleries and art spaces are not intimidating spaces for people with dementia. This programme will go a long way to ensure people can continue to engage with the arts after their diagnosis.”

Azure is a joint initiative supported by Age & Opportunity, The Alzheimer Society of Ireland, the Butler Gallery - Kilkenny and the Irish Museum of Modern Art. This training has also been supported by Dublin City Council Arts Office and Dunlaoghaire-Rathdown Arts Office.