CentraCare Health Foundation has awarded Paramount Center for the Arts a grant in the amount of
$6852 to sustain their Education and Outreach’s Art Sparks! Program.
Trained teaching-artists and volunteers will provide four five-week arts exploration classes from
September 2017 – July 2018 for those living with memory loss who are still living in their homes and
their care partners. Following the success of a training and 4-part pilot project in January/February of
2017, the Paramount is prepared to provide these courses that include looking at art and making art
along with critical social interaction. The program is based on an established model entitled Opening
Doors to Memory (www.opendoorstomemory.org), which is now actively serving this population in
fifteen art galleries in the Upper Midwest, including the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Teaching artists
Lee Ann Goerss, Linda Addicott, Solveig Anderson and Paula Benfer will each present a five-week
session, following additional training with Jane Tygesson from Opening Doors to Memory and the
Alzheimer’s Association.
This project is supported by CentraCare Health Foundation, whose mission is to “ promote the health
of people and communities in Central Minnesota by fostering and funding innovative, collaborative and
effective programs, services, research and education.”