OMA: Opening Minds Through Art
Artists First has partnered with the evidence based program Opening Minds Through Art (OMA). Opening Minds Through Art (OMA) was founded by Dr. Elizabeth “Like” Lokon in 2007 and is grounded in person-centered care principles. It is headquartered at Scripps Gerontology Center, an Ohio Center of Excellence at Miami University. OMA is an intergenerational visual art program for people with memory loss. OMA participants create works of art on a weekly basis, while paired with volunteers who are trained to rely on imagination instead of memory and focus on remaining strengths instead of lost skills. The art projects are failure-free, and allows participants to show others the creative, self-expressive capacities of people with dementia. An exhibit highlighting the participants work is held at the end of the 8-week session. The program at Artists First is offered with the support of the Alzheimer's Association, Greater Missouri Chapter and Maryville University.
|