A new book by Daniel C. Potts, MD, FAAN highlights Bringing Art to Life to celebrate the program’s 10th anniversary.
Bringing Art to Life (BATL)is a service-learning program developed in memory of Lester E. Potts, Jr. Its primary purpose is to honor and validate persons living with dementia and other cognitive disorders through art therapy, other expressive arts, and storytelling. Additional goals include facilitating the development of intergenerational, multicultural relationships; growing empathy, compassion, knowledge, and self-awareness in students via transformational educational paradigms; lessening stigma; providing respite for care partners; and laying a foundation for the ongoing engagement and enrichment of students, persons living with dementia, and their care partners in the broader community.
The book, Bringing Art to Life: Reflections on Dementia and the Transforming Power of Art and Relationships, published by Resource Publications (an imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers) highlights the story of Alzheimer’s artist, Lester Potts, as the inspiration for developing BATL. It describes the program, including original research showing the program’s effects on growing empathy and reducing dementia-related stigma. The book also discusses the spiritual side of care partnership, including the development of mindfulness, relationships, and self-awareness in creating a culture of compassion. Reflections and poetry about participants in the program are shared, as well. Finally, the author describes his own spiritual transformation and growth as a result of the relationships formed in the program.
Praising the book, Terrence Cascino, MD, past president of the American Academy of Neurology, “applauds Dr. Potts’s extraordinary commitment and dedication to caregivers, students, family, and patients afflicted with dementia. Even as a senior neurologist, I found this book changed my perception of the capabilities of people with dementia. This is a great read for anyone caring for individuals with these disorders.”
Vicki de Klerk-Rubin, executive director of theValidation Training Instituteand daughter of Naomi Feil, adds that “Bringing Art to Life is a book of passion; a description not only of magnificent dementia care but also of a man’s journey to finding greater compassion, spirituality, and a deep understanding of what Naomi Feil calls ‘the wisdom of the disoriented old-old.’ … There is much to learn, appreciate, and be inspired by in this book.”
Author, Daniel Potts, adds: “It was a pleasure to get this book together. There has been so much rich content in the program, and I feel honored to share some reflections about the wonderful people with whom we’ve become friends and experiences we’ve had together. I felt an obligation to write, as I am the only one who has been present at every art therapy session offered in our Tuscaloosa iteration of the program for the past decade. I hope these stories will be inspiring to others.”
The book is available in paperback, hard cover, and kindle at the following link:
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Cognitive Dynamics Founder and President, neurologistDaniel C. Potts, MD, FAANadvocates for persons living with dementia and care partners via a number of podcasts and online interviews, which may be accessed at the following links. These presentations cover topics such as the expressive arts in dementia care, the role of spirituality and faith in dementia care, reminiscence and life story, care partner wellness, the building of empathy in healthcare providers, virtual reality, helping persons with dementia to live well, etc.
Members of the Cognitive Dynamics Board of Directors have appeared as featured guests on podcasts and online interviews related to Alzheimer’s, dementia, aging, care giving, expressive arts, person-centered care, eldercare, advocacy, research, spirituality in dementia care, and other topics.
Bringing Art to Life – Chicago,a program of art therapy, STEM education, multi-cultural intergenerational relationships, virtual reality immersion, life story appreciation and person-centered care started in 2016, has added a collaborative innovation: an urban sensory garden on the campus of Wesley Place memory care facility atChicago Methodist Senior Services.
Cognitive Dynamics is pleased to offer our award-winning 27:30 minute documentary short, Do You Know Me Now?, for free access on our Youtube Channel, CognitiveDynamics1, at the link below.
Do You Know Me Now? shows ways in which care partners can connect in the moment and have a mutually fulfilling relationship – one which discovers the person beneath the disease and builds upon remaining abilities and personality traits. Life is about relationships, and these relationships need not be lost due to Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias.
Do You Know Me Now? explores relationships and personhood, taking a novel look at what it means to be a person with dementia who is still very much alive and possessing those traits upon which relationships may be built, even late into the disease. The project highlights stories of people living with dementia and their loved ones who have found ways to connect — who have discovered joy, beauty and self-expression despite the losses.
Do You Know Me Now? reminds us that while cognitive ability diminishes, deep personhood lives on.
The film, directed and co-produced by Canadian film maker, Judith Murray, and edited and co-produced by American film maker, Brian Covert, features Ed and Naomi Feil (Founder of Validation Therapy), Rita and James Houston (Founder of Regent College), Joan and Cathie Borrie (Author of The Long Hello), and Lester and Ethelda Potts (Parents of Cognitive Dynamics Founder, Daniel C. Potts, MD, FAAN).
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Cognitive Dynamics Founder and President Daniel C. Potts, MD, FAAN was a recent guest of Mike Good (Together In This) for a podcast titled “The Importance of Dementia Compassionate Culture.” In the podcast, Good and Potts discuss the story and art of Lester E. Potts, Jr., an Alabama saw miller who discovered a hidden talent for watercolor painting after the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s, and how this discovery led to new insights about the persistence of personhood and creativity in persons living with dementia.
The program created in memory of Lester Potts, Bringing Art to Life, was then discussed as a means to grow empathy and create a culture of compassion in dementia care through art therapy, storytelling, and the building of intergenerational relationships. The program has two active locations, at the University of Alabama and in Chicago (Bringing Art to Life: Chicago), and is under development at other sites.
A team from BATL-C will present the program from the standpoint of the student director (Angela Ray), neurologist and co-founder of the program (Daniel C. Potts, MD, FAAN), expressive arts therapist (Allison DeSantis, MA, LCPC) facility administrator (Ann Brennan), and a Chicago-based cognitive neurologist lead faculty (Neelum T. Aggarwal, MD).
Cognitive Dynamics Founder and President, Daniel C. Potts, MD, FAAN, and Executive Arts Director, Angel C. Duncan, MA, MFT-ATR will co-present at theRe-Imagine Life With Dementia Conferencein Atlanta, GA on July 27, 2017.
The conference is sponsored by theDementia Action Alliance, and brings together the diverse dementia community for inspiring discussions, learning experiences, and engaging interactions.
Potts and Duncan will highlightBringing Art to Life, an innovative program developed in collaboration with the University of Alabama Honors College which brings art therapy and life story preservation to persons with Alzheimer’s disease and others causes of dementia and their caregivers.
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Well-known Birmingham, Alabama acoustic music venue,Moonlight on the Mountain, will host a night of Bluegrass, Gospel, Folk, and Barbershop music on March 4, 2017 at 7:30 pm, benefiting Cognitive Dynamics Foundation and its programs.
Proceeds and donations from the event will go to support Cognitive Dynamics Foundation’s programs that improve quality of life for people with dementia and their caregivers through the arts and storytelling, such asBringing Art to Life.
The cost of admission is $20, CASH ONLY. Food and drink may be brought in, and doors open at 7 pm.
The address of the venue is 585 Shades Crest Road, Birmingham, Alabama 35226.
For more information, please visit the event’s Facebook page, here:
To improve the quality of life of persons with cognitive disorders (such as Alzheimer’s disease) and their caregivers through education, research, and support of innovative care models which promote human dignity, especially therapies employing the expressive arts and storytelling.
For more information about Cognitive Dynamics and what we do pleasecontact us.
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