The Long Island Museum helps people with memory loss and their caregivers creatively connect with art. WSHU's Randye Kaye speaks with the museum's education director, Lisa Unander, about their In The Moment program.
WSHU: I'm Randy Kaye, and this is Good at Heart, conversations with people who quietly make the world better. Today's guest was nominated via the form on our website, and we're so grateful when you make us aware of folks who fit the bill and lift our hearts. So thanks to Christen Cuomo for telling us about this guest. Can you tell me your name and your title?
LU: Sure. My name is Lisa Unander, and I'm the Director of Education at the Long Island Museum in Stony Brook.
WSHU: Okay, thank you so much. And of course, there is a lot to the Long Island Museum today, we're going to be focusing on something called In The Moment, and that's all I'm going to say. And I'm going to let you tell us by asking question number one: who do you help, and how?
LU: I've been at the museum for nearly 20 years, and in my earlier years here, I had sort of the incredible opportunity to be around for the creation and kind of continued expansion of our In The Moment programs. And In The Moment programs are a suite of programs that are designed to creatively engage those living with Alzheimer's disease and other forms of memory loss, and they're also designed to support their care partners.
WSHU: Through the arts?
LU: Yes. So what began as being modeled after a really successful program that the Museum of Modern Art launched, called Meet Me at MoMA. These are techniques that have been honed and developed in creative ways so that people can still engage with the arts, even as their memory loss and disease progress. So our museum was fortunate enough to become aware of MoMA's program. The people who were directors and in charge of the museum at that time got us connected to the educators at the Museum of Modern Art. And we were able to go to their institution, learn the techniques of what really works, what really creates that spark through the arts, and more importantly, how we would then take those techniques and be able to implement them with our gallery and collection, which is very different from what MoMA's collections are.
WSHU: Okay, so I've not been to your museum yet, but what struck me when reading about it is that, first of all, it's that, you know, reaching people's brains through the arts. And you know, what I know about Alzheimer's a little bit is that sometimes, through music and visual art, there are ways to reach parts of the brain that seem inaccessible and suddenly can light up when it’s exposed to these, but what I'd like to know first of all, these programs are free, correct?
LU: Yes, they are, completely.
WSHU: And it's not just the person with Alzheimer's, but their caregivers as well.
LU: Yes, and that goes for if it is a professional care partner or if it is a family care partner. Either way, it applies.
WSHU: Can you tell me a typical experience without naming names, obviously, a typical experience of someone who has come to this program and what you have witnessed happening?
LU: Sure, the first type of programming that we offered was really exclusively gallery engagement, and we again, with our model from MoMA, were able to branch off and look at our collection. Our collection is very vast. It's a lot, focused on American art, as well as having one of the nationally best-regarded carriage museums. So horse-drawn carriages, that is so, yeah, so quite different, like I said, from what we were doing at MoMA. And the advantage, actually, that we found was the size of our objects, our carriages, our vehicles, and the relevance of the connection someone may have already had to them really proved to be a wonderful way to engage. We usually have anywhere from maybe six to 12 people in a session, and we do not need to know who in that group is the person who is living with memory loss and who is there as their care partner. Sometimes it's something that you know becomes apparent to us, but sometimes coming in as a group, it's a really lovely experience where I think we even the playing field with no expectations. Everybody comes in, everyone has a voice. Everyone's comments and thoughts are valued. And I do think this gallery engagement provides a space for both the care partner and the individual with memory loss.
They get to go back, maybe, to the way that they possibly went out for entertainment prior to their diagnosis. A lot of times it'll be couples who love to travel, love to go to museums, love history, love art, and in the midst of the hubbub of getting diagnosed, obviously, the doctor's appointments, the medical necessities that get in the way of everyday life. It's hard to take a break to come out and enjoy something just for the pleasure of enjoying it.
WSHU: So it's an outing for them.
LU: It is.
WSHU: And they, it's kind of a tour of your exhibit. Are there other activities that go along with it? Or is it just a free hour at the museum?
LU: We usually have about three to four pieces we highlight, okay? And it's really open-ended questions of letting them come in, you know, look, notice, wonder, what do you see? Does it look like something you've seen before? And a lot of times, they'll mention, I saw this in a movie, or I remember as a child, I grew up on a horse farm, and we'll talk about the horses that are with the carriages. So really, anything that will spark conversation, we take it and go with it. So, being the director of education, the other side of my job, I'm often with school groups and adult groups, and part of our role would be to keep things a bit more streamlined and kind of hit your curriculum and your deliverables. I think that was one of the hardest things for myself and our team of educators to let go of, that this was a moment that's, you know, the title of the program, In the Moment, it was really just about what was ever being brought to the surface, reminisced and enjoyed at the time. Kind of encourage that and go with that conversation
WSHU: I see. So, have you seen eyes light up? Have you seen a caregiver go, Oh, my God, I can't believe she remembered that. Is there anything that comes to mind?
LU: All the time. All the time. Surprises, stories they've never heard. Sometimes, like very early childhood stories, or really sentimental stories about somebody's first date and having the specific details. And you asked if there were any other techniques we use beyond just looking at the gallery tour we do. We splice in many sensory ways to really help them explore these memories, because we have groups coming to us in all stages of the disease. So there might be some people who are very verbal and very mobile and will be able to go around the galleries and take in a lot with sight and sound. You will also have people who may have lost some of those, some of those abilities. So we bring in music. We play music in the galleries for them. Sometimes we will play a song that's relevant, like Surrey With A Fringe On Top. We will often have an impromptu, you know, chorus of singing. Sometimes they will bring up a song that they know, because it kind of comes to them from the carriages.
We also introduce scent. We use little canisters that we have for smells. Sometimes, if we're in one of our art galleries and a large landscape painting, maybe there are flowers in it, we'll pass around a smell of gardenias. And again, what can that elicit for someone? We have a lot of tactile items. We have fabrics. We have all different types of horse tools, leathers and metals, all different types of materials that we don't want any of our visitors to reach behind the bars and touch, so we bring them out and we can really engage with them through that as well. That sense.
WSHU: Do you have a big waiting list for this, or do people come every week? How does this work for people?
LU: So the programs, as you said, are offered free of charge. Our main visitors are individuals who are participating in a day program or individuals who are at a live-in facility. And for those we have, usually once a month, about four to five of our local groups come in, so every month will feature a different gallery or a different theme. We also have programs that we partner with, the ADRC, Alzheimer's Disease and Resource Center, and that is when we get more individuals who come here who are not necessarily with a group facility. And that we offer, once or twice a month, we offer art-making gallery engagement, so really, usually anywhere from four to eight times a month, we are offering this program.
WSHU: I see, okay, so it isn't just gallery engagement, but there could be art-making programs as well. Do you teach skills that the caregivers can then take back to their facility and use there?
LU: Yes, we have many adaptive art supplies, and we lay them out and see what's going to be a good fit for each person. So different size brushes with different handles. I think just basically having some of the art supplies ready and prepared ahead of time really encourages participation, as well as with the care partner. Some of the participants will paint all day. So if someone now knows that at some harder times or down times at home, if they can have some of these supplies available, they will. We also offer virtual programs. And this was something that, like so many organizations, really became prominent during COVID, and we had to figure out ways to still keep people engaged when they were home. And what happened was, as many organizations and industries as we were able to happily return to our in person activities, we really learned that of every population that we were serving virtually at that time, the people who are attending our In The Moment programs had a lot of reasons why virtual was still going to work for them, long beyond the concerns of COVID So with our with our programs now, we have both. We have both opportunities in person and virtual. And if it is virtual, and if it is art making or gallery engagement, we send items to the people so they can have copies of the images we're seeing, so we can ensure they can see it. If they can't see it on the screen. We will send art-making kits so we can kind of create together, and then that way they have those kits at home as well.
WSHU: And you know, every preschool teacher and every parent and grandparent know that if you lay out the art supplies, art will happen. So my next question is, can you briefly tell me why you are doing this work? What is the story that led you to take this position as director of education and turn it into this?
LU: A lot of it was fortunate timing that at that time the museum was considering this. But I had, you know, a personal connection with my grandfather, who, you know, was so close with my family our whole lives. He was in his 90s, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, and it was after my grandmother had passed. And as I've learned more now, you know, engaging with families throughout this program, a pretty common occurrence is if there is a big shift or a loss of a partner, it's often when, sometimes, a diagnosis becomes more prominent, that you realize that there's been a shift. And my grandfather moved in with my parents and all of us cousins, you know, siblings, everyone was helping out around the clock to make sure that not only was he safe and cared for, but that he had company. And it was during that time that he realized how important it was to recognize the things that he was still able to do and offer. And he was such a multi-talented man. He was an aeronautical engineer. He ran his own travel agency as an entrepreneur. He was kind of Mr. Fix-It for the family.
So it was hard at times to see the things that he wasn't able to do. And you could get caught up in feeling sad about that. But he was at a phase in sort of his diagnosis and his progression, that he was really joyful to just have time with family, listen to what everyone was up to, and kind of sitting with him. And there's, you know, a patience level that you start to think about when we have our caregivers here, that there are times that it's hard, it's hard to be the caregiver too. But to know that he, as the person he was, was still there and was still able to connect with us in that way, that meant everything. And I think at the museum, getting that opportunity to see that between the couples that would come in here and giving them that again, that little moment in the moment. Even if it's an hour in their day, knowing that they probably have very difficult days. And if they could have that bit of respite here in the gallery, and we could kind of be the catalyst to provide that, then I think all day, every day, my coworkers and I will do that.
RK: I love that. I have to say I have people in my life who have brain differences, and when you get that moment and you go, Oh, there you are. There you are. Okay, I got one more moment to make a memory. So, you know, I think that is what you're giving the caregivers, as well as the care receivers. And you put it beautifully when we were corresponding. You said, “In my work, I begin to see how creating a space for joy, expression and connection, even for a brief moment, hence the name in the moment was powerful and meaningful beyond anything I had experienced in the arts.”
And the arts will do that. And you know, as listeners to this podcast know, my passion in life is human connection. It's theater, it's arts, it's radio, it's broadcasting, it's public speaking, it's having one-on-one conversations. Like, the value of human connection is at the heart of everything I've ever done with my life. So thank you so much for sharing that story. Question number three is, who helps you or inspires you? Who helps your program? Who do you rely on?
LU: I would be very remiss if I thought anything we've talked about today is a group effort. It is our education team who are incredible, and it is our co-directors of the museum, the support. Our board. Our support for this particular program is, it's phenomenal. We have received a really generous anonymous grant to enable this program to run for free. So our supporters also go out into the community because of its importance. I think, unfortunately, because Alzheimer's and other memory loss is so prevalent in our community. I think it's touched pretty much everyone. Somebody knows somebody who is going through this, and there is, you know, that human connection of being able to kind of insert your loved one and think about, what would this do for them? And with that, I feel like the outpouring of support is really, is really large.
WSHU: So question number four is, is there a particular for you, quote or philosophy that inspires you, that you live by? And it could be more than one, but what you know is there a moment, a quote from a book, something that happened that inspires you.
LU: I've often gravitated towards song lyrics for looking for inspiration and quotes. That's often my go-to, too.
WSHU: Me too.
LU: Yes, it's an endless source of amazing or amazing comments, and one that I've you know, a song that I've loved as a kid and all through my growing years, and kind of always come back to and definitely think of it differently now than when it was just a fun song would be Under Pressure by Queen and David Bowie, and at the end of that song, the quote that Bowie sings, “Love dares you to care for the people at the edge of the night, and love dares you to change your our way of caring about ourselves.” And to me, I think that sums up kind of the two-sided equation here, of if we want to be able to do something that is meaningful to make that connection. To reach out to someone who's experiencing some sort of isolation or loneliness in some way, and it changes, it changes us as well. It's, it's really a cyclical and a wonderful way of, if we put it out there, kind of comes back. So I’m holding on to that quote.
WSHU: My final question, and I always struggle not cry when I hear the answer, why do you think we're here on Earth, Lisa?LU: I think it's, again, all related to connections to one another, and the way that we can connect and bring joy out in someone else. If it's encouraging someone, maybe just to step out of their comfort zone and experience something new, or simply showing up for them in the good and bad times. I feel to alleviate loneliness can really change somebody's world.
