Residency in Applied Arts
The only program of its kind in the country, the three-month Residency in Applied Arts was designed to encourage artists to apply their talents to working with older adults. This pioneering new initiative will link established artists from all disciplines to the rapidly growing field of elder care. Projects address the quality of life of people with dementia and raise public awareness about their capacities. The residency carries a $20,000 stipend, with additional funds for housing, travel, and supplies.
The Residency in Applied Arts is part of CAC's larger Creativity and Culture Initiative, the goals of which are to increase thoughtful, diverse representations of aging and to increase the number of applied arts projects geared toward older adults. The arts and humanities have been shown to expand communication and improve the quality of life for people with dementia and those who care for them. They also enable older adults to develop a sense of mastery and control, to build skills, and to participate in culture at large.
The Residency in Applied Arts is housed at the Center on Age & Community in partnership with the Peck School of the Arts at UWM. External support is provided by the Helen Bader Foundation and the Brookdale Foundation. Each year, a review panel is assembled to assess the applications for their artistic excellence, committment to the topic, and the quality of their proposed project.
We are now accepting applications for the 2009 Residency in Applied Arts. Applications are due May 15th, 2008.
2008 Artist in Residence
David Greenberger has been awarded the CAC Residency in Applied Art for 2008. His first job after graduating with a BFA in painting was as an activity director at a Boston nursing home in 1979. Since then, Greenberger has been dedicated to not just interviewing, but really talking with older people. He shares his conversations in myriad ways, including cds, radio pieces, books, graphic novels, newsletters, and live performances. For his residency, Greenberger will focus on interviewing people with memory loss in Milwaukee. He will work with a local composer/musician to set those interviews to music.
If you are interested in having Greenberger visit your Milwaukee-area facility, please contact Lori at woodburn@uwm.edu.
For more on Greenberger's work, see www.duplexplanet.com
2007 Artist in Residence
The 2007 recipient of the Residency in Applied Arts was Mr. Wing Young Huie, a Minneapolis-based photographer with more than 30 years of experience. He has photographed thousands of people from a wide variety of ethnic, cultural, spiritual, and socioeconomic backgrounds. He is perhaps best known for his project, "Lake Street USA," which documented fifteen neighborhoods over the course of four years - and resulted in a six-mile communal gallery containing 675 photographs.
Huie first became interested in elder care through the experiences of his father - who suffered from dementia at the end of his life. For his Residency in Applied Arts project, Huie photographed and interviewed people with dementia and those who care for them, with a particular focus on people from diverse backgrounds. Huie also provided cameras to people with memory loss in two adult day programs in Milwaukee. CAC is working with Huie to develop a guide for how to use photography with people with memory loss. Huie plans an exhibit in the fall of 2007 at Minneapolis' InterMedia Arts. He continues to photograph the expierence of memory loss and is working toward a multi-city, museum exhibit of his work.
For more information, see www.wingyounghuie.com
