Alzheimer’s Poetry Project- Conference Co-Chair and Workshop Leader,
Gary Glazner
Gary Glazner is the founder and Executive Director of the Alzheimer’s Poetry Project, (APP). The APP was the recipient of the 2013, Rosalinde Gilbert Innovations in Alzheimer’s Disease Caregiving Legacy Award. The APP was awarded the 2012 MetLife Foundation Creativity and Aging in America Leadership Award in the category of Community Engagement. PBS News Hour, NBC’s “Today” show and NPR’s “All Things Considered” have featured segments on Glazner’s work. Harper Collins, W.W. Norton and Salon.com have published his work. In July of 2014 Health Professional Press published Glazner’s book, Dementia Arts: Celebrating Creativity in Elder Care.
Hands-On Art Experience- Conference Co-Chair and Workshop Leader,
Ruth Dennis
A professional sculptor, painter, teacher and caretaker, Ruth Dennis is the recreational director at Sierra Vista. She has been with the organization for over ten years. At Sierra Vista, Dennis creates and manages the full-time recreational program for the facility residents. She leads activities that embrace life and living, from simple routines like gardening, cooking meals and folding clothes to more spiritual and emotional experiences, such as painting, poetry reading, music and drawing. Through the years, her unique recreational program has helped Sierra Vista become one of the most respected assisted living facilities in New Mexico.
Discover Your Story- Workshop Leader, Jane Tygesson
Jane Tygesson is author of the manual Opening Doors to Memory & Imagination to help museums create programs that engage the senses and spark conversation for people with memory loss. She is the
Program Director of the Opening Doors initiative, through which she offers the book and services free of charge so that more museums around the country can offer tours to adults with memory loss.
Jane co-founded the “Discover Your Story” program at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (MIA) in 2008, which has brought more than 3,000 adults in the early and middle stages of Alzheimer’s into the
museum with their families, friends, and care partners for interactive tours. Jane has since partnered with the SPARK! Alliance, with funding from the Helen Bader Foundation, to help support similar programs for people with memory loss at 11 cultural institutions in Wisconsin and Minnesota.
Lifesongs- Workshop Leader, Alysha Shaw
Lifesongs is an intergenerational arts project that promotes social inclusion and dignity for elders and people in hospice care. Central to the Lifesongs process is the artist-facilitated creation of original
musical works by people in nursing homes and hospice care. Lifesongs engages youth and community members in the interactive creative process and hosts public events that increase awareness and engagement with the processes of aging and dying.
Alysha Shaw is the Lifesongs Program Coordinator. She coordinates the administrative aspects of the Lifesongs program, and helps facilitate the evolving artistic directions and growth of the program as directed by the Lifesongs leadership. Alysha is an interdisciplinary artist, musician, and community organizer. She has studied and worked with performance and music for the majority of her life, as well as video, interactive arts, sculpture, installation, and writing.
Alysha is an interdisciplinary artist, musician, and community organizer. She has studied and worked with performance and music for the majority of her life, as well as video, interactive arts, sculpture, installation, and writing.
Hands-On Art Experience, Workshop Leader, Jytte Lokvig
Jytte Lokvig grew up in Copenhagen, Denmark. After coming to this country as a young adult, she attended Art Center, Los Angeles and earned her degrees at Antioch College/West, CSULA and CPU. Since 1994 Jytte Lokvig has worked with the elderly, especially those with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia. She designs activity and quality-of-life programs, drawing on her background in educational psychology and her expertise in the arts, theater, and music. Lokvig lectures on effective caregiving.
Dr. Lokvig is the author of Alzheimer’s A to Z, Secrets to Successful Caregiving, Alzheimer’s A to Z, A Quick Reference Guide and The Alzheimer’s Creativity Project. She is the founder of the first Alzheimer’s Cafe in the US. Started in October, 2008, The Alzheimer’s Cafe in Santa Fe, NM established the American model for Alzheimer’s and Memory Cafes, which offers a couple of hours of creativity, fun and socialization: a respite from the disease for everyone, people living with dementia along with caregivers, family, and friends.