By Dee Dunheim
Special to Inside
Jason Samatas of Lexington Health Care Centers welcomed 92-year-old Catherine Dunheim of Indiana to display her tatting at the last annual Senior Art Exhibit in Elmhurst.
Tatting, almost a lost art, is fine needlework consisting of handmade lace made by tediously looping and knotting a single thin thread using a small shuttle.
Catherine doesn't recognize the delicate piece. She doesn't remember creating it. She doesn't remember that her husband so carefully placed it under glass in a frame he made especially for it. Catherine doesn't even remember her husband.
As Catherine's daughter, I thank all those Lincoln Parkers who were so kind to her when she lived at Clark St. and Fullerton Ave. Among them are artist Carol Pohl who gave Catherine art lessons, and John and Sophia of the Golden Cup who watched out for her when she'd stop in for a bite to eat.
And now again this year in Elmhurst, it's down to the wire as residents of Lexington are working diligently to meet an April 15 deadline so they can display their works at the Senior Art Exhibit. Creative staff members recently raided the nurse's station to get tongue depressors with which to build tiny pieces of furniture. And shortbread cookies were being eaten as snacks before they could be painted with food coloring to create a Lorna-Doone cookie house.
"Residents who suffer from Alzheimer's, or other forms of memory loss, and now live at Lexington Health Care Center for full-time care, spend the same amount of time as more independent residents when it comes to expressing themselves through artwork," says Gilda Mathis who is in charge of activities.
"Sometimes things can get pretty messy around here," laughs Ella Thomas, who assists with the painting and craft projects. "It doesn't matter what we make. We laugh. We talk. We have fun. And everyone always winds up with something to take back to their rooms, to give to their families or to display at the Art Exhibit."
"Once you know that it's possible for memory-impaired seniors to have wonderful moments within their day, then the care you give them changes dramatically," says Mathis. "And it's socially stimulating because they're all working together. They talk, they laugh. They have fun." It doesn’t matter how the art work looks. "What counts here," she says, "is what’s happening as it's being created. The creation is the art. You have to see what the residents — even those with memory loss problems — are capable of doing to believe that it's truly possible."
Lincoln Park area residents are invited to display art work at "Elmhurst Senior Art Exhibit." The gallery will be open from 2 to 5 p.m. "The more the merrier," says Mathis. Any senior who has work they want to exhibit is welcome to come. If your parents or grandparents have a piece of artwork or a craft project — whether new or something created years ago — drop it off at 420 W. Butterfield Rd. anytime prior to noon on Friday, April 15, so that exhibit space can be made. For more information, call (630) 832-2300. |
