Meaningful art programs for adults with memory loss and their care partners

We provide free English and Spanish programs to support wellbeing.

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Mission

People in wheelchairs and others wearing face masks in a gallery setting.

Founded in 2010, Arts & Minds provides museum-based programming for people with dementia and their care partners. Since 2010, we have offered hundreds of art dialogues and art-making programs on-site at museums in New York City. Our programs, designed to counteract isolation and reduce caregiver burnout, have been shown to improve well-being by bringing people together for creative and uplifting experiences. We recognize dementia as a social justice issue: Our approach supports human dignity, pushes back against ageism, and contributes to a more dementia-friendly world. Arts & Minds prioritizes Black and Hispanic/Latinx communities where rates of dementia are disproportionately high, and we are dedicated to working in underserved communities.

Arts & Minds is a not-for-profit organization committed to improving the quality of life for people living with memory loss, Alzheimer’s disease, and other dementias through engagement with art. We partner with museums to provide meaningful art-centered activities that create positive emotional and cognitive experiences, enhance verbal and non-verbal communication, reduce isolation, and build community. Our programs empower people with dementia, family members, professional caregivers, and educators to strengthen social, emotional, and spiritual bonds by engaging with art.

Seniors painting colorful butterfly designs in a communal art session.

Our Approach

  • Arts & Minds programs are participant-centered and art-focused.
  • Each session warmly invites participants to explore a work of art in dialogue with one another, sharing observations, associations, and interpretations.
  • Programs are designed to provide positive emotional and cognitive experiences, enhance verbal and non-verbal communication, reduce isolation, and build community.
  • Teaching artists gently guide each encounter with art through conversation and art making.
  • Workshops in watercolor, collage and other techniques encourage freedom of personal expression.
  • The Arts & Minds approach is entirely transferable to encounters with objects and living collections in museums of all kinds, as well as botanical gardens, zoos, aquariums and at home.
An artist paints a vibrant, abstract forest scene with tall, colorful figures.

Our Funding Partners

New York State of Opportunity.. Council on the Arts
West Harlem Development Corporation
Laurie M Tisch Illumination Fund
Columbia Community Service Neighbors Helping Neighbors