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 Art for Life: The Therapeutic Power and Promise of the Arts Produced by the North Dakota Council on the Arts in the hopes of encouraging individuals, organizations, and institutions to utilize art therapy or therapeutic art activities. This publication documents a pilot program and study with elders in a long-term care facility.
Art therapy and therapeutic art activities have been components of the human service profession for many years being used by hospitals, long term care facilities for elders, schools, and in counseling and addiction programs. Many studies illustrate the effectiveness of art therapy in combating behavioral problems, psychosomatic symptoms, anxiety, depression and improving school grades, social skills, and the lives of elders. The North Dakota Council on the Arts is the state agency responsible for the support and development of the arts throughout North Dakota. As such, the Council on the Arts embarked on a pilot project with elders in a long term care facility and put together the "Art for Life" booklet in the hopes of further encouraging individuals, organizations, and institutions - whether they be long term care facilities for elders, arts agencies, schools, hospitals, counseling centers, or rehabilitation centers - to utilize art therapy or therapeutic art activities for the betterment of others, especially those in long term care. Council on the Arts grant support is available for such activities. Those grant programs are listed in the booklet, along with other art therapy resources and synopses of various art therapy studies and articles.
Dr. William Thomas, a physician in New York, identified three "plagues" that were killing many residents in long term care facilities. Those plagues are loneliness, boredom, and helplessness (The Eden Alternative Handbook: The Art of Building Human Habitats by Dr. William Thomas; Sherburne, NY: Summer Hill Co., Inc., 1999, p. 11). He subsequently developed an approach to institutional care called the Eden Alternative which is now a widely recognized therapeutic tool in the human service profession. Eden Alternative long term care facilities around the world work to counter the three plagues by bringing in other living creatures, providing daily spontaneity, incorporating opportunities for personal growth, and offering elder residents the chance to be needed by others. Building on Dr. Thomas' work, the purpose of the North Dakota Council on the Arts' pilot project - Art for Life - was to study the effects of incorporating traditional folk and fine art into the lives of residents of an elderly living facility, and to determine if intensive art activities and the human interaction associated with it had an effect in combating the three plagues.
Over the course of a year (2001-2002) project coordinators Lila Hauge-Stoffel and Mary O'Reilly-Seim, along with the North Dakota Council on the Arts, developed a series of traditional folk and fine art-based programs for the residents of Pioneer House Assisted Living for Seniors, which is a part of Elim, a certified Eden Alternative facility in Fargo, North Dakota. The programs were designed to give residents, whose average age is 86, and their families, an opportunity for extensive interaction with artists, art activities, and each other. Thirty-five sessions with seven different art forms were offered. The artists interacted with individuals and groups in both organized and informal activities. To provide an intergenerational element, the family members of the residents were invited to join each session. Art forms included storytelling by Mary Louise Defender Wilson, quilting by Vicky Jo Bogart, clay pottery by Bob Kurkowski, Swedish Dala painting by Pieper Bloomquist, watercolor painting by Lila Hauge-Stoffel, utilizing natural dyes and weaving by Lila Hauge-Stoffel and Mary O'Reilly Seim, and oil pastels by Barb Oslie. The residents often went to great lengths to participate: arranging care for ailing spouses; scheduling pain management medication to allow the greatest ability to be involved; rearranging medical appointments; soaking arthritic hands in warm water before class; and postponing daily naps. The art activities became the topic of conversation at many meals and provided an opportunity for greater interaction between residents and family members. By the end of the project period, residents participated a total of 437 times.
Complimentary copies of the "Art for Life: The Therapeutic Power and Promise of the Arts" booklet can be obtained through the North Dakota Council on the Arts:
More Information on the Arts in Health Care
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