Featured Artists & Arts Organizations

‘Everybody has music in them,’ says Judith-Kate Friedman, founder of Songwriting Works™ Works and the Songwriting Works™ Educational Foundation, a truly unique and inspirational program where people with dementia of all types work together in groups to compose original songs and then sing them together.

Donna Newman-Bluestein is a dance therapist and founder of Dance for Connection. She is an expert in facilitating a comfortable environment for expression, especially for those living with dementia.

Caring for someone living with dementia is a dance, a journey of ups and downs – with both the individual living with the diagnosis and their care partner playing a unique role. This emotional journey of a dance is what Tara Lee sought to portray in her ballet turned film, “The Poet”.

Dupee feels that broadening portrayals of dementia within various forms can break down some of these misconceptions and help people face their fears. The message that Dupee wants readers to take away is that despite dementia being a heavy topic – when we allow ourselves to be vulnerable – we can find ourselves, hopefulness, and meaningful connections.

Alex Winstanley is the co-founder of a non-profit organization Happy Smiles Training which focuses on providing disability and social inclusion training to businesses and organizations. He began this work after his own career as a care partner for a young adult living with a disability.

Erica is an art therapist based out of Boston, Massachusetts. Her primary clientele is individuals living with dementia both in residential communities and within their homes.

Scotty Perry is a photojournalist and documentary photographer based in Louisville, KY. and the author of HERE, his photographic journey as a dementia caregiver for his Mamaw and Papaw in Louisville, Ky. in 2018.