Registration is Now OPEN – Come Learn to Create and to Change LTC

The Penelope Project aimed to build community in a long term care setting through an extended and rigorous creative engagement project.  Even now, almost a year after the final performance of the play that wound its way through Luther Manor last March, I’m still overwhelmed by the emotion of the experience.  When I go back to visit now, I just like to sit in the company of people who participated.  “I know…” our eyes say to each other.  “It was incredible.”  One woman, who participated in countless creative discussions, and who played one of Penelope’s weavers in the scene in the health center,  said “that was the last important thing I’ll do with my life.”  I told her it felt like that for me too.

To share the model and inspire others to create their own extended, rigorous, collaborative projects, the partners behind Penelope are offering a Summer Institute.  From June 24th to June 28th, attendees are invited to experientially learn:

• the meaning and power of partnership
• the basics of aging and dementia
• how regulations shape (and don’t shape) activities in long term care
• some basic techniques for collaborative storytelling and art-making
• how to work “site-specifically”
• how to ignite individual and organizational change
• how to do simple project evaluation
• how to design a project

We will also premiere the new documentary about the Penelope Project at the Institute.

Come join us for this exciting experience, taught by the artists, teachers, researchers, care-providers, and residents who collaborated on this unique project.

REGISTRATION IS NOW LIVE at www.aging.uwm.edu.

What did we do?

As we make presentations on The Penelope Project, and plan the curriculum for CREATE/CHANGE, the summer institute on transforming care for elders through creative engagement, we are pushed more and more to articulate exactly what HAPPENED with the project.

It was such an overwhelming emotional experience that it’s been slow to crystalize.

In the last round of presentations (Leading Age, European Network on Aging Studies, and a guest lecture at Empire State College) at least one element of what happened came clear.

We endeavored to lift an entire care facility (and all those who live and work there) to the level of symbol – to mean MORE than what the world associates them with, aging and dying.  We endeavored to make an entire care facility a symbol of meaning and possibility.

And in my humble opinion, I think it worked.

Presenting Penelope

We’re getting the gang back together!  This fall we are doing several presentations on all that unfolded in the Penelope Project at several conferences.

At the Imagining America conference in Minneapolis in September, Anne (writer/producer), Julie Voigts (Production Manager), Nikki Zaleski (performer), and Angela Fingard (Assistant Director) were part of a session on “Community Knowledge.”

Anne gave a keynote presentation on Penelope at the European Network of Aging Studies in Maastricht, Holland in October.

On Sunday October 16th, Anne (writer/producer), Rusty Tym (performer), Beth Meyer Arnold (producer/Luther Manor), and Michael Rohd (Artistic Director of Sojourn Theatre) present a session on Penelope that will focus on the power of partnership and the key elements in crafting  extended, collaborative, person-centered care-based programming.  The session is part of the annual Leading Age conference in Washington DC.

After the busy October, the gang will continue to meet to finalize the curriculum for UWM’s Center on Age & Community’s Summer Institute, CREATE/CHANGE: transforming activities in long term care with creative engagement.   The Summer Institute will be taught by representatives of the 3 main partners in the Penelope Project, Luther Manor, Sojourn Theatre, and UWM.  It will be held on June 24-28, and is ideal for people who want to design and implement their own collaborative programming in long term care.

The Weaving

Looks Like Improvisation is Good for People with Memory Loss!

This is something we in the Penelope Project could feel in our bones…

The joy of improvisation and c0-creation of something born of our imaginations in the moment brings us together and makes us feel good about ourselves.

Here is a lovely article from today’s Chicago Tribune about an Improv troupe in Chicago that is discovering the same thing.

 

Penelope Update: June 2011

Here is the latest on the Penelope’s doings…

*Beth and Anne had a chance to ride together to a TimeSlips training yesterday up at the John Michael Kohler Art Center in Sheboygan.  Their exhibit HIDING PLACES: MEMORY IN THE ARTS is up and it is truly stunning.  You should really try to get there.  The official opening is June 26th, but it’s up now.  www.jmkac.org

*Beth said that the Beyond Penelope  group at Luther Manor is due to meet again to determine next steps for a new project.

*Robin Mello and Julie Voigts are analyzing all the focus group and interview transcripts.

*Anne has started to apply for some grants to support the next steps in the digital educational tool development.

*371 Productions has started editing the documentary.

*October 16th will be the presentation on Penelope at the Leading Age conference in DC. Looks like CEO David Keller, Rusty, Anne, Beth, and Maureen are confirmed to attend to give a highlight of their view of the impact of the project.  We’ll pull together the group soon to discuss.

*The Summer Institute at the Center on Age & Community is planned!  June 24-48 in 2012.  It’s called CREATE/CHANGE: transforming care for elders through creative engagement, and builds on the Penelope Project model. We are putting together save the date postcards to be tucked into conference bags at the Pioneer Network Conference, the National Adult Day Services Assoc. conf, and the Leading Age conference.  We’ll also have a booth at Leading Age (thank you Leading Age!!).  We had our first inquiry on the institute yesterday!

*Jean reported that the Health Center folks had a Penelope Tea to share photos etc. and that (of course, with Jean’s care) it was a lovely event.

*Final grant reports are going out.  Our estimates for people served by the project are:
-half the residents and staff of Luther Manor (estimate 750)
-50 students (through workshops and classes)
-400 audience members (8 preview/shows x 50)
-countless more through press coverage (Fox News, Leading Age, radio coverage).

*The WUWM radio show that Linda and Anne did will air on June 16th.  Look for it on their website if you miss it.  wuwm.com

*The American Theatre article will appear July 1st!  They are running 4 photos in the 1,500 word article.  If possible, we’ll provide a link.

*Anne presented on the project at the Brookdale Foundation Fellow Retreat – all leaders in Geriatrics and Gerontology from around the country.  They were very moved and intrigued.

*Author Gregory Maguire (who wrote Wicked) is giving a series of lectures on the relevance of classic literature to today’s world.  His topic is memory and narrative in the Odyssey… and he is going to use the short clip of our project as his finale in his presentation at the Cambridge Community Library on October 29th.  He has emailed several times to tell us how much he loves the project and the clip!

The project continues to resonate…everyone who worked on it should be so proud of what you created.  Hopefully that pride helps offset a bit of the hole that’s left by not having Penelope in our daily lives anymore…

Qualities of the Penelope Project

Team Penelope is in full reflection mode.  What were the elements that made this project work so beautifully?  Conversations on this topic have been happening all around the Team.   The “Key Staff” group at Luther Manor, which now calls itself “Beyond Penelope”, talked about it.  Anne (UWM) and Michael (Sojourn) talked it through.  Anne and Robin (UWM) talked it through.  Anne and Beth (LM) talked it through.  Anne made a list as a starting point, and that list received comments from Sojourn and LM.  Here’s what we have after the first couple rounds of discussions.

What qualities need to be in place for a project like Penelope to happen?

Extended:  the project took place over a significant amount of time  to build interest, relationships, confidence, skills, and knowledge.

Devised:  that it was jointly created was challenging to some people  (“what IS this?”) but ultimately devising provides a frame for the  piece without prescribing what it will be.  This gives ownership and  a sense of discovery (even vulnerability and shared risk) to all  participants.

 Integrated/Accessible:  the project linked all areas of care and avoided stigmatizing people with cognitive or physical disabilities by having it be accessible to everyone.  This eases stigma and fears of the continuum of care.

Intergenerational/mythic time:  We worked with multiple generations  on a story/theme that is mythic (beyond time).  This provided purpose and  meaning by linking elders to the next generation and by linking both  youth and elders to the many many many generations that have come  before them.  Stories don’t have to be greek myths, but they should tap archetypes, basic human emotions/needs that connect us to each other beyond time.

Partnered:  Partnering with outside groups provides an alternate framework with which to see your own community (a critical eye).  It builds community and adds skill sets.  It destigmatizes disability and age by bringing people out of isolation.

Progressive:  It built toward a culminating event that created a  sense of pride within the community, and expanded the community  (through audience).

Rigorous:  this project insisted on rigor in the care with partnerbuilding, the aesthetic excellence, the attention to individuals,  the  integrity of the pedagogical goals and the documentation and evaluation…everything we did could have been done without rigor and the project would have happened — and it would have been cool –but would not have been MEANINGful the way it was, is…

Latest Update on Penelope 5.10.11

The stories keep coming even after the project has come to a close.

Here is a video clip by 371 Productions that shows a bit of the journey from making to performing.   371 is now creating a trailer that will help us raise funds to support the making of the documentary.

Here’s  a story about the project on the Huffington Post by Tim Carpenter.

There’s a quick mention of the uniqueness of the Penelope Project in this TCG article.

Robin Mello, Anne Basting, and Julie Voigts are starting the evaluation process.  This means gathering all the materials from the project to put together a simple chart of “what happened,” and analyzing all the surveys, focus group transcripts, and interviews.  We aim to understand what elements were important to people and what people learned in the process of making Penelope.

On Sunday October 16th, the Penelope Project will be featured during a lunchtime plenary session at the Leading Age conference in Washington DC.  The presentation will feature Anne Basting, Beth Meyer Arnold, Maureen Towey, and a Luther Manor resident (likely Rusty or Joyce!).

The Penelope Project will become the model for the Center on Age & Community’s Summer Institute — Transforming Long Term Care through Creative Engagement.   This 4 day Institute will be a collaboration with Sojourn, UWM, and Luther Manor, and feature sessions on
Meaning and Purpose in LTC
Improvisational Storytelling
Devising through Movement
Devising through Visual Art
Dementia Basics
Regulations and Programming in LTC

Attendees will learn hands on techniques for creative collaboration/devising, and form a plan to create their own extended, creative project.  Attendees are encouraged to come with a collaborating partner (someone from a university, an arts organization, and/or a long term care service provider) to create a plan together; but are certainly welcome to attend as an individual.

For more on the 2012 Summer Institute, contact Sue Braden, 414.229.2729.

Anne Basting and Linda Moscicki will be interviewed by Tom Luljak on WUWM next week.  We’ll let you know when the interview will be aired!

Anne just sent photos to American Theatre…we’ll post the link to the article as soon as we get it.

Post-Performance (by Anne)

It’s been two weeks since the final performance of Finding  Penelope.

So what’s happening now?

1) Focus Groups.   I met with the weavers and handmaidens in Health Center 2 to talk about what they experienced.  I’m meeting on Thursday with the “key staff” group to talk about what they observed and learned, and what next steps they can imagine.  We met with the actors on the day before the final performance. Robin will talk with students to hear from them about their experiences.

2) Survey.   I sent out an audience  survey and am still collecting responses.

3) Meetings.   I’ll meet with all the key players (Sojourn, LM, UWM) to figure out what each party is invested in for the next steps – creating teaching tools.

4) Raising some more $.  We’ll need funds to complete the documentary, teaching tools videos, and teaching materials.

5) Create a curriculum at UWM.   This was a great model for bringing undergrads into community-based arts practice.  Robin and I will go about setting this as a regular feature of the UWM Theatre BA.

6) Share!  Basically – spread the word about what happened…part of which is sharing some of our lovely documentation.  Here are several photos from the performance.  All are copyrighted by the UWM Photo Services and taken by Alan Magayne-Roshak.

Mira (Rebecca Martinez) prepares to give "Guilt" (Rusty Tym) the "kiss of death."

Odysseus (James Hart) and Athena (Caroline Imhoff) vanquish their enemies in Finding Penelope (2011)

"Staff" (Julia Huryk, Nikki Zaleski, and Joyce Heinrich) try to calm Penelope's 20 years of tears.

Seen the Show? Let us know…

If you’ve been able to see FINDING PENELOPE, please share your feedback with us here through the comments function.

What did you feel/think/see/experience?

SOLD OUT!

Tickets to Finding Penelope are SOLD OUT – but you can get on a waiting list by calling 414.464.3880

Finding Penelope

Some heroes stay at home

A new play by Anne Basting and Sojourn Theatre, in collaboration with Luther Manor and the UWM Theatre Department, inspired by Homer’s Odyssey

March 15-18, 2011 at 3 pm*

Luther Manor’s Lippold Faith & Education Center
4545 N. 92nd St., Wauwatosa, WI

TICKETS: $10
To order tickets, call Luther Manor: 414.464.3880
Tickets are limited. Ask about previews and open rehearsals.

You are invited to follow the performance (1/2 mile) throughout the living spaces of Luther Manor, a continuing care community. Please wear comfortable shoes. If you have mobility challenges please let us know in advance.

On Friday, March 18, there is a free, interactive workshop “Using the Arts and Humanities in Community Health,” with local and national leaders in the field.  To reserve a place, email woodburn@uwm.edu.  See www.aging.uwm.edu for more details.

*Wednesday, March 16 performance will begin at 3:15pm.

Supported with funding from:
The MAP Fund, a program of Creative Capital supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation, the Wisconsin Arts Board, the Helen Bader Foundation, the Brookdale Foundation, the Faye McBeath Foundation, the Forest County Potawatomi Community Fund, the UWM Theatre Department, and the Wisconsin Representatives of Activity Professionals.