BDN previews UMMA exhibit developed by UMaine Center on Aging
The Bangor Daily News reported on “Somewhere,” a solo exhibit by New York artist Jason Bard Yarmosky that opened May 19 at the University of Maine Museum of Art in downtown Bangor. The show, developed in partnership with the UMaine School of Social Work’s Center on Aging and St. Joseph Healthcare Foundation, will be on display through Sept. 2. It will serve as the focus and catalyst for a summer series of free noontime talks and workshops aimed at educating family caregivers and others in the community about age-related dementia, Alzheimer’s disease and the role of art in a healing environment, according to the article. Yarmosky, who paints in a detailed, hyper-realistic style, has been painting his grandparents for several years. Even after his grandmother developed signs of dementia in 2013 and was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, she insisted he continue, the article states. For George Kinghorn, the museum’s director and curator, Yarmosky’s show provides an important opportunity to further the museum’s academic mission. In addition to exposing museum-goers to important new artists and contemporary ideas about the creative process, he said, UMMA is charged with using the lens of art to examine social issues. “Anytime an exhibit can be a springboard for community engagement and bring in an audience who might not otherwise find their way into the museum, that’s a good thing,” he said.