Memory Care Murals in San Diego

Hi everyone!

This is gonna be mostly a pictures post. This is a weeks' worth of work from my trip down to San Diego. I was there to paint murals at a new memory care facility being built there. Each of the 4 wings of the memory care building is considered a "neighborhood", and has a large mural corresponding to the name. La Jolla, Balboa Park, Coronado, and Torrey Pines, are the neighborhood names, and landmark places in the San Diego area. The idea is to help residents navigate the building, and also feel a sense of home. I love being a part of making this building a better environment for memory patients! I'll be heading back in a couple weeks to finish up, so stay tuned!

Walla Walla Murals, Part Deux!

Hey guys! 

A little late, but here's what I've been up to lately, mural-wise:

I was invited to head back up to Walla Walla, WA to add more murals to the memory care facility up there. (I went there for a week last spring for the first round of painting...those pics are here). This time, I only had 10-12 hours of painting approved according to their budget, so here's what happened in those hours:

Directional signage for one of the residential wings.

More signage for the other wing

This mural was started by the Muralist who came before me. He sadly passed away from cancer before he could finish all the murals in this facility, and I was hired on after him to finish them up. (And then, have the whole entire brand new facility in Portland to fill up with murals). This is the only piece in the building that we actually shared. He painted the signs, I added the swirlies on the sides. Kind of a nice collaboration if you ask me :)

This is area where the residents (all of whom have either Alzheimers disease or some form of Dementia) can play with and rock the baby dolls. 

I painted the sign, not the onions in the background.... those were done by the wife of the muralist who died. She tried to paint some of the things he had left unfinished. I was assigned to help make the Parkview Eatery sign look a little.... nicer. The font was not my choosing (if they even started with a font): swirlies, random serifs, and descenders that don't descend. I know that I'm seeing it with my graphic designer's eye, but come on. Haha Anyway, I cleaned up the letters a bunch and made it a bit bolder and more readable (wish I had taken a "before" picture)

There's still more work to be done up there, so looking forward to spending some more time up there when I'm able to, and budgets allow. It was nice seeing some of the same caregivers and residents I had met in the Spring. Like last time though, it did take a bit of a toll on me emotionally. It's hard to see people who must have been so vibrant and have these incredible life histories, stumbling around so confused. It's sad. But this is a tiny thing I can do for them at least! One lady kept thanking me, so that felt nice. I tend to be pretty sensitive, so I cannot fathom doing a job where I'm in this kind of situation day in and day out. Hats off to those of you out there who do. :)

Pics from "MURAL-A-THON 2014!" in Walla Walla

Ok, finally posting pics from my week of painting murals in a memory care facility in Walla Walla, Washington! I spent 6 days there, and made all of these below, plus the garden one from this post.

It was quite the experience, and I have to say, overwhelmingly positive. I enjoyed meeting the residents and learning the tiny snippets of what their lives used to be like. It was a bit emotionally taxing though, to be in that environment for 8 hrs a day, 6 days straight. It's just hard to see people so confused and frustrated sometimes. But I can tell that there are good moments, too. And really, most of them - like my Grandma was - are truly living moment to moment. I think that yes, the murals help to cheer and brighten up the spaces, but in this sort of facility, they are also very functional. The two murals I painted over the exit doors at the end of each hallway, served to disguise the doors. It can be frustrating for both the residents and the caregivers when they try to leave. The crazy bright flowers and parrots mural is in a room that they call the "snoezelen room" -  a multi-sensory environment for residents to go when they get agitated. Check out the research here. Seems counter-intuitive until someone explains it to you. But this room is full of little squishy toys and multi-colored lights and music. And now my crazy mural. Apparently, the research shows that going into a very stimulating environment like this allows for distraction from what the resident was upset about in the first place. They forget what was so upsetting very quickly. Pretty interesting. Overall, I was extremely grateful to be a part of making this facility a little nicer! 

Here's what I made:

 

This one was started by a different muralist - He did the sign, I did the 3-D garage.