Kupuna showcased their handmade art pieces to their caregivers and families at the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Adult Day Center on Friday afternoon.
Suzanne Wang teaches ceramics to participating kupuna at the center twice every week. Over the course of three months, participants have created art pieces that depict faces, animals, utensils and other creative ideas.
“Ceramics is a form of art therapy that can really help seniors stimulate their tactile and sensory skills as well as build up their hand muscles,” Wang said. “They are also able to tap into a creative realm in their mind.”
Regularly participating in class and learning how to make a ceramic piece of art has helped participants, many of which have some form of memory loss, with their muscle memory.
“There have been many times when someone forgot that they’ve made ceramics before, but many of those seniors make progress and get better at the process, even if they don’t remember,” Wang said. “I wanted to put on the art show to help them see all the work they have created in one spot.”
While participants looked over their art, many caregivers and family members could finally see what their loved ones created with some clay and a little teaching.
Betty Manziello showed her son, Matthew Dambrosio, all of the pieces she created in ceramics class.
“I loved coming to class and working with clay,” Manziello said. “It was so fun and I want to keep it up.”