Connections is a community engagement program at the Tampa Museum of Art designed to provide adults a break from the stresses that interrupt everyday life and erase the stigma of mental health conditions. It’s a one-hour session in which docents lead individuals living with mental health conditions and their caregivers through activities designed to encourage discussion on the art pieces.
In this hour, “it’s not about the doctors appointment, its not about the disease, its not about the care of the person, its about the life of the person,” says Brittny Bevel, the museum’s education curator.
Although most museums around the country have some dementia programming, the Tampa Museum of Art is unique in its use of students as docents, which also draws students into interacting with the art. A docent is “a person who acts as a guide, typically on a voluntary basis, in a museum, art gallery, or zoo”. The museum accepts applicants from USF’s Honors College, the training for which is now being offered as a credit for honors capstone.
In the program, Alzheimers patients are the most active and regular attending participants. Bevel receives an email at least once a month from one of these individuals either expressing the effectiveness of the program or how it is the one thing they look forward to.
As a volunteer docent myself, I can say attending training every Thursday was the highlight of my week this past semester. You lose yourself in the art and forget about the paper you should be writing or the exam that you wish you scored higher on. In the museum, all of the should-be’s and would-have’s finally quiet down.
And by the way, USF students get in free.