PORT TOWNSEND — The nonprofit Northwind Art School invites people with memory loss, along with their caregivers, to a five-week program at Fort Worden State Park.
“Now We Create: Dementia, Art and Community” will begin Oct. 2 and continue each Thursday through Oct. 30 with teaching artist Jodi Ericksen.
Ericksen is the instructor who has been leading the Aging Creatively classes since this past spring at Northwind Art’s Fort Worden classroom.
“Now We Create” sessions are an hour long starting at 10:30 a.m. for each of the five Thursdays.
“In a warm, welcoming environment, we’ll do mixed-media art projects and connect with one another,” Northwind Art spokesperson Diane Urbani said of the series.
“Each week, the same group will meet for a guided art session that fosters a sense of community, self-expression and shared experience,” she added.
To learn more or to sign up, visit NorthwindArt.org and click on Take a Class. Then scroll through the course offerings to find the “Aging Creatively” 5-week cohort. The five sessions cost $190.
“The goal is not just to create art, but to create connections — both between individuals with dementia and their care partners,” Urbani said.
“Participants will explore various art techniques that stimulate cognitive engagement,” she said. “Caregivers and participants will work side by side, supporting one another as they experience the joy of creating together.”

