In addition to exhibition, Memory Serves Exhibition: Drawing Others Close, UNO's College of Communication, Fine Arts, and Media and other partners invite you to an international symposium event on September 22, 2022.

This symposium seeks to illuminate how the synthesis of the arts, humanities and social sciences and medicine can reframe perspectives on care of the elderly in ways that can challenge, stimulate and nurture fresh thinking, dialogue and connections. Moreover, it will explore how they can play a pivotal role in addressing the challenges and rewards of caring for the elderly and of caregiver and health professional burnout and wellbeing.

Paintings will also be on display in the UNO Barbara Weitz Community Engagement Center  August 26 to September 29. These paintings were created by people living with dementia as part of the Opening Minds through Art (OMA) program delivered at the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home. The art program is aimed at promoting residents social engagement, autonomy, and dignity through the experience of creative self-expression. Older adults at Rose Blumkin Jewish Home were paired with a trained student volunteer from the University of Nebraska Omaha who provided guidance during the art-making process.

View the Symposium Agenda

Guest Speakers

The event features geriatrician Dr. Kenneth Rockwood and film-maker Hannah Minzloff. 

Dr. Rockwood (pictured above) is a professor of medicine at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Dr. Rockwood was last year’s winner of the Ryman Prize. The award is for the world’s best discovery, development, advance or achievement that enhances quality of life for older people. The prize is awarded each year by an international jury appointed by The Ryman Foundation. 

Hannah Minzloff (pictured above) is a Canadian film-maker. Her critically acclaimed film, “Dementia, Dad and Me” will be broadcast nationwide in Canada this summer. 

Interested Audiences

• Students
• Healthcare and health humanities professionals
• Physicians
• Nurses
• Artists
• Writers
• Performers
• Healthcare Administrators
• Healthcare Educators
• Researchers
• Allied health professionals
• Expressive arts therapists
• Social workers
• Chaplains
• Family and professional caregivers
• Veterans services professionals
• Activists 

Event Sponsors

The UNO College of Communication, Fine Arts and Media, Dementia Services Development Trust, Humanities Nebraska, Nebraska Arts Council, QEII Foundation, UNO Gerontology, Geriatric Medicine Research, UNO College of Arts and Sciences, UNO Medical Humanities, and UNMC Geriatric and Palliative Medicine, and Lori and Paul Hogan.