Collide Art and Memory Exhibition Illuminates Power of Creativity in Early‑Stage Dementia

26 June 2025

"The Lawrence Tree" (1981) by Georgia O'Keeffe. Courtesy of Mattatuck Museum

At the heart of Waterbury’s Monteiro Family Community Gallery, the Mattatuck Museum has unveiled Collide: Art and Memory, a moving and visually rich exhibition that speaks to the resilience and creative capacity of individuals coping with early‑stage dementia. Curated in partnership with the Alzheimer’s Association Connecticut chapter, this gallery offers a compelling window into how art-making can foster emotional solace, community connection, and renewed self-expression features rarely explored in mainstream cultural spaces.

Over the past year, participants in the museum’s Memories @ The MATT series gathered monthly, drawing inspiration from existing works by celebrated artists. From the fluid forms of Henri Matisse and the vivid landscapes of Georgia O’Keeffe to the sculptural storytelling of Federico Uribe and the evocative photography of Arthur Nager, the program encouraged a deep, internal dialogue between memory and creativity. The result is an exhibition that juxtaposes remembrance and reinvention, offering handcrafted paintings, collages, and mixed-media pieces that reflect each creator’s unique life story.

A centrepiece of the show is a collaborative mural overseen by museum educator Quinn Fabas‑Smith, which integrates the Alzheimer’s Association logo a stylized brain and beaker into a tapestry of color and symbolism. This work, which will later be installed at the association’s Connecticut headquarters, embodies both collective effort and individual hope, transforming personal narratives into public testimony.

The emphasis on early-stage dementia is deliberate; the museum recognized that at this phase, individuals retain enough cognitive flexibility to engage thoughtfully with stimuli, yet are starting to experience losses in memory and confidence. Through guided art sessions, participants found a way to externalize fractured recollections, to shape their fading thoughts into expressive forms, and to hold onto parts of themselves that often feel slipping away. For many, this process has been deeply restorative, offering a sense of agency and visibility at a time when their identity might otherwise feel diminished .

Visitors to Collide will find themselves navigating a gallery filled with tender experimentation. Some works echo their inspirations closely, while others diverge brilliantly abstract bursts of color, layered textures, symbolic shapes. These creations do not simply mimic their artistic antecedents; they filter them through the lived experiences of memory altered by disease. Matisse-inspired cutouts take on new vitality; O’Keeffe-inspired florals become metaphors for seeds of memory; Uribe-like assemblages take on personal significance as vessels of lingering recollection.

Beyond aesthetics, the exhibit asserts art’s therapeutic potential in communal and therapeutic settings. The museum’s model reflects broader trends in creative aging—programs that leverage art to preserve emotional wellbeing and social connection. Similar efforts, such as those documented at Seattle’s Frye Art Museum, demonstrate that art can momentarily quiet the anxieties of dementia, fostering what some call “Frye Time”—moments where identity and creativity transcend illness.

Collide also represents a dynamic form of civic engagement. It honors participants’ courage to expose vulnerable creativity, and it invites visitors families, caregivers, residents to witness and honor that process. The inclusion of this work in a formal exhibition space challenges stereotypes about dementia, confronting the uncomfortable misconception that cognitive decline means diminished personhood or capacity.

The public’s response has been quietly enthusiastic. Many have expressed surprise at the depth and emotional honesty in these pieces. Care partners noted the cathartic moments when participants recognized their own work and recalled the original inspirations. Museum staff have spoken of palpable shifts in atmosphere during sessions from hesitation to experimentation, from self-consciousness to pride.

Technically, Collide sits comfortably within the museum’s growing commitment to blending community-inspired, socially conscious programming with more traditional exhibitions. The Mattatuck a space dedicated to celebrating Connecticut’s art and history has increasingly prioritized partnerships with underrepresented voices. Recent acquisitions of works by living women artists and exhibitions showcasing African American and Latinx creativity demonstrate a model of inclusivity and representation.

Collide is scheduled to run through August 24. Its timing overlaps with The Body Imagined, a major figurative art exhibit from the Bank of America collection, creating a synergy between formal and community-led artistic narratives . Together, these shows reflect the museum’s dual mission: to present canonical works of American art while nurturing fresh, local voices voices that might otherwise go unheard.

In a gallery where memory is both subject and medium, Collide proves that creativity does not disappear with diagnosis, it adapts, evolves, and illuminates what remains. It shows that in the delicate interplay of paint, paper, and heart, there is still space for growth and beauty.

Ultimately, this exhibit is an affirmation. It sends a message to people living with memory challenges, to their loved ones, and to visitors: your story matters. And with every brushstroke and collage, that story finds a place on the walls of a museum and in the hearts of those who see it.

Collide: Art and Memory runs daily from now until August 24 at the Mattatuck Museum, Waterbury, CT. Admission is available through the gallery; more information can be found at mattmuseum.org