“The people that come to our Calling All Artists Program, for them it’s a no brainer,” says Lissa Kupust, who directs the wellness programming for Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. “It really began in such a grass roots manner with one potter speaking to another colleague of mine suggesting that between her pottery and her Parkinson’s she really was feeling more and more isolated.”
“Lissa told me I had to figure out who’s out there. I have to have a meeting and call people in. It couldn’t just be me that’s the only person out there with Parkinson’s whose an artist or a craftsperson,” said Cyndi, the potter who inspired the early efforts of the group.
With grant funding from the Parkinson’s Foundation, Lissa Kupust has devised programs like Calling All Artists at the Beth Israel Deaconess that empowers creative people with Parkinson’s to come together regularly to support one another, strategize around various life challenges, and share their arts, which include painting, quilting, photography, sculpture, pottery, poetry, songwriting, and music recording, among other talents.
Over the years there have been several exhibitions of their work, including at the Massachusetts College of Art & Design’s new museum. Additionally, the Museum of Fine Arts has offered to these artists with Parkinson’s during the pandemic virtual-based curated ‘visits’ to the museum to explore topics for which these artists have a complex and intimate relationship with, such as movement in a static work of art.
Here are a few profiles of artists with Parkinson’s who belong to the Calling All Artists group.
Over the years there have been several exhibitions of their work, including at the Massachusetts College of Art & Design’s new museum. Additionally, the Museum of Fine Arts has offered to these artists with Parkinson’s during the pandemic virtual-based curated ‘visits’ to the museum to explore topics for which these artists have a complex and intimate relationship with, such as movement in a static work of art.
Here are a few profiles of artists with Parkinson’s who belong to the Calling All Artists group.
"At the group someone talked about an adaptation to help them continue their craft. The word adaptation was really important to me. I think it’s always important to have a passion and to follow your passion. It doesn’t have to be perfect. It just has to speak to you,” says seamstress Paula."
Karen was a lifelong musician. After receiving the diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease, she continued to play the piano, and on a lark took a workshop in songwriting. “I only sing because otherwise my song would never be heard. Now, people ask me to play with them. I have a band now!”
After retiring from hospital management, Dan took up printmaking. Something that had interested him his whole life. “I have a full day every week of making prints. It also counts as exercise. Exercise is really key for treatment of Parkinson’s patients. There’s an element of risk to monoprinting I really like. You think you can control it, then something else comes out that’s really beautiful. But that’s part of the risk of printing over and over again to get two or three prints you really like. It’s all part of the risk of your art and your personal life.”
“My D Day, my Diagnosis day, was February 2nd. And oddly enough it coincided with my interest in photography and in my project with the windows,” is how Roger introduced his experience of Parkinson’s Disease and his art.
Hal, a poet and writer, describes the contemplative works on nature, people, and himself-including Parkinson’s that he has concentrated upon in the last few years. “I would tell and have told people, who have been diagnosed, that acceptance, while difficult to grab hold of in the beginning—is worth everything. Whatever reflects your best sense of yourself, works against that feeling of being confined by the worst outcomes in your life.”
There most recent symposium can be found here :
Calling All Artists is based at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Artists with parkinson’s disease do not need to be patients of BIDMC to participate – and they do not need to be based in Massachusetts.
For more information please reach out to Lissa Kapust, LICSW
Health and Wellness Program Coordinator
Parkinson’s Center for Excellence BIDMC
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