Please join the Foggy Bottom West End Village and West End Library Friends (WELF) for a special private viewing of the film “I Remember Better When I Paint” with its creator Berna Huebner. The film was inspired by the role of art in helping Berna’s mother who was an artist with Alzheimer’s. This is an hour-long international documentary film about the positive impact of art and other creative therapies in people with Alzheimer's disease and how these approaches can change the way the disease is viewed by society. The film examines the way creative arts bypass the limitations of dementia disorders such as Alzheimer's and shows how patients' still-vibrant imaginations are strengthened through therapeutic art. 

The film is narrated by Olivia de Havilland and includes input from neurologists. The film visits the Art Institute in Chicago, the Louvre, and the Phillips Collection. It has been broadcast more than 5,000 times on PBS, and Berna has presented this film at numerous museums including the Phillips Collection, the Art Institute in Chicago, the National Museum for Women in the Arts, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NY, and the Harlem Museum.

The film will be followed by a discussion with Berna.

“Many of our lives’ have been touched by Alzheimer’s. Berna and I became close friends because our mothers had Alzheimer’s. I have seen this film several times and am always moved by it and how beautifully it shines a light on the importance of the creative arts in helping those with Alzheimer’s and other cognitive issues. I hope you can join us on October 1st.” Lynn Cates

Note: The West End Library's large meeting room has a system that transmits a quality sound signal wirelessly to all functioning hearing aids in the meeting room. No special application is needed to make the connection with the hearing aid. For anyone with hearing impairment but without a hearing aid, a hearing loop system in the meeting room also transmits a similar signal through the use of a hearing loop worn around his/her neck. If you wish to use a hearing loop, please ask the person at the Library's Front Desk prior to the meeting for the hearing loop.