Artful Ideas

Elizabeth Sircom has been Memory Café NS’s provincial art consultant and team translator since 2019. She has a background in both art and music and lived for a large part of her life in France before returning to Nova Scotia, where she has worked as an artist and art instructor in many different settings. Her family has a history of dementia and she was familiar with this condition from a young age. She has worked with Memory Café NS from its inception, and leads clay and painting workshops  as part of the Memory Café series for both community-based and assisted living settings.

Anne Belliveau, a memory café facilitator in Tantallon, enjoys art activities. With a background in science, education, and coordinating clinical research trials, she volunteered with the Alzheimer Society of NS, NS Health, research studies, and the Canadian Dementia Learning Resource Network after caring for her mother with dementia. In 2023, she started with Memory Café NS. A lifelong creative, she began woodcarving in 2019 and has won awards at NS and NB carving shows. Anne welcomes the opportunity to bring art therapy activities to the Memory Café.

Mary Norton, a facilitator at the Memory Café in Wolfville, draws inspiration from her parents’ courage and grace during her father’s Alzheimer’s disease. As an adult educator, art therapist, and expressive arts facilitator, she values art’s potential to support creativity, expression, wellness, and community connections. Through her work with various therapeutic and expressive art groups, she has learned to adapt materials and activities to ensure inclusive participation. She eagerly shares ideas for supporting Memory Cafe participants in art making.

Rachael Leblanc has worked with disabled adults for 15 years, and it is something dear to her heart. During these years she has learned a lot about a variety of communication styles, most of which were very unique to the individual. Rachael has found that compassion and meeting people where they are is essential. 

Rachael runs the Memory Cafe in Richmond County. In her current role of Senior Safety & Social Inclusion Coordinator, she is pleased that Memory Cafés are part of her regular schedule. She can see the impact art has on the attendees when they open their hearts and minds and that makes it all worth it.

During her first year, she explored different art media such as paint, clay, felt,stencils, flowers and even gardening. She loves hearing how her participants feel, what they see, and what they would like to happen. To Rachael, it is so important to have that open connection, because it is the reason for gathering in this safe space every month.