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Mary Jane Knecht is Manager of Creative Aging Programs at the Frye Art Museum. She designs arts engagement programs for older adults, including those living with dementia and their care partners, and, most recently, co-curated the Frye exhibition Art on the Mind: Ten Years of Creative Aging. She received her BA in poetry and visual anthropology from the Evergreen State College and has worked at the Frye since 2004.
How might arts engagement help people living with dementia and their care partners? Since 2010 the Frye Art Museum in Seattle, Washington has been at the forefront of museum programming for this community, illustrating how arts engagement can bring joy, respect, and dignity to people living with dementia while de-stigmatising the disease.