Memory Arts Cafe

Memory Arts Cafe began as a series of free art events for people living with Alzheimer's disease, their caregivers and the general public, co-produced by New York Memory Center and the Alzheimer's Poetry Project, (APP). The series includes light refreshments and the opportunity to chat with the guest artists.

In 2022 the APP received funding from the RRF Foundation for Aging to produce 75 Memory Arts Cafes in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin.

Poet Gary Glazner will work with your Memory Café to create a unique Poetry Party for your group. We will perform well-loved classic poems and create our own original poem on a theme the group chooses. Glazner uses humor, movement and music. Glazner is an internationally recognized leader in creative aging and participatory arts. Please contact Gary Glazner at garyglaznerpoet@gmail.com if interested.

As part of this project we are excited to partner with Tinker Schuman, Lac du Flambeau, beader, pipe-carrier and tribal elder, to develop Native American programing.

On our Memory Arts Cafe field trip to Prospect Park we jammed with a jazz saxophonist with Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven." Serendipity at its sweetest!

Memory Arts Cafe at the Coney Island Aquarium. This is the performance our original poem inspired by the Jellyfish tank. The lines of the poem were created by asking open ended questions around the theme of Jellyfish. Best line, "O I see a jellyfish, how I wish they were on a dish, because I'm hungry."