The Penelope Project : an arts-based odyssey to change elder care / edited by Anne Basting, Maureen Towey, and Ellie Rose.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Basting, Anne Davis, 1965- editor.

Towey, Maureen, editor.

Rose, Ellie, editor.

Series:

Humanities and public life

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Amateur theater--Wisconsin--Milwaukee.

Amateur theater.

Theater and older people--Wisconsin--Milwaukee.

Theater and older people.

Older people--Recreation--Wisconsin--Milwaukee.

Older people.

Long-term care facilities--Recreational activities--Wisconsin--Milwaukee.

Long-term care facilities.

Long-term care facilities--Recreational activities.

Older people--Recreation.

Wisconsin--Milwaukee.

Physical Description:

xix, 191 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : color illustrations ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Iowa City : University of Iowa Press, [2016]

Summary:

Of the 15,000 nursing homes in the United States, how many are places you'd want to visit, much less live in? The Penelope Project shows how we can transform long-term care into an experience we and our loved ones can face without dread, by taking readers on an ambitious journey to create a long-term care community that engages its residents in challenging, meaningful art-making. At Milwaukee's Luther Manor, a team of artists from the University of Wisconsin's theatre department and Sojourn Theatre Company, university students, staff, residents, and volunteers traded their bingo cards for copies of The Odyssey. They embarked on a two-year project to examine this ancient story from the perspective of the hero who never left home: Penelope, wife of Odysseus. Together, the team staged a play that engaged everyone and transcended the limits not just of old age and disability but also youth, institutional regulations, and disciplinary boundaries. By underscoring an essential role of the arts and humanities in living richly, The Penelope Project boldly dreams of how to make late life a time of growth and learning. Founder and president of TimeSlips Creative Storytelling, Inc., Anne Basting is professor of theatre at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, and coordinator of the Creative Trust. She lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Maureen Towey was creative director for Arcade Fire on its Grammy award-winning album The Suburbs and directed tours for Ray LaMontagne, Esperanza Spalding, and tUnE-yArDs. She lives in New York City. A resident of Milwaukee and Mexico City, Ellie Rose runs the nonprofit GeroStart Inc. Book jacket.

Contents:

Who Was Penelope ? You Ask 5

Excerpt from Finding Penelope, Scene 1 / Anne Basting Basting, Anne 7

Part 1 The Landscape

The Current Landscape of Activities/Programming in Long-Term Care / Kirsten M. Jacobs Jacobs, Kirsten M. 11

Social/Civic Practice in Theatre / Michael Rohd Rohd, Michael 17

Penelope Goes to College... but Does She Get Accepted into the Theatre Department? / Jan Cohen-Cruz Cohen-Cruz, Jan 19

Part 2 Building Partnerships and Charting a Path

What Is Luther Manor? / Anne Basting Basting, Anne 26

Evolution of an Idea: In Dialogue / Anne Basting Basting, Anne, Beth Meyer-Arnold Meyer-Arnold, Beth 28

Evolution of an Idea: In Dialogue / Anne Basting Basting, Anne, Michael Rohd Rohd, Michael 31

Shaping the Project Structure from a Care Perspective: In Dialogue / Anne Basting Basting, Anne, Beth Meyer-Arnold Meyer-Arnold, Beth 33

Shaping the Project Structure from an Arts Perspective: In Dialogue / Anne Basting Basting, Anne, Michael Rohd Rohd, Michael 37

Shaping the Project Structure from a Teaching/Learning Perspective / Robin Mello Mello, Robin, Anne Basting Basting, Anne 42

The Structure and Evolution of Funding for Penelope / Anne Basting Basting, Anne 47

The Structure and Evolution of Evaluation of Penelope / Anne Basting Basting, Anne 50

The Mythic Lens of Penelope / Robin Mello Mello, Robin, Anne Basting Basting, Anne 54

Part 3 Resistance, Realizations, and Adjustments

Excerpt horn Finding Penelope, Scene 1 / Anne Basting Basting, Anne 61

On Fear and Trepidation / Anne Basting Basting, Anne 64

Staff Resistances, Reactions, and Interactions / Elite Rose Rose, Elite 67

Challenges for Students / Robin Mello Mello, Robin 71

Students' Eye View of Penelope / Fly Steffens Steffens, Fly, Angela Fingard Fingard, Angela 76

On the Comfort of Entertainment / Anne Basting Basting, Anne 81

The First Rehearsal / Maureen Towey Towey, Maureen 84

The Demands of a Painter, or Who Is an Arrist? / Ellie Rose Rose, Ellie 87

Open and Roving Rehearsals / Michael Rohd Rohd, Michael, Maureen Towey Towey, Maureen 89

Part 4 Rewards

The Arts of Penelope: Art-Making and Making Artifacts / Ellie Rose Rose, Ellie, Shannon Scrofano Scrofano, Shannon 95

Who Is a Hero in Your Own Life? / Jolene Hansen Hansen, Jolene 101

Mamie's Story / Beth Meyer-Arnold Meyer-Arnold, Beth 103

On Playing the Suitors: In Dialogue / Daniel Cohen Cohen, Daniel, Rusty Tym Tym, Rusty 106

On Playing Penelope: In Dialogue / Joyce Heinrich Heinrich, Joyce, Nikki Zaleski Zaleski, Nikki 111

Five Seconds after the Audience Left / Anne Basting Basting, Anne 114

The Magic of the Movement / Anne Basting Basting, Anne, Leonard Cruz Cruz, Leonard 116

Finding an Ending / Maureen Towey Towey, Maureen 120

Excerpt from Finding Penelope, Scene 5 / Anne Basting Basting, Anne 123

Part 5 Evaluation and Evolution

Beyond Penelope at Luther Manor / Ellie Rose Rose, Ellie 129

On the Challenges of Continuity in Civic Arts Projects: In Dialogue / Michael Rohd Rohd, Michael, Anne Basting Basting, Anne 131

Making Structural Changes in the Curriculum through Penelope / Robin Mello Mello, Robin, Anne Basting Basting, Anne 135

What Did the Research Tell Us? / Robin Mello Mello, Robin, Julie Voigts Voigts, Julie 139

The Essential Elements of Penelope / Robin Mello Mello, Robin, Julie Voigts Voigts, Julie 154

The Landscape beyond Penelope / Anne Basting Basting, Anne, Ellie Rose Rose, Ellie, Maureen Towey Towey, Maureen 161.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781609384135

160938413X

OCLC:

921926741