Renowned Artist Alison Paolini Teaches Art Lesson For PD

In recognition of World Parkinson’s Awareness Day Saturday, April 11, 2015, renowned artist Alison Paolini will teach an art lesson for PD at the support group meeting in West Hills. Thanks to group leader Cindy Marcus for organizing this event for caregivers and people with PD.

Alison Paolini grew up in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., and started with oils when she was 12. Later, she became a set design major at Syracuse University and taught dance at the Arthur Murray Dance Studio. She studied acting at Earlham College and the Summer Theatre School in Indiana.

“I was part of the Neighborhood Playhouse School of Acting in New York. I lived in the rehearsal club — Ginger Rogers and Kate Hepburn lived there while they did a movie. It was an old brownstone on 53rd Street.”

Alison has lived in Venezuela and Saudi Arabia. An especially proud moment was when she finally graduated from California State University, Northridge (CSUN) just before her 50th birthday in 1987, a year after her daughter graduated from the same university.

She carves walking sticks from branches, paints with acrylics and oils, and draws with colored and graphite pencils. At The NeuroCommunity Foundation, we know Alison as the illustrator of Kirk Hall‘s children books about Parkinson’s disease “Carson And His Shaky Paws Grampa” and “Carina And Her Care Partner Gramma.”

Alison also participated in the Parkinson’s Quilt Project, an international endeavor led by the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation. Some 600 people worldwide contributed, creating quilt squares using numerous mediums, including paint, embroidery and photography. The quilt was displayed for the first time at the World Parkinson Congress in September 2010.

When: Saturday, April 11, 2015 from 1:30 pm to 3 pm

Where: Fairwinds, 8138 Woodlake Ave., West Hills, CA 91304

Topic: Art lesson for PD

Teacher: Alison Paolini

RSVP here or call the group leader. For his meeting only, both caregivers and people with PD are invited to participate in the art lesson. Please bring a lid from a yogurt or cottage cheese container, a pen and a pencil.

From Mayo Clinic: participating in art therapy, such as painting or ceramics, may improve your fine motor skills and strength and help you express your emotions.

The Caregivers Only Parkinson Support Group meets monthly on the 2nd Saturday from 1:30 pm to 3 pm. Please note the meetings are for caregivers only and we cannot accommodate people with PD. We welcome family caregivers, friends, and professional caregivers.

World Parkinson Awareness Day, April 11, is the birthday of Dr. James Parkinson who wrote the “Essay on the Shaking Palsy” published in 1817. In it, he was the first to describe “paralysis agitans”, a condition that would later be renamed Parkinson’s disease by Dr. Jean-Martin Charcot. April is designated as Parkinson’s Awareness month. The red tulip has been associated with Parkinson’s awareness since 1980 when a Dutch horticulturist who had PD developed a red and white tulip and named it “Dr. James Parkinson.” The tulip sign pictured above – a red flower with distinctive leaves shaped like the letters “P” and “D” – was designed by Karen Painter, a person with Parkinson’s.

For information about Parkinson’s disease and other movement disorders, support groups, and local resources, contact us here or call 818-885-8623 to speak with Viviane Tondeur,  Education Director,  The NeuroCommunity Foundation, Parkinsonand Movement Disorder Information Center at the Center for Aging Research & Education (CARE).