Residents in the art class at The Grove Senior Apartment in Garden Grove, CA, spent time on a paint and sip painting that Program Director and art teacher Lourdes Torres taught as a transition piece. She comments, “I thought it would be a quick one for us but it lasted a couple of classes. This painting offered a few lessons that the students took their time on. The first lesson was sketching in white paint to lay out their composition over their background. They had to overcome their anxiety about drawing a mistake and how to cover it up. They also learned about the curvature of the lines on the balloon to make it appear that the balloon has a round shape, starting narrow at the top then widening as it followed the curvature of the balloon and then narrowing again at the base of the balloon. They also learned about proportion, starting with the basket and then drawing the correct proportion for the balloon to appear realistic as well as fit within their canvas. They did a great job!”
Research demonstrates that participating in arts activities improves the health and quality of life of older people.
~ Lourdes Torres, Program Director
DR. JONATHAN SCHOOLER is a Professor and principal investigator of the META lab at the University of California, Santa Barbara. His research focuses on consciousness, creativity, problem-solving, and decision-making. On the META lab, Dr. Schooler notes: “My lab’s research takes a ‘big picture’ perspective in attempting to understand the nature of mental life and, in particular, consciousness. Combining empirical, philosophical, and contemplative traditions, we address broad questions that cross traditional disciplinary boundaries. Some of the topics and associated questions that intrigue us include: Mind-wandering: How does the stream of consciousness flow between the external world and internal thoughts and feelings? Mindfulness: Are there ways of enhancing our capacity to remain focused in the present moment? Creativity: What processes contribute to creative discoveries, and how can we enhance them? We are also interested in broader issues and associated questions regarding the frontiers of science.”
DENICE THOMAN has instructed thousands of citizens on how to be prepared for an emergency event, be it natural phenomenon or man-made, for over 30 years. Her instructional skills have been provided to many organizations and congregations including serving the City of Long Beach as the CERT program’s Director of Education, and the greater Long Beach area Latter Day Saints church as Stake Preparedness Director. Denice has recently retired as the National Coordinator of Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) and related programs for an major international corporation. Concurrently, she’s a certified CPR, AED (Automated External Defibrillator), and First Aid instructor. She has volunteered her instructional services to those in need. Denice’s motto is: “The time to prepare has passed when the emergency arrives.” Learn more about CERT in Los Angeles 
