SEPTEMBER 3, 2009 ISSUE
Virtual Art Organization Helps People With Brain Disorders
Mneme was a Greek goddess and the muse of memory. Her name is pronounced “Nemma” and she may have acted as a personal muse to Noell Hammer when she was inspired to start a virtual organization to help people who have Alzheimers, autism and other brain disorders. Employing MnemeTherapy in combination with Art Without Boundaries, Hammer has discovered a way for children, teenagers and adults who suffer from brain disorders to heal and express themselves. While working as the executive director at a small Alzheimer’s Association chapter in 2000, Hammer discovered MnemeTherapy.
“I started painting with Alzheimer’s patients for a fundraiser and we were all surprised when we began to see dramatic, immediate improvements,” said Hammer. “When the chapter territory was assigned to a larger chapter, the program dropped and our chapter closed, I started using it as a private practice in December of 2005, incorporated Art Without Boundaries Foundation to train artists in the process: I called it MnemeTherapy—from the Greek goddess of memory and mother of the muse.”
Art Without Boundaries is the virtual organization Hammer founded that consists of an online auction to raise funds for Alzheimer and autistic patients. The auction runs the first 10 days of each month and people can donate items and bid on them as well.
“Instead of spending all of my time fundraising to keep the doors open, we’ve opted to not have a paid staff and office space,” explained Hammer. “Everything that needs to be done is done by volunteers—including me—or by an independent contractor, like our accounting.”
Though Hammer holds the trademark of Art Without Boundaries and MnemeTherapy plus the process of MnemeTherapy, Art Without Boundaries contracts with Hammer’s company, MnemeCorp to recruit and train artists to fulfill their mission. Funds received by Art Without Boundaries Foundation are used to pay the low monthly expenses incurred by the organization—less than $100 per month—or to provide matching grants for artists to open an Art Without Boundaries chapter. Comprised of a consortium of visual artists, their mission is to improve the quality of life for individuals with autism, Alzheimer’s Disease and other related disorders of the brain by promoting MnemeTherapy.
“To accomplish that we recruit, train, certify and license artists to become Mneme Therapists,” said Hammer. “The Art Without Boundaries Foundation provides matching grants for artists to open Art Without Boundary chapters.”
Debra LaBar, a CMT (Certified MnemeTherapist) from Asheville, has opened the first chapter for Western North Carolina, serving the High Country, though more chapters—all virtual—are needed. The goal of the organization is to provide a rewarding experience for the patients. Documented testimonies have shown Mneme to significantly improve verbal skills, mobility, combativeness, spatial acuity and understanding instructions in clients with brain disorders.
To clarify MnemeTherapy, Hammer differentiates the process from that of art therapy, describing the latter as a psychological process licensed by the state; MnemeTherapy uses everyday pleasures such as singing, painting, movement and storytelling in unique combinations in order to stimulate dramatic changes in the brain.
For more information, to form a team, register to bid, obtain hard to find collectibles, fantasy adventures, dream vacations and more, or to open a chapter of Art Without Boundaries, click to www.artwithoutboundaries.org.
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