The museum’s new name memorializes Jacqueline Epsten, who died last August, and was a passionate, influential voice in the museum’s continuous creative advancement. One of the most innovative ways that the Epsten Gallery has served its community is through its ARTicipation curriculum, an art therapy program in which the gallery is transformed into a community art studio. Beginning in 2012, ARTicipation: Pop Up Studio has been not only tremendously popular with visitors but also very enlightened in its therapeutic impact with regard to the aging process. According to Marcus Cain, executive director of the Epsten Gallery, the idea for ARTicipation originated with a conversation he had with Jacqueline Epsten five years ago, when Espten was recovering from knee surgery. “Jacqueline was using a physical therapy program created for dancers and choreographers,” says Cain. “She felt that the therapy was more beneficial to her because there was an artistic component to the movements that made the strain less stressful. A light bulb went off in my head, because I was in the process of developing a program to target Village Shalom residents who were not being reached by traditional program activities.” Cain developed the program, working with art therapist Sherri Jacobs, who continues to play an important role, not only working with Village Shalom residents, but also facilitating a partnership with the Kansas Art Therapy Association. The pilot stage of ARTicipation: Pop Up Studio, which launched in January 2012, was very successful, and reached about 520 engaged participants both inside and outside of Village Shalom. In the second phase of ARTicipation, in 2013, that number skyrocketed. It featured 1,864 participants, and inspired organizations throughout the Kansas
City area to seek assistance from the Epsten Gallery to develop ARTicipation programs to serve the needs of their own audiences. Later that year, The National Jewish Daily Forward published an article that identified ARTicipation as one of seven influential programs for the aging. The ARTicipation workshops are very dynamic and exciting, and reach a large number of people at a time. However, Cain noticed that some participants could clearly benefit from a deeper level of art therapy. In late 2012, the gallery hired an art therapist to conduct one-on-one sessions with residents throughout the Village Shalom community. Seeing the impact that these workshops and one-on-one sessions can have on the participants is very special to Cain. An experience during his teenage years led him toward art therapy, and that session not only helped him heal, but also led him to become an artist. “In that art therapy session, I realized the potential of art to serve as a powerful means of communication and self-expression,” says Cain. Cain considers his work with the Epsten Gallery to be the ideal opportunity to apply his artistic background and creative problem-solving skills to serve people in need. That the artwork created through these therapy sessions is so unique and engaging to visitors is even more gratifying. This year, the Epsten Gallery’s beautiful renovation was unveiled in its re-launch in February, with the first exhibition of the year, ARTicipation: Pop Up Studio 2014, the third installation of this remarkable program. It features works of art created by Village Shalom residents, and a series of public and private workshops at the gallery, and at sites throughout the community. ARTicipation: Pop Up Studio 2014 runs through March 23 at Village Shalom at 123rd St and Nall in Leawood. Visit KCJMCA.org for more information.