Stumptown Studio brings art to veterans

Clarence Wright rarely looked up as he deftly dabbed paint on a canvas bag, creating a field of flowers. Later, he smoothed grout into crevices between pieces of glass, revealing another floral theme on a mosaic garden steppingstone. 

A resident of the Montana Veterans Home in Columbia Falls, Wright drew the design for the stone from memories of his life on his farm in Great Falls.

“We had flowers all over the place — over 350 day lilies,” he said. “We entered some in the state fair.”

Looking at his and the other beautiful stones in the activities room, most people might assume he and the others participating in the project were accomplished artists.

But Sue Lawrence said most protested that they couldn’t do art when she and other artists from Stumptown Art Studio began working with them.

“A lot of them said, ‘I can’t see or my fingers don’t work well,’” Lawrence said.

Those words cue Lawrence to sit down and start asking questions such as “What colors do you like?” Before long, she has her students engaged in first simple and then more complex art drawn from their unique interests, pastimes or beautiful memories.

Part of Stumptown Art Studio’s “Art from the Heart,” this project was made possible by a grant from Plum Creek Timber Co. It targets artistically under-served populations in the Flathead Valley with classes.

“With the veterans home under scrutiny, funds like these may be critical to continue projects like this,” Lawrence said.

Along with the veterans home, the project provides group classes to Special Friends Advocacy, Flathead Youth Home and Flathead Industries as well as private classes to people with developmental disabilities.

“We’re hoping to expand — it’s been a great program,” Lawrence said. “I’m just starting to develop senior programs.”

At the veterans home, she works with elderly people with many physical limitations as well as some with memory loss. Lawrence, a stained-glass artist, said a variety of art projects allows everyone to succeed at one or more.

“If you can’t see well, you can weave because you do that by feel,” she said. “We also did papier mache — they loved that. We just do all aspects of art.”

Along with entertainment, projects provide veterans enjoyable activities that enhance dexterity, hand/eye coordination and decision making. The group environment with a shared interest helps them rediscover social skills.

“Social skills are big,” Lawrence said. “I’ve seen some who are very quiet. Then they start talking about their art and they just open up.”

She said the steppingstone project proved a big hit. Along with the fun of creating them, the 10 stones are destined for a courtyard of a 50-bed unit at the home where residents and guests may enjoy them.

To get her students started, Lawrence issued a homework assignment to create a design to apply to the top of the precast concrete stones.

“I gave them a couple of ideas,” she said. “Every one was different.”

From flowers to wildlife to an American flag, the designs provided the launching point for the multi-step project: Transferring the sketch, color selection, glass selection, adhesion and grouting, then sealing.

From stained glass art work, Lawrence had her own stash of pieces of glass plus donations of glass. As a nonprofit corporation, Stumptown Art Studio welcomes donations of materials and cash to expand projects such as “Art from the Heart.”

Although a staff member of the studio, Lawrence volunteered her time for the veterans home project. Her donation and those of others helped keep the home’s contribution to just $10 per student.

As word got around the home about the fun of making the mosaic pieces, more residents showed up for other classes. Lawrence was excited to find that even the Alzheimer patients got fully engaged in making their stones.

“I was so impressed that they were able to remember what they were working on,” she said.

The veterans spent four classes bringing their vision to fruition as works of art. Lawrence said they got a real kick out of making something of lasting value and enjoyment for the veterans home.

“My guys and lady have just done a fabulous job on their steppingstones,” she said. “I can’t say enough about the good work.”

People interested in donating to the program or having a project from “Art from the Heart” may get more information by calling Stumptown Art Studio at 862-5929.

Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by e-mail at cchase@dailyinterlake.com .