Kristin Beck’s personal experience of caring for her father, who was diagnosed with dementia in 2019, was what inspired the artist to create Before I Forget. “Alzheimer’s touches everyone,” says Kristin Beck, curator and solo artist of Before I Forget, on view at the North Regional/Broward College Library in Coconut Creek through Friday, Nov. 29.
Beck, a native Floridian, is from Miami and currently lives in Coconut Creek. She has appeared in 50 art exhibits and works as a graphic designer at the Cultural Council of Palm Beach. Since 2022, she has been a caregiver for her father, who was a proud Coast Guard veteran and Ohio businessman and is the grandfather of three. He was diagnosed with dementia in 2019.
While caring for her dad, Beck was inspired to create an exhibition that explored the themes of memory loss and identity, to show others what dementia is like, and to help her cope as her father was becoming what he describes as a “shadow of his former self.”
“It was like a lightbulb in my head,” says Beck. “I asked myself, ‘How can the concepts of dementia, memory and identity be systematically shown in a way people can understand and be moved by it?’ I wanted to pull heartstrings and make people think. I wanted them to respond.”
In the past, Beck’s art was always done as a “one-off” about multiple subjects, she reveals. She says she was “consistently inconsistent” with her art projects. But for this exhibit, she knew she needed to go beyond what she had done before and deeply and thoroughly explore one very serious theme.
“My series visually represents impaired and declining cognitive functions,” says Beck. She shows reduced capacities and realizations of losing her sense of self, and she helped finance this exhibition with an Artist Support grant from the Broward Cultural Division.
Before I Forget resonated deeply with our visitors, transforming into more than just an art experience,” says Juliana Forero of Cooper City, the arts and culture manager at the Coral Springs Museum of Art, where the exhibition was on display from Aug. 1 through Oct. 5.
When the exhibition was at her museum, Forero says that guests would return after seeing Before I Forget. (They were) eager to introduce their loved ones to the personal connection they’ve felt. It was heartening to see how approachable and relatable the exhibition was, which turned into an experience that people were excited to share with one another,” says the Cooper City resident
In September, 40 people attended Beck’s “Art and the Brain” interactive class at the Coral Springs Museum of Art. Beck created the event with Lindsey Wuest, a science through art specialist who teaches how the brain works to kindergarten through fifth grade at A. D. Henderson School at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton.
Wuest, a Lighthouse Point resident, says, “We challenged the attendees to draw a neuron. There are billions of them sending electric and chemical signals through the brain. We showed how a single malfunction meant the link to other neurons was gone. This means loss of identity and confusion. The impact is huge.”
Wuest says that using the visual arts was the best way to get attendees to empathize with the struggles of people enduring memory loss. Recounting their own favorite earliest memories was the most direct way to involve them in the process of understanding how devastating it is to lose memories.
“I told the class my strongest memory was the smell of coconut oil. I taught in Hawaii and every time I smell that, it takes me right back. Everyone has something like that in their life. One person said it was how as a child, he petted his dog’s fur. Another said it was the sound of palm fronds rustling in the wind. We discussed how these crucial memories shape our identities,” says Wuest. “Then we imagined if this precious memory was no longer accessible. The emotions are gone.”
Wuest’s grandmother passed away from Alzheimer’s and dementia last December. “It was heartbreaking. She called me by my Mom’s name. She asked me over and over, ‘When are we going to dinner?’ She used to love family dinner every Sunday night and that was the one memory she held on to,” says Wuest.
Beck describes her own personal experiences in dealing with her father’s illness.
“He used to have a big, deep-belly laugh. I’m not sure what makes him laugh, it’s not prepared jokes. When I ask, ‘How do you feel today?’ he would answer, ‘With my hands.’ Now he just wiggles his fingers,” says Beck, who says that he told her, ‘I used to have purpose,’ which she uses as part of the exhibition.
Beck reached out to the Alzheimer’s Association Southeast Florida Chapter and was put in touch with Joe Baldelomar, a neuropsychologist and the care and support program director for the Alzheimer’s Association Southeast Florida Chapter.
“When Kristin reached out about her project, I thought, wow—this is something people need to be aware of,” says Baldelomar. “Not only does her Memory Quilt provide the concept of capturing a memory on fabric—but your brain also builds that memory, meaning we build connections within ourselves, and it keeps our brains healthy.”
The Memory Quilt was from an earlier project, a community quilt program, coinciding with the Alzheimer’s Association’s “The Longest Day.” Last May and June, participants wrote memories on fabric scraps or on a favorite T-shirt. The finished Memory Quilt is displayed in the exhibition.
IF YOU GO
WHAT: Before I Forget
WHERE: North Regional/Broward College Library, 1100 Coconut Creek Blvd. 2nd floor, Coconut Creek
WHEN: On view from Tuesday, Oct. 8 through Friday, Nov. 29 during regular library hours.
TICKETS: Free
INFORMATION: (954) 201-2600 or www.broward.org/library
This story was produced by Broward Arts Journalism Alliance (BAJA), an independent journalism program of the Broward County Cultural Division. Visit ArtsCalendar.com for more stories about the arts in South Florida.
