Painting in Twilight: An Artist’s Escape from Alzheimer’s

While victims of Alzheimer’s disease and other related dementias are losing their memories and ability to communicate, art can be their escape. “Art can often be a window to bypass the constrictions of dementia, says UAB geriatrician Andrew Duxbury, M.D. “Their brains may be damaged, but the qualities present in children that allow them to express themselves are still there. It’s a way for them to express what they’re thinking and feeling.“ This was true for Lester Potts, who began succumbing to Alzheimer’s disease at age 70. Art allowed him to express himself after he lost the ability to communicate with words, and his paintings and drawings where often images from his childhood on the Alabama Gulf Coast. Learn Lester’s story and view his paintings in this audio slideshow.