by

Jess Kok – Senior Services Community Liaison

Bill Gramley took “a little art” during his college years but a career in the ministry led him overseas and away from his artistic endeavors.  The call of creativity brought him back to pastels in the early 1990s, after he retired and was back on U.S. soil.  He began with a small box of chalk, leftover from his earlier life, and set out to learn more about art and how to cultivate his gift with pastels.  Over the next 25 to 30 years Bill became well known in Forsyth County as an artist.  One day he received a call asking him to donate a few of his pastels to be sold to raise funds to help feed homebound seniors in Forsyth County.  The call came from Senior Services.  He agreed and has participated in the annual Art Show & Sale Benefiting Meals-on-Wheels ever since.

Always willing to help more, Bill recently volunteered to become an in-home artist instructor with the Connections program at Senior Services.  He recognizes that many of the people receiving Meals-on-Wheels and Home Care are very isolated and that visits with them brighten up their days. “I think the Connections program helps make them a more complete person.  This enriches an area of their life, and that’s what we want for all people—to grow, to learn and develop some skill that they may not realize they have.”

He is currently working with a homebound participant who liked to draw when she was younger but had never had any formal training.  Their first lesson began with a small drawing on a 5”x 7” piece of paper. When the drawing was complete, Bill placed it in a frame and encouraged his pupil to keep it somewhere that her friends and family would be able to see the results.  Over the next few months the two of them created more art and set the new pieces out for display.  Bill says there is satisfaction for him in seeing her blossom and in drawing out the abilities in someone else that they didn’t think they had anymore. “Connecting through art helps the person who goes out on the visit to realize that other people may live differently, but they have just as much potential as any human being,” he said.

Bill says of the woman he has been working with for several months, “I’ve gotten to know a little bit about her life after visiting her and working with her on the chalks.  I’ve seen her be very shy and hesitant about her ability, but when she gets a picture done, I’ve seen her feel pretty good about it. Then she gets commended by her family. ‘Oh, we didn’t know you were an artist!’ they say.”

The thing that Bill enjoys most is the sense of self-confidence he sees growing when they work on a picture. “This is a real kind of ministry, to uplift people,” says Bill.  “It shows that you can communicate with people, you can teach and help them to learn.  It’s not just doing my own thing at home quietly; it’s sharing skills that they can develop too.”

Connections is a volunteer program that is part of our Aging with Purpose initiative. It organizes  home, phone, and pet visits as well as in-home instruction in areas of interest, such as art to isolated seniors being served in Senior Services programs.  These engagement opportunities foster connectedness. Interviews recording personal histories put program participants in touch with their pasts; volunteer companionship links them with the present; and the introduction of new people and interests into their lives gives them a future to which they can look forward.  Connections is built on the idea that aging is a period of personal growth, not simply one of physical decline.  And it turns out that the area of the arts is ideal for inclusion in the Connections program, since studies have shown that involvement with the arts can significantly improve the health and well-being of older adults.

Find out how to volunteer with Connections.