Arts Academy
Live Creatively
The Hattie Ide Chaffee Arts Academy, an artistic, intergenerational community where elderhood is valued, supported and celebrated, provides an environment that accentuates the positive impact that arts have on older adults who are aging in place. With initial funding from the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, the Hattie Ide Chaffee Arts Academy was established. This arts program offers experiential movement, drama, music and visual arts for seniors, staff, families, children, and community members, including medical students from Brown University.
Our workshops include all elements of a traditional dance class – warm-ups, dance combinations, improvisation, drama and performance opportunities as well as visual arts and music. This program has two goals:
- To improve the overall quality of life for residents in the Hattie Ide Chaffee Nursing Home through active engagement in the arts and
- To develop a model for similar programs in other nursing homes.
As our society ages and families become more dispersed, retirement communities, eldercare facilities, and nursing homes have become isolated enclaves of the elderly. This intergenerational program engages residents and their family members, staff, college students, community members, youth, and professional artists who join in the program on site. The benefits of our weekly performing arts classes for older participants have proven to be multifold- to address the physical, cognitive, and social/emotional aspects of the residents of Hattie Ide Chaffee Home. Research has shown significant physical improvements in coordination, strength, flexibility, balance, gait, posture, body awareness, and fluidity. Music and movement sequencing help develop cognitive strategies and enhance memory. In the area of creativity, self-expression and imagination are stimulated. Finally, a strong sense of community, belonging, enhanced morale, and confidence are formed through these workshops.
As future medical practitioners, experience of performance with an older population is rich with opportunities. First, it allows the Brown medical students to understand the lived experience of the population and to see them as people rather than a list of symptoms. They feel a shared humanity and a sense of connection greater than themselves. Second, it enhances empathy as it sees the other person more holistically. Third, dance is a nonverbal form of communication and a natural form of storytelling. As such, it hones observational skills by relying on sight and movement rather than speech to communicate. Finally, the opportunity to engage in an artistic endeavor encourages the students to engage more with art and to use art as a form of self-care which ultimately reduces physician burnout.
Hattie Ide Chaffee Home is a space designated specifically as an art and playmaking space. This could serve as a model for other similar facilities to attract family and community members to engage more with the residents. The designated art space positively impacts the residents by reinforcing their identities as artists, not residents or patients. This enhances their self-confidence as well as their sense of agency. The arts program is an open environment which welcomes caregivers, family, and community members. Research has clearly demonstrated the negative emotional and physical consequences of caregiving including social isolation. These workshops offer an opportunity to engage in a physical, social, and artistic activity while also serving to improve the relationship with their family member, patient, or client.
Our most important goal, when utilizing these creative arts, is to maximize the quality of the residents’ lives. We use the techniques of our profession to enhance self-esteem and fulfillment among groups of older adults. As artists, we enjoy the challenge of inspiring enthusiastic participation and self-renewal. While offering a range of artistic activities and techniques to the elderly, we observe humor and playfulness, creativity and uniqueness, individuality, and independent spirit. Increased communication and socialization are two of the most important results from the use of visual arts, spontaneous drama, storytelling, dance/movement, and music. Our mission is to demonstrate to the families of the residents and our neighboring communities that despite the limitations of aging, the participants are still capable of valuable creative expression. This serves to validate them as individuals and provide hope for their families and for all of those who are looking forward to growing older.
Artists-In-Residence
Julie Adams Strandberg
Julie Adams Strandberg is a dancer, performer, choreographer, educator, and historian. She develops and designs materials and programs that provide broad access to dance as an art form to all persons: pre-professional and professional dancers; students and youth in grades K-university; the aging; and neurodiverse populations – including people with Parkinson’s disease, those on the autism spectrum and others with cognitive and physical challenges.
She is currently the Advisor for Arts Programming; Community Engagement; and Sustainability Initiatives for the Hattie Ide Chaffee Arts Academy.
Julie is distinguished senior lecturer emerita at Brown University, founding director of dance in the University’s Department of Theatre Arts and Performance Studies and holds a BA from Cornell University and an MS from Bank Street College of Education.
When she isn’t dancing, she enjoys family adventures with her husband Josiah, daughters Laura and Marie, son-in-law William, and grandsons Andrew and Jackson.
To Find Out More About Julie Adams Strandberg:
- Dancing Legacy
- Artists and Scientists as Partners (ASaP)
- The Miracle Project – New England
- DAPpers (Dance For All People)
Rachel Balaban
Rachel Balaban is committed to helping people access their vitality and health through movement and to making dance accessible to all populations. She is Teaching Associate and inaugural Artist in Residence (AiR) at the Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University, where she plays a pivotal role in supporting the well-being and personal/professional development of medical students, residents, fellows, and other learners. Through a diverse range of art-based initiatives, she works collaboratively with the Chief Well-Being Officer and other stakeholders to help the medical school community flourish.
Ms. Balaban is the founder of Dance for All People (DAPpers), a multigenerational dance program designed for people with movement challenges and aging bodies, and her DAPpers classes serve as a site placement for the Medical School’s clinical elective Introduction to Lifestyle Medicine, as well as a site for first-year medical students service learning. Her focus is to underscore the importance of combining an intergenerational framework with art to empower older adults, caregivers, and young students as they build meaningful connections with each other.
Ms. Balaban’s work in arts and health began with her training as an instructor in Dance for PD (Parkinson’s disease) in 2009; she became certified in 2015. In 2013, as adjunct lecturer at Brown University, she co-founded Artists and Scientists as Partners (ASaP) and co-led for 10 years a two-semester undergraduate course sequence called Arts & Health: Theory and Arts & Health: Practice. The program focused on the impact of art on people with neurological disorders, specifically Parkinson’s disease and those on the autism spectrum.
To Find Out More About Rachel Balaban:
Barry Marshall
Barry Marshall is an actor, director, and educator. From 1984-2014 he taught drama and theater at Moses Brown, a K-12 private Quaker school in Providence, RI. Upon retirement from Moses Brown, Barry began working in elder communities. He created the Authentic Voices of Elders Project which gathers the essential stories of elders and makes them into poems, narratives, songs and scripts and performs them for the elders, staff, friends, and families of the elder communities.
With W.E.R. LaFarge, of the Popular Theater of Rhode Island, Barry helped create the Cambodian American Theater Project, which devised plays that told the stories and experience of the Cambodian genocide and diaspora, through the words and actions of RI’s own Cambodian Refugee community.
At present, Barry is part of a team of performing artists at Hattie Ide Chaffee Nursing Home whose aim is to enliven, enrich and reveal the dignity of elders using dance, music, and drama, and to develop intergenerational experiences using the performing arts.
Barry has a B.A in English from the University of Illinois at Champaign and an MFA in Acting/Directing from the Yale Drama School.
When he’s not with Hattie Ide Chafee Elders and staff, Barry loves to walk—in solitude, with friends, and with his wife and son. When he travels, he loves to experience the history of places and people. He likes to cook and taste, read, and write (especially poems), watch tv, and listen to the stories and music of people and nature.
To find out more about Barry Marshall and his work:
Cathren Housley
Cathren Housley is an award-winning, multidisciplinary artist specializing in large scale community collaborative installations whose professional career spans fifty years. She uses visual art, film, oral histories, and creative writing to conceive and execute her installations.
As a grant funded teaching artist, Cathren has partnered with the Community Libraries of Providence since 2012, developing and implementing arts and literacy workshops for youths K through 12. In 2022 she built The Wall of Hope, in a community collaboration with young artists at Smith Hill Library which remains as a permanent installation in the main entrance hall.
Beginning her career as an illustrator and copy writer for Paramount Greeting Cards in Pawtucket, RI, she brought model making skills to Cathedral Art Metal in Providence from 1995 to 2003, developing bestselling product lines that reached a global market. Cathren’s focus turned to large-scale community collaborative art while developing family workshops for the RISD Museum from 2004 to 2007. Working with The Peace Flag Project from 2014 to 2018, she designed and constructed the Peace Flag Trilogy, a series of wall sized installations which merged art from over 900 individuals into a collective statement of peace. Contributors included then Governor Gina Raimondo, immigrant refugees, local artists, Native Americans, students, and members of the homeless community.
Her current objectives are to use collaborative art to provide new opportunities for growth within the community and to design and facilitate adult and youth workshop programs for creative learning. She is an artist in residence at the Hattie Ide Chaffee Nursing Home in East Providence where she applies her creative skills to the expanding field of Arts and Health.
Cathren’s second home is in Taoyuan, Taiwan where she is known only as Granny and her time is spent making art with her granddaughter Oona and watching her grandson Jackson’s baseball tournaments.
To learn more about Cathren Housley, visit
Mary Pierce
Mary Pierce, Singer/Songwriter of Celtic/Folk music shares her original music through her albums, Miles Away (2011), Dublin Bay (2012), Hideaway (2020) and Memory Road (2022). Her music is “inspired by the beauty of nature, Ireland’s history, and the human spirit that shines in all of us and is what connects us all. She leaves each song with an openness that allows love to enter the heart. It is transformative.“
Mary’s creative classes include receptive and interactive music, which brings memories and emotions together in a beautiful way. The program develops a connection that can build cognitive learning and assist in emotional well-being. For the past 4 years, Mary has also shared her music and interacted with severely wounded Veterans at the Travis Mills Foundation Rehabilitation center, located in Rome, Maine. Through her music and the rehabilitative services available at the Travis Mills Foundation she helped them through the challenges they face each day.
Mary believes in the restorative power of music and has seen the positive impact it has made on seniors, Veterans, and their families. Mary’s passion for writing can be heard throughout her music, which brings a journey of hope, renewed love, and gratitude. In 2022, she was the recipient of the Singer/Songwriter Award from WICN Folk Revival Radio and the Portsmouth Maritime Folk Festival.
To listen to Mary’s music, please click on the links below:
Mariah Stump, MD, MPH
Dr. Mariah Stump exemplifies the essence of humanism in medicine through her compassionate care and dedication to teaching. A practicing primary care physician and educator at the Warren Alpert Medical School, Dr. Stump also supervises residents at Miriam Hospital’s Fain Primary Care Clinic. She is a national leader in narrative medicine, using it as a tool to foster empathy and understanding in healthcare. Dr. Stump has co-taught a prominent workshop on narrative medicine at the American College of Physicians’ Annual Meeting three years in a row and leads a monthly national workshop on the subject for fellow physicians.
Her contributions to medical education include directing a Humanism in Medicine elective for Brown medical students as well as being the course director for the Introduction to Lifestyle Medicine course and the Scholarly Concentration Director for the medical school. She is board certified in internal medicine, integrative medicine and lifestyle medicine and is a medical acupuncturist. In her patient care, she is dedicated to holistic, patient-centered care. For her outstanding contributions, Dr. Stump is a deserving recipient of the Rhode Island Medical Society’s Humanism in Medicine Award in 2024.
Dr. Stump’s bio and research interests can be viewed here:
Mariah H. Stump, MD, MPH, FACP, DipABLM, ABOIM | Brown University Health
Heather Fraga
With a heart full of compassion, Heather Fraga has tenderly served as Activity Director at the Hattie Ide Chaffee Nursing Home in Riverside, RI since 1998. Throughout her caring 26-year journey, she has created programs that touch residents’ lives – gently nurturing their mind, body, and soul. As a program director, Heather crafts a warm schedule of activities that encourages creative expression and fosters meaningful connections. She guides residents through artistic experiences including dance, drama, music, and visual arts, while also hosting cozy game gatherings, relaxing movie nights, intimate book discussions, and peaceful gardening sessions. With deep understanding, she ensures residents’ spiritual needs are embraced and works hand-in-hand with caregivers to develop activities that complement each person’s unique care plan.
Heather brings both a personal touch and careful attention to detail in her role. She connects warmly with residents of all ability levels, ensuring everyone feels safe and included while keeping thoughtful documentation of assessments and care plans. She manages recreational spaces and supplies, reaches out to families, plans special events, arranges enjoyable community outings, and maintains a friendly social media presence. With care, she transforms the environment into a true home through seasonal decorations that celebrate holidays and residents’ special moments.
Her compassionate approach is supported by Activity Director Certification through the Modular Education Program for Activity Professionals and Certified Nursing Assistant licensure through the Hospital Association of RI. She has embraced continued learning through the Alzheimer’s Association and various supportive healthcare programs. Heather has shared her guidance as a Rhode Island Health Care Association-Activity Directors Association Board Member (2014-2020) and now nurtures growth as co-president of the Hattie Ide Chaffee Garden Club, a chapter of the RI Federation of Garden Clubs.
Beyond her role as Director of Life Enrichment, Heather expresses her creativity as a designer and entrepreneur. She owns, operates, and welcomes clients to Hello Gorgeous Lash Shop, maintains a boutique home-based baking business, and shares her artistic vision in New England flower shows as a floral designer. Her blossoming creative talents and caring spirit enrich the thoughtful programs she creates for residents.
Affiliate Arts Organization
Dancing Legacy shares the transformative power of dance through impactful experiences that reach across boundaries. These experiences pass on great dance to new generations of audiences and performers. Dancing Legacy has grown out of the life’s work of dance icons and collaborating sisters, Carolyn Adams and Julie Adams Strandberg, who recognize and honor dance as one of our nation’s greatest cultural assets.
Since the early 1960s, Adams and Strandberg have played active and innovative roles in the dance field. Their ongoing research and groundbreaking pedagogy have transformed lives and an art form.
Dancing Legacy’s keystone resource, the Repertory Etude, allows students, dancers, and the general public to have access to modern dance masterpieces for learning, performing, and viewing.
Repertory Etudes offer people, from all walks of life, the opportunity to explore, discuss, and appreciate their own personal connection to American dance as well as its cultural relevance.
To Find Out More About Dancing Legacy:
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