This is a powerful exhibit. It hit home with me as my mom was in a nursing home for a brief time rehabbing from a hospital visit. She was taken care of just fine, but I know others are not.  I left the exhibit feeling sad and angry that this is an unfortunate reality. Thank you for sharing this with the community.

Thank you for your comment, Luanne. This exhibit made me wonder why our society’s caregivers seem so much more patient and intuitive with infants and toddlers in daycare than they do with the equally fragile, no longer verbal elderly adults in health care facilities. Our needs at the start of life and the end of life are almost identical and require the assistance of others. Why one is nurtured while the other is often neglected is beyond my understanding.

What a powerful exhibit. My mom passed away only a year ago and was in a nursing home for 11 months.  She got good care but I know how humiliating is was for her to rely on aides to take care of her.  The whole thing was just more than my heart could handle but it still was one of the most outstanding art exhibits I have ever been to.

Thanks so much for sharing your reaction to this exhibit. I’ve had several conversations today with visitors who have similar reactions and stories. It’s clearly making an impact on people. Just yesterday we got a call from a Washburn University Nursing School professor to schedule a tour for her classes. She wants them to read the poetry and respond to the exhibit as a project. The School of Social Work expressed interest in bringing students by as well. If you can think of anyone who might benefit from this exhibit, we’d be thrilled to have you send them our way. Especially anyone working in the health care profession.

What a powerful exhibit! Viewing this show should be required for all healthcare workers, especially those individuals who work with our geriatric population - all longterm care workers!

Thank you for coming in to see Henri’s work and for taking the time to respond. I agree completely. My father was a geriatric psychiatrist for about five years and he believed in treating his patients like the adults they were, even if they could no longer speak, feed themselves, bathe or participate in social activities. It taught me early on to deeply respect and care for our aging population. I hope this show makes an impact on anyone who feels our seniors are no longer worth our concern or attention. Again, much appreciated commentary. Thank you.

Ask anybody who ever worked with this family how many nursing homes they were kicked out of before this wondeful place finally said that they do not punish the resident or kick them because the family is crazy. Ask the ombudsman and the state surveyors how many unwarranted complaints (over 60) were called in by this family and found to be totally false and on the boarder of malicious. The care this woman received was nothing short of excellent. If they thought she was being treated so badly, why did they leave her there for years, instead of taking her home with them? Because her care was excellent, that’s why. My husband was in this facility for many year, and I can’t thank them enough for the GREAT care he received. He loved them all. I can’t tell you how many times I stood at my husband’s bedside while this family made unfounded and unfair accusations towards this facility. There ARE people who are treated poorly by nursing facilities, but she was NOT one of them, and this is a GREAT facility. Take this exhibit with a grain of salt. I MUST withhold my name, because I am just plain scared of this family.

Thank you first of all for reading and commenting on this article! I really appreciate you taking time to visit our website.

We had many visitors ask where Henri’s mother was living, but that information was never shared with us (Sabatini Gallery staff), nor was it included with any artwork or literature associated with the exhibit (to the best of my knowledge). When asked, I believe the response from the artist was that she wanted to keep those details confidential.