Hilgos Foundation
The Hilgos Foundation is a nonprofit organization that supports the ongoing process of artistic creation for people who have different forms of memory impairment such as Alzheimer's disease. Background The Hilgos Foundation was founded by Berna Huebner in 1999. Huebner enlisted art students to work with her mother Hilda (Hilgos) Gorenstein who had Alzheimer's disease. The use of art opened a dialogue of communication that had been closed for years. In memory of her mother, Huebner founded the Hilgos Foundation which provides grants to art students who work with Alzheimer's patients. Students in the Hilgos project, in which "Hilgos scholars" participate each academic year, have served hundreds of people with Alzheimer's. Documentary film and book To further raise visibility of the arts and Alzheimer's, the Hilgos Foundation co-produced an international documentary film, I Remember Better When I Paint, narrated by Olivia de Havilland. The film, co-directed by Huebner and filmmaker Eric Ellena, was inspired by the words of Hilgos who in the midst of Alzheimer's said "I remember better when I paint." The documentary shows how the creative arts can help improve quality of life for Alzheimer's patients not only through creation and performance of art and music but also