Reg Lenna Memory Cafe program receives Ralph C. Wilson Foundation funding
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The Reg Lenna Center for The Arts will continue its Memory Café program with support from the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation Legacy Fund for Caregivers.
The funding is administered by the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo.
Memory cafés are accepting and welcoming environments to engage people living with any stage of dementia (diagnosed or not) in enjoyable, non-clinical interventions designed to enhance the quality of life for them and their care partners.
Offered on the second Tuesday of each month at noon, the Reg Lenna Center for the Arts' Memory Cafés feature musicians, visual and other performing artists, and crafts people engaging participants through their art. Additionally, there is a light lunch for all who attend. Memory Café is offered free of charge.
Reg Lenna Center for The Arts’ participation in the program began in 2024 with Hillary Meyer, Reg Lenna Center for the Arts executive director, completing training in Memory Café implementation with a cohort of other non-profit leaders in the Western New York region. After staff training, the center began offering the program in February of 2025.
The first year and a half of Memory Cafés at The Reg featured live music from Gavin Paterniti, Bill Ward, John Cross, Randy Graham, Karen Suber, and Jamestown Harmony Express; dance, movement and theater from Sukanya Burman Dance, Andrea Dimaio, Madness Most Discreet and Lipps Poppin Productions; visual art from Deb Eck, Sarah Brown-Millspaw, Leslie Calimeri, and Joe Grice; and flower arrangements from Wild Blossom Hollow and Brigiotta’s.
Upcoming cafés include upcycled fall crafting with Heather Felton on Oct. 13, art with Sarah Brown-Millspaw on Nov. 10, and holiday music with Karen Suber on Dec. 8.
Patrons are asked to register for the Reg Lenna Memory Café ahead of time by emailing rsvp@reglenna.com or calling the Reg Lenna Center for the Arts Box Office at 716-484-7070 with the names and number of attendees. A suggested donation of one's choosing would support the Reg Lenna Memory Café, payable by cash, check and credit card. Enter the building through the Reg Lenna awning entrance at 108 E. Third St., next to Art Cloth+Craft. The Media Arts Studio is elevator-accessible.