Chandler Museum’s exhibit “Portraits of Dementia” will be displayed from Tuesday, Sept. 3 through Sunday, Oct. 6, according to a news release.

More than 50 million people are living with dementia globally. In the U.S., one in three seniors suffers with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia at the time of their death. Yet despite the millions of individuals and families affected, dementia is often a taboo subject with limited public awareness or discourse.

“Portraits of Dementia” destigmatizes those living with dementia through moving portraits and stories of lives well lived.

Artist Joe Wallace has been a portrait photographer and storyteller for 20 years. Like many, Wallace has a deeply personal connection with dementia. His maternal grandfather and hero, Joe Jenkins, had Alzheimer’s. His maternal grandmother had vascular dementia.

In recent years, his mother has begun her journey with the disease. Wallace was frustrated by the common, one-dimensional narrative of dementia—futility, despair and loss.

 Wallace feels strongly that to give the audience courage to act in ways large and small, you must show the whole story.

Through his photographs and storytelling, Wallace shows not only the fear, loss, and despair, but also the love, connection, dignity and powerful humanity that always remain — in the subjects, in the care-partners, and in the families and communities. He feels that's the only path to evolve the narrative and have a positive social change.

A diagnosis can become a mechanism for segregating those affected from society, making it easy to see only the label instead of the individual. 

Portraits of Dementia will be on view at the Chandler Museum, 300 S. Chandler Village Drive, near the Chandler Fashion Center mall. It is open Tuesday-Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday 1-5 p.m. and closed on Mondays. Admission is free. 

Find more information on the exhibitions and programming online at chandlermuseum.org or by calling 480-782-2717.4

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