Christina Muscatello is the Co-Founder and Director of the Memory Maker Project based in Binghamton, NY. MMP is an arts, culture and advocacy program for people experiencing memory loss and their loved ones. When I learned about this organization, I sent Christina an e-mail out of the blue asking what I could do to be a part of her work, as I had done my college undergraduate thesis on the relationship beyond memory and spent several years researching and writing about these topics. By this time, I'd written a thesis paper and organized a book project that involved over 40 artists of different mediums to interact with a piece of writing written by my grandmother, who at the time was experiencing dementia. I was lucky that Christina called me back and offered me a place as her first artist-in-residence in September 2019. We worked together for many months and I cannot even begin to explain how much I learned from working with her and how much it humbled me as an artist and human. This is one of many conversations, but I originally interviewed her for my blog project, No Hard Feelings in 2019, which you can check out here. In this episode we chat about what it means to be a creative aging specialist and founder, the I'm Still Here Foundation, balanced business models, aging in place, and paying attention to care partners as much as the ones being cared for. As always, it's about the community and it's about the village. For me, it's sharing these kinds of projects that makes this podcast worthwhile. You can listen to Christina's podcast project, The Memory Maker Radio Hour here.
