Local 5K race donates $2,000 to the UIS-SIU Medicine co-hosted Art Express class

The Springfield-based Fat Ass 5K & Street Party for Charity has donated $2,000 to the Art Express class co-hosted by the University of Illinois Springfield and the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine.

The Art Express class, which began in 2012, helps individuals with memory loss and their care partners express their creativity through art projects. The class is held every Wednesday afternoon in the Banner Bunch room at Hope Presbyterian Church, located at 2211 Wabash Ave. in Springfield.

The money donated by the Fat Ass 5K will be used to cover the cost of art supplies and to help reimburse Hope Presbyterian Church for coffee supplies and materials purchased to hang the participant’s art.

Art Express is led by Karen Lee, UIS clinical instructor of Human Development Counseling, and Maggie Schaver of the SIU Medicine Center for Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders. Graduate students from the UIS Human Development Counseling Program, community and church volunteers also assist with the class.

Persons with memory loss are referred to the Art Express class through the SIU Medicine Memory & Aging Clinic.

Read previous coverage about Art Express.