I have enjoyed reading and learning from everyone's experiences this summer, thank you for everything you've shared, it has been very enriching.  It is like Asami said about "two brains working better than one."  During my internship at Good Samaritan I set out to learn the opportunities and constraints that might be present when trying to bring art to residents of a care facility.  I wanted to learn how the institution worked on a day to day basis and how residents might respond to looking at art and creating art based on artworks from local museums.  There was much that I did learn, too much for a blog entry, but a few  things my experiences this summer have shown me include: 

• Create a safe and supportive environment.  Adults are much more afraid of failure than children and youth and it takes more work to get them comfortable with taking risks and engaging in new things.  The extra effort and patience is worth it when you see this audience relax, open up and contribute.  
• Like with other audiences, be flexible.  Adjust your education agenda to suit the needs and desires of your adult audience.  Be flexible in your approach, adapting to, and allowing, different personality and learning types because these traits will be more pronounced and inflexible in adults.  Years of life and experience, the necessity of learning and repeating what works, have shaped how older people respond and their flexible thinking skills are not as readily available as children's.  Give time for that aspect of thinking to warm up.
• Especially with older audiences, be careful not to come off as patronizing.  Create an "us" approach rather than an approach that sets you apart from your group.  They will still turn to you for expert advice and reassurance.
• With elder audiences, allow more time not just to move from one area to another but for creating artworks.  Many folks at this age haven't used their creative skills in a long time, they were busy being parents, employees and grandparents and creativity was more likely put to use juggling all of that rather than creating non-essential objects.  Let them do the best they can, even if they complain and struggle, because you never know what that process and experience will awaken within each individual.  
• Older adults do enjoy new and novel experiences although from a more cautious and passive approach at first. They will embrace odd or curious things that make them wonder or create questions to discuss and explore. You just have to provide the stimulus then open the door for that process.
• Learn something new yourself from adult audiences, not just in how you can facilitate a better experience for them but, some new bit of knowledge, wisdom, information or insight you didn't know or have before.  Consider it a special gift. 
• As far as working with care facilities, be aware of their goals and try to find ways to blend into their world as seamlessly as possible so as not to disrupt their jobs.  Understand that while they care about their patients emotional states, they are there to ensure the fragile physical health of a lot of people and they need to keep to their schedules and tasks.  In fact, try to find ways to help them, lend a hand or otherwise show you are there for them too.  Even though they probably will not have time to act upon it, invite them to participate in art activities.  This lets them know they are appreciated and it improves resident/staff relationships by creating a new relationship of just two people enjoying creating art together.   

I look forward to continuing working with and learning from the Good Sam Group throughout the next semester by facilitating a once-weekly class.  They, and facility, still have more to teach me.

My other internship, working as a grant researcher and writer, will also continue, but at a more formal level, and I look forward to that as well.  This is a skill that is extremely useful for anyone interested in a museum career and I am very thankful for the opportunity and experience.  Writing grants takes understanding the institution's mission, the project's objectives, the grantor's preferences for funding and putting it all together with necessary input from many of the institution's departments and other partners while keeping organized and keeping on schedule.  It is very engrossing and you have the knowledge that you and everyone else are working towards a goal that will benefit the public or support the institution's mission to serve the public.