After decades of creating, teaching, and appreciating art, Rob Steedman is well versed in its ability to foster healing and connection.
That’s why he enthusiastically spearheaded a recent initiative to enhance the daily lives of both residents and staff at Thompson Health’s M.M. Ewing Continuing Care Center, where his wife of 31 years, Joanne, is a resident.
Twice each day, Steedman visits the 178-bed skilled-nursing facility to visit Joanne, who taught special education through BOCES in the Midlakes district and was diagnosed at 50 with early onset Alzheimer’s disease. Later, the diagnosis was updated to frontotemporal dementia. Often referred to as FTD, it is the same, rare form of dementia that actor Bruce Willis is battling.
Steedman retired from his job at the Canandaigua Middle School during the pandemic to care for Joanne. In December 2024, she moved into M.M. Ewing.
“We hit the jackpot here,” he said. “The staff is wonderful.”
As Steedman got to know the staff, they got to know him and learned of his background as an art teacher. This is what prompted Betsy Willard, the nurse manager of the Gardens avenue where Joanne lives, to suggest that Steedman would be the perfect person for a project to beautify residents’ surroundings. He was all for it.
“This is my wife’s home now.,” he said. “To make it feel more like a home, to have them look at beauty on a daily basis … why wouldn’t I do that?”
Willard approached Vice President of Long-Term Care/Administrator Mathew Janczak with the idea, and Janczak was very much on board.
“Artwork can transform a space, making it feel more inviting, personalized, and stimulating,” said Janczak, who keeps some of his daughter’s artwork hanging in his office.
“For our residents, it often sparks conversation, evokes memories, and provides a sense of beauty and calm. It can be a powerful tool for emotional expression and cognitive engagement, contributing positively to their overall well-being.”
After getting the go-ahead, Steedman reached out to former student Hanna Groff, who has taught at Honeoye Elementary School and has a business called HMG Artistry.
“I loved the idea,” she said. “Of course, it was something I wanted to do!”
Groff donated prints for the project, as did another former student, Amanda Joseph. Steedman also enlisted local artist Sam Brown-Steiner. Each of the three agreed to send half a dozen pieces and Steedman had just one request: Make them colorful, lighthearted, and pleasant to look at.
Groff – whose donated prints include images of flowers and Canandaigua boathouses – understood the assignment.
“Art can help somebody feel certain things, whether it helps them get out of a place they want to get out of, or find peace where they are,” she said.
Once the prints were gathered, Janczak arranged for the frames to be purchased and Steedman did the framing. Now, the work of Groff, Joseph, and Brown-Steiner is displayed in the rooms of the facility’s Skilled-Transitional Unit, where people who are recovering from serious setbacks such as strokes, traumatic brain injuries, or amputations receive rehabilitation services, often with the goal of returning home.
“You’re pretty down, I would imagine, the first few weeks you’re there,” Steedman noted.
Janczak said the staff, residents, and families at M.M. Ewing are grateful to all involved for the project, which both he and Steedman hope is just the beginning.
Steedman said he would encourage other artists to find ways to share their talents with the residents, whether through donating pieces or leading workshops facilitated by the recreation therapists, one of whom is also a former student.
For his part, Janczak said he would enthusiastically welcome those interested. After all, he said, “These kinds of engagements are invaluable to everyone involved.”
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