ShawneeDispatch.com

The Alzheimer’s Association’s Heart of America chapter has selected a Shawnee resident’s artwork for its annual fundraising auction.

Audrey Remler, a resident at The Sweet Life at Shawnee, had a watercolor painting she created through the association’s program, Memories in the Making, selected for the annual auction, which will be held May 6 at The Hobbs Building in Kansas City, Mo.

Remler was born in Mound City, Kan., and remembers painting a little bit as a child.

“My mom, that was one way to get me out of her hair, (by telling me) go paint!” Remler said.

After marrying, Remler moved to Kansas City, Kan., to raise her family and worked as a secretary. She enjoyed traveling and is a great storyteller — she still likes to tell stories about her little brother.

But Remler’s family wasn’t aware she had carried her painting hobby into her adult years at all until they stumbled upon it.

“The had found a picture she had painted at some point in her adult life, but they didn’t know of anything prior to that,” said Cindy Gardner, life enrichment coordinator at The Sweet Life.

Remler moved into The Sweet Life at Shawnee in October 2007, and Gardner said she is always eager for new activities.

“She likes to join in; she loves to help other people,” Gardner said.

So Remler quickly began taking part in the Memories in the Making painting classes, a weekly program that allows residents to create watercolor paintings from their memories or from pictures. Gardner said Remler tended to base her paintings on scenic photos from calendars.

“Over the years, her paintings have gotten better, more free, and they’re just beautiful,” Gardner said.

A member of the Alzheimer’s Association visits The Sweet Life every few months to look through paintings created through the Memories in the Making program for auction possibilities. The Sweet Life has had the paintings of another resident selected for the auction in the past, but this is the first time any of Remler’s works have been selected.

The painting that was selected was of a duck, which Remler painted about three months ago and titled “Quack Quack.”

More information about the Memories in the Making auction can be found at alz.org/kansascity under “Fundraising events.”

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