Geologist Robert (Bob) John Tingey was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1987, aged just 46. 

But his wife, celebrated artist and founder of the Tingey Painting with Parkinsons Program, Nancy Tingey, says they didn’t hide away.

“In 1993, the founding CEO of Parkinson’s ACT retired due to ill health, and Bob took over,” says Nancy. 

“I knew that they were going to expect me to be secretary, and that was my worst nightmare, because I’m an artist, and I was already having to curtail my activities a lot because of Bob’s illness. 

“I could see the writing on the wall… so I thought I’d better think of something else quickly.”

Nancy says she decided to form an art group for people with Parkinson’s, as she had already been working with adults and knew the benefits art groups could bring. 

“It was just meant to be a recreational thing… We’re still meeting in the same place 30 years later!” she says.

Soon after their initial November classes, in 1994, Nancy says she felt a need to seek out experience in art therapy, as many people diagnosed with Parkinson’s struggle with depression.

This led to her applying for a Churchill Fellowship to pursue training in art therapy specific to Parkinson’s disease, which she was awarded in 1996.

She says the people she met in Europe and North America had a significant influence on the formation of the Tingey Method, in particular Attilia Cossio, a trained art therapist, whose husband had Parkinson’s.

“She’d been running an art program in Italy around Milan and Monza, where she lived, which was based on the theories of Rudolf Steiner, who believed it was very important that you use materials that had a sort of flow,” says Nancy.

“And that flow principle actually is really central to what we do.

“With Parkinson’s you’re jerky with your movements, you’re trying to control stuff, you’re all tensed up. 

“We try to take that away and get them to just be in the zone. 

“She used watercolours with her group, and we’ve used watercolours ever since as our main material.”

The Tingey Painting with Parkinsons Program is patented, and Nancy says its methodology, which is outlined in How Magic Happens: A Manual for the Tingey Painting with Parkinsons Program, aims to provide an opportunity for participants to “leave a mark”. 

She says this allows participants to maintain a sense of identity at a time where much of their autonomy has been lost. 

“If you think of what’s happening with Parkinson’s, […] you lose the ability to speak and communicate,” she says.

“That’s all left-brain stuff that you learn when you’re a child, you’re not necessarily born with it, you have to learn that. 

“The creative side you’re born with, that stays, and if anything, it increases with your Parkinson’s because you’re putting more emphasis on it. 

“So we found [that] if we could use activities that stimulate creativity, they would do really well, and it would also give them an emotional release. 

“We don’t do anything like copy this or do that, because they can’t copy, that’s left-brain stuff, and it’s very stressful and we’re trying to take the stress out.”

They also use movement and music as a means of getting participants into the right headspace, working with the ANU School of Music and the Canberra Symphony Orchestra to provide musical prompts for participants to engage with.

Today, the program has 20 active members with Parkinson’s, along with their carers or family members, and a waitlist, says Nancy.

“I can’t underestimate the social side of it. Being in a group where you feel completely comfortable, you don’t have to explain yourself or why you’re behaving strangely, you’re just there to be part of a group that’s going to go into another space for a while, and be totally accepted in whatever condition you are.

“People always say it changes their lives, and they look forward to Friday as the most important day of the week, you can’t get better than that, can you?”

Nancy passed the baton of running the program on to John Pratt in 1999, but remains involved as a mentor.

Her husband and inspiration for the program, Bob Tingey, passed away in 2017.

The group meets at the Botanical Gardens on Friday mornings, and in Greenway on Tuesday mornings. More information at paintingwithparkinsons.org.au