The Pass the Crown Project

“Pass the Crown” is an editorial style portrait project honoring people of color living with Dementia. The goal is to empower these individuals via compelling visual portraits that humanize their presence amongst this unfortunate illness. Dementia is not spoken of enough in the BIPOC communities, even though so many within the community are living with it.  

Project Backstory Told by the Artist

I was a 9 year long caretaker for my grandmother Grace who suffered from dementia. In fact She is the inspiration for this project all together. Grace was a retired nursing supervisor, church leader, social advocate and a community staple. She raised 3 kids on her own while working multiple jobs at once to put herself through nursing school and later in life completed studies in divinity to become a reverend. To watch dementia take over such a marvelous mind was heartbreaking. A few weeks before her passing I had a fun impromptu photoshoot with my Nana, Grace. I placed a crown on her head that I had purchased online and chose to tilt it slightly to the side for style. This was the last wonderful moment we would share with her like that in our home. A few weeks after that, she would go to be with her ancestors. Each model participant for this project is currently living with dementia, and will physically wear the same crown Grace wore on her last photo shoot. Passing the crown from model to model represents acknowledging the greatness of a person and celebrating them beyond their dementia diagnosis. Thank you for viewing and for your support….Pri (Honeydark Creative Studios)

The Pass the Crown Project has been exhibited at Culture Lab LIC, Fashion Institute of Technology, The Factory Gallery LIC the Rochdale Village Community Center in Queens NY, and was recently featured in The Queens Chronicle, as well as Dementia Spring. The Pass the Crown Project has also received support funding from the Queens Arts Fund.

Above: This video documents the 2025 prototype exhibition of Pass the Crown: Voices & Memory at Culture Lab LIC, NY. Evolving from the original portrait series, this interactive version layers images with donated family mementos and AR technology, inviting viewers to scan the work and experience each subject’s story through animation and sound.

Below: Pass the Crown: Voices & Memory Interactive Exhibition Sample

Please scan the QR code above right with your mobile device, and hold it up to the black and white image above it to see Olivia’s memory of her wedding day come to life!

( Permission may be asked by the app in order to scan the image. Please accept the permissions, then scan the image)

Below: Photo portraits from the Pass the Crown Series.