[1] A native of Montreal, Canada, who grew up in Portland, Oregon, U.S. Gorenstein started painting as a teenager at a time when women artists weren't very well received.
A graduate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in the early 1930s, she produced more than 1,500 artworks in about 70 years including paintings in oil and acrylic, watercolors, drawings and sculpture.
Painting allowed Hilgos to maintain, and even regain, some of her core identity, and her extraordinary enthusiasm and energy, in the face of her affliction.
[6] The Hilgos Foundation, a non-profit organization that supports the artistic creation for people who have Alzheimer’s was founded in her memory.
It also shares findings by leading neurologists offering scientific support regarding the transforming power of the arts for Alzheimer's victims.