The art of aging
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Two small birds perch on a metal mail box filled with white and yellow flowers. Behind them, the edge of a white house peeks through.
The scene, painted by Helen Crone, reminds her of her old home in the country outside West Lebanon, Indiana.
Although Crone, 95, paints beautiful pictures, she's only been an artist for about a year.
"We never knew she had this talent, did we?" Eve Reiss said to Crone, her mother. "You never painted before."
"I just tried, but then I liked it after I started," replied Crone, who takes a painting class once a week at the Springs at Lafayette assisted living center.
Crone was one of several seniors whose art was on display Thursday at Purdue University. The juried art show, "Art of Aging," in the Purdue Memorial Union was put on by the university's Center on Aging and the Life Course as a celebration of its 20th anniversary.
The center focuses on the science behind aging, but the program's leaders wanted to connect with the community and show the human aspect behind their research.
"We wanted to pull in something creative to the education component we focus on," said Traci Robison, assistant director of the center. "(We) thought if we did an art exhibit, it gives a creative approach and highlights individuals, and if you read some of the stories in the book it shows how art has affected their lives later in life."
While some people may think creativity wanes with age, center director Ken Ferraro said it can be just the opposite for many seniors.
"There really are a lot of people that get their so-called second wind and they become very creative later in life," he said, "and this is attempting to draw attention to that."
The majority of the artists in the show just recently picked up their craft, said Rachel Witt, the exhibit's juror and art programming coordinator at Westminster Village, a continuing care retirement community in West Lafayette.
She said any creative activity is cognitively, socially and emotionally beneficial, noting Westminster has two art studios.
The retirement community is rolling out a program, created at Miami University's gerontology center, called Opening Minds through Art, or OMA, Witt said. Through the program, people with dementia create art with trained volunteers with the goal of improving their quality of life.
"Even if they don't have any memory of having made the art, the positive experience stays with them," she said. "The idea is that even if you remember absolutely nothing about the experience, you remember being happy. You remember the sensation of being satisfied."
And for any senior, art can bring a new chapter to their life.
"I’m so proud of her because she’s 95 years old and has never painted a day in her life and now she’s in a juried art show," Reiss said of Crone. "All of a sudden, I’m going, 'Look at your paintings, Ma!'"
Contact J&C higher education reporter Meghan Holden at mholden@jconline.com. Follow her on Twitter: @MeghanHolden.
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