Thanks to Alyson over at ArtBizBlog for the heads up on this great NPR story on Aging Artists. I was intrigued enough to read the more detailed summary of the study, and was delighted at the attitude of these artists, who struggled financially but were elated with life and their art.
“Art is what makes me live.”
—93-year-old visual artist
I have always been involved with the aging in some way. In college, I was involved in the now-famous study of centenarians when I worked in the Gerontology office. I transcribed interviews with people ages 100 years and over, and found them to be persistent when life threw them curveballs. They simply didn’t let obstacles stop them. One woman had lived to see Halley’s Comet twice, outlived three husbands and all of her children, and was still vibrant.
When I homeschooled my boys, we volunteered with Meals on Wheels in our community. And I live in a community where we are by far the younger generation. I’m often referred to as a “young mom.” Yahoo - I’ll take it.
How do you see yourself and your art as you age?
the past weeks i’ve found myself thinking over my aging/disability issues an how it does and may impact my art. first, let me share that for 7 years i worked with adults with severe physical disabilities and mental retardation primarily maintaining and maximizing their quality of life by introducing fine arts programming so my awareness of this comes by way of the former employment as well as where i find myself.
after dyeing and painting a few yards of fabric last month my body was hurting from head to toe and i kept thinking what if i couldn’t do this anymore, what if i loose my eyesight, etc…how would i adjust or adapt…etc. i’ve become almost one track in my obsession with my quilting in the last 3 years after discontinuing employment due to health…at first i was upset about the loss of identity, etc…but have for awhile now made peace with it and am thoroughly grateful and see it as a blessing now to be able to have the time and now space…i feel it keeps me healthy even with the physical pain i endure to do it. in a way that i seldom question, i feel my art extends my life.
Karoda -
How wonderful that you’ve turned such an enormous health challenge into an opportunity for art. Your experience in working with the disabled and mentally retarded is similar to the findings of this study: art makes a marked difference in people’s lives.
One of the fascinating parts of the study was it was done in NYC, where it’s almost impossible to live as an aging artist on a pittance of an income. But it didn’t stop these artists: they were delighted with their lives and had learned how to very happily live within their means.
Thanks Karoda for sharing your experience, and I wish you good health and happy quilting.