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photo provided by Akron Art Museum
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photo provided by Akron Art Museum
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photo provided by Akron Art Museum
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photo provided by Akron Art Museum
Only a few weeks after retiring, Medina resident Regina saw something compelling on the Akron Art Museum’s website: an interactive series of art classes called the Creative Aging Institute. The workshops were specifically designed for adults age 55 and up.
“Seeing the word aging immediately piqued my interest,” she recounts. “It was kind of serendipity.”
Regina, an arts enthusiast, has always admired the museum. Smaller and more intimate than other nearby institutions, its community outreach impressed her.
“I knew that if they were putting on a program, it would be quality, and I knew I would be meeting other persons in my situation,” she says. “That was also something that was important, because [retirement’s] such a huge life change.”
Regina’s first week as a workshop participant focused on textiles and fabric-dyeing techniques, such as shibori and batik. She found the work to be rewarding and engaging. Regina soon took other classes through the institute — including those involving colored pencil and marker portraiture, papermaking and sculpting techniques. Through them, she got to know other students, as well as instructors.
“We’ve had the most wonderful experiences with the loveliest artists,” she says. “Everyone is supportive. Everyone helps each other.”
Regina’s experience is precisely what the institute aims to provide for its students — community building, expression and ageism-free creativity. The first year of the program, which ran from 2023 to 2024, was made possible through a Vitality Arts program grant from E.A. Michelson Philanthropy. It’s now in its second year — thanks to funding from Michelson, the GAR Foundation, ArtsNow and others.
“The mission of the Vitality Arts program for museums is to support creativity in people 55 and better, shine a light on ageism and to nurture connections and build community,” says project manager Merry Petroski.
Students in the program try a myriad of multimedia methods. The workshops are very popular. With more time for recreation, those in their golden years can focus on their interests.
“I’m working with folks who have been, throughout their lives, the supporters and the cheerleaders,” Petroski says. “What I’m really focused on is supporting those people in discovering the transformative qualities of creating art themselves.”
For some, getting creative is a brand-new venture. One student, the husband of a woman participating in the series, initially planned only to accompany his wife to the museum.
“He didn’t plan to stay, but he did, and he had never really done any fine art experimentation at all,” Petroski says. “He got a lot of praise for the work that he did.”
The artistic processes utilized in Creative Aging workshops are taught by local artists such as Steve Ehret, Aaron Williams and Chi-Irena Wong — and are meant to challenge students. Part of combating ageism, Petroski says, is dispelling the notion that older adults can’t or don’t want to attempt novel things.
“We all age one day at a time,” she says. “Nobody’s aging faster or slower. I just refuse to allow people to put a negative spin on living life.”
As part of an additional art project, students assembled and installed a wheat paste mural outside the Akron Art Museum in October. Themed for Ageism Awareness Day, it reads: “Aging isn’t the problem. Ageism is the problem” — a message meant to spark community dialogue about the issue. In other institute workshops, they worked with glass, cyanotype print photography and more.
“We are doing anything and everything that anybody else would want to do,” Petroski says. “It’s about adventuring and doing something that you may not ever get a chance to do, like casting an aluminum plaque or using refuse plastics to create a sculptural work of art.”
For Regina, the institute has provided positive mental exercise — and a social outlet.
“I’ve met wonderful ... friends,” she says, “that I am so grateful for.”
The institute will hold the latter half of its second-year workshops in spring 2025, offering subjects such as mosaic art, puppet making and risograph printing. They will culminate, as previous workshops have, with a reception — in which the resulting work is displayed at the museum.
“We’re not here to make a masterpiece. … We are being creative, we’re being free, we’re making mistakes, we’re experimenting, and we’re just getting into that creative state,” says Petroski. “To show their work that they have done at the Akron Art Museum, and have the public come and see it, and friends and family come and see it — it’s just one of the most wonderful experiences.”
1 S. High St., Akron, 330-376-9186, akronartmuseum.org/creative-aging-institute