Art Education and Creative Aging

This text explores how art education can address the needs of older adults as learners, makers, and teachers of art in formal and informal settings. It combines perspectives of educators, professors, therapists, and artists on what is meant by creative aging and the ways art education can support the health and well-being of this population.

Melanie Davenport is Associate Professor of Art Education in the Welch School of Art and Design at Georgia State University, USA. Linda Hoeptner Poling is Associate Professor of Art Education at Kent State University, USA. Rébecca Bourgault is Assistant Professor and Chair of Art Education at the Boston University College of Fine Arts, USA. Marjorie Cohee Manifold is Professor of Arts Education at Indiana University, USA.

Section 1. Creatively Aging 1. Aging as Improvised Performance 2. John (Jack) Leo Roggenbeck's Life Through Art 3. Flowing Downhill, We Never Stop Creating Section 2. Meeting Older Adults' Unique Needs 4. Bridging Art, Aging, and Alzheimer's 5. The Color of Memory: A Case Study 6. A Critical View of Art Education's Responsibility to Disability and Aging Section 3. Intergenerational Art Education 7. Intergenerational Artmaking: Creating Connected Cultures 8. ART CART, a Transformative Journey: Assisting Aging Artists in Documenting Their Artistic Legacy 9. Digital Interactions and Intergenerational Connections Section 4: Engaging Older Adults With Artworks and Objects 10. Meaningful Objects: Memory Stories for Older Adults 11. Lifelong Learning and Museums: An Exploration of Arts- and Object-Based Experiences for Older Adults 12. Art Museums and Creative Aging Section 5. In Our Own Voices: Older Adults as Learners, Makers, and Teachers 13. Curating a Life: Seeing Much More 14. Grandma, Let's Draw! Children's Art and Intergenerational Connections 15. The Long Hill: One Lifelong Learner's Meandering Path to the Doctorate in Art Education 16. Art + Culture + Elders 17. A Personal Narrative About Retirement: Continuing to Pursue an Active Professional and Creative Life