Forget the rocking chair and slippers! A new exhibition at Arbor Gallery titled Artful Ageing celebrates the work of 27 amateur artists aged 60 to 90, who have found that creating art is a valuable tool in healthy ageing and personal well-being.
“The show is built on the idea that potentially everyone is an artist,” claims Eva Levesque, the exhibition curator. “People draw and paint as children, but then life gets in the way. Paints and crayons are replaced by building careers and raising families. Retirement has reopened the door to art for many of us.”
The artist statements found on the walls of the gallery attest to how involvement with art has contributed to the participants’ healthy ageing. The artists claim that art has provided them with social interaction, boosted self-esteem, enhanced cognitive functions, promoted thinking outside
of the box, given them a sense of accomplishment and created joy and well-being.
A range of mediums
The exhibition covers a wide range of styles and subject matter, executed in oil, acrylic, water colour, pen and pencils, photography, clay, diamond art painting and scrapbooking. In addition to the 27 amateur artists, Nicole Langevin, an experienced artist, was recruited to do a display on Zentangle, an accessible form of art for seniors. Two special contributors to the show are Suzanne Hocquard and Lorie Brown, who have provided collages showing their artistic group work with some residents at Heritage Lodge in Vankleek Hill.
The 27 local amateur artists are, in alphabetical order, Anne-Marie Bergevin, Sylvie-Anne Bergevin, Hélène Desjardins, Julie Gaulin, Marjorie Hunter Gear, Mark Greenwald, Rosemary Harden, Gerald Harris, Ruth Higginson, Gail Hocquard, Lisa Jennings with a tribute to Barbara
Thriepland, Penelope Jennings, Denise Lalonde, Michelle Landriault, Nicole Langevin, Francine Larocque, Eva Levesque, Yvonne Munro, Ray MacLeod, Christine Pelletier, Paul Phaneuf, Pierre Simard, Louise Sproule, Clara Taylor and Jeff Turner.
Levesque hopes that the exhibit will inspire seniors and others to follow the lead of the participants.
“I hope they won’t say ‘I can’t’, but rather ‘Let’s see if I can too’” she says.
Artful Ageing runs from November 30 to December 17, with the vernissage taking place on Sunday, December 3 from 1 to 3pm.
Arbor Gallery is open Wednesday to Sunday, noon to 4pm. Admission to exhibits is always free. It is located at 36 Home Avenue, in the heart of Vankleek Hill.
