Elders and their willingness to embrace what perplexed them

I have to say that the group of elders who produced this were very good sports at overcoming initial apprehensions about this project.  Bouncing off of the work of Louise Nevelson, presented via power point on a very large screen television, we began by looking at her piece in the Amon Carter's collection.  We then moved on to looking at other works in the artist's oeuvre. We discussed the fact that the artist found fame later in her life and talked about her use of found and recycled objects, relief sculpture, collage, rhythm and much more.

The idea was to engage participants in a project that could be done by feel, rather than just sight, and would allow the use of fine motor skills, encourage not only an intellectual conversation about art but stimulate mental processes required for manipulating disparate 3-D objects into a more unified whole, provide opportunity for problem solving and control of an outcome and create an atmosphere of sharing (everyone openly talked about what they were doing, sharing pieces and helping each other locate shapes) and community.  We used pieces of wood found at Scrap and provided by a cabinet shop, the tops of shoe boxes, Elmer's glue, and acrylic paint.

What I found interesting was that once participants, ages ranging from mid-seventies to late nineties, overcame the perceived oddness of the project, they became very intent and absorbed in the process of creating and assembling their own creation.  One person, who had the most difficult time with the abstract aspect of the project, nevertheless, was the most creative in weaving a story about what all the pieces in her box meant.  Another person thought entirely outside of the box and meticulously built a balanced tower which I did put inside a box with her permission so that it could be added to the group's collaborative artwork.  What has also been interesting is the buzz that has rippled out of the activity room and into the rest of the facility.  Staff stops in to see what is going on, they are always invited to participate as well, and as we have started a second project the group has doubled in size.

One of the most profound single things that happened was when I found a person in a common area who was obviously distressed, shaking and crying.  This person did not participate in this project and had never given more than small smile when greeted with a hello.  I asked if they'd like to go into the activity room to which they nodded yes.  I pushed the wheelchair into the room and in front of the artwork pictured above.  It only took thirty seconds for the person to start to settle down and become entirely engrossed in looking at the assemblage.  The longer they sat the more calm and peaceful they became.  Then they smiled and reached out to touch me and started talking.  This person became animated and haltingly explained that this, art, was something they knew about and that they used to paint pictures.  I had not known until that point, after almost two months of seeing this person four days a week, that they could talk.  This person is involved in our current project and is an avid, curious, intelligent contributor to the conversation.