Interest in Northern Clay Center’s intergenerational outreach programming has been steadily increasing over the past year. This type of programming is geared toward connecting aging populations youth and is offered through ART@HAND. ART@HAND is NCC’s series of accessible programs for enjoyment of the ceramic arts. Intended for individuals 55 years old or greater (and their families), ART@HAND offers lectures, tours, workshops, and hands-on activities.
Those who attend ART@HAND intergenerational sessions with family, friends, and youth, develop strong memories and deep connections by taking creative risks while working side by side. Programs like this naturally provide interaction among participants and allow the ability to embrace one another as makers through the process and experience. This opens up a realm of diversity, from age, culture, and traditions which creates a more inclusive and dynamic community.
Long time NCC teaching artist Susan Obermeyer says, “Providing a hands-on activity for participants with similar knowledge and capability fosters cooperation and shared learning for all. Participants’—both young and old—moods brighten, they get excited as their projects form, and their interaction with each other increases. It’s a wonderful thing to witness. Anytime an opportunity presents itself to foster interaction between generations at the opposite end of the age spectrum is a good thing. Spending time with the youngsters brings the seniors joy and spending time with the seniors teaches the kids patience, compassion, and understanding.”
Elizabeth Coleman, another one of our long-term outreach teaching artists gives us a lovely perspective and insight on teaching intergenerational classes. “The grand friends look forward to seeing the preschool and school age students. There’s excitement while we wait for the children to arrive. Inevitably an adult will say, ‘I hear them coming!’ As a teacher, I feel challenged when leading a class of 4 year-olds and 94 year-olds because I need to teach to both groups at once. It helps me to remember that despite age, the two populations have some similarities. The preschoolers are learning how to follow directions. Both elders and preschoolers are engaged mentally in remembering the order of tasks demonstrated to them. Both need gentle reminders of the steps. The kids are acquiring fine motor skills; the elders are working to retain these skills. So, it’s easy to pace the class and choose projects that students can successfully complete on their own when I teach to their similar cognitive processing and motor skill needs. Making work for holidays and seasonal themes works well for mixed-age levels groups. I’ve learned to tailor what I call the project to something older and younger people might want to make. For instance, everyone likes hot cocoa, so we’re making hot cocoa mugs, not coffee mugs. My favorite projects are when the elders and the littles work together on a project that is then used to decorate a hallway or entry desk at the center. We’ve created tiles together that celebrate spring and made fall vegetables that go into a giant clay cornucopia”
Participants, partners, teaching artists, and recreational therapists have reported a variety of benefits from Northern Clay Center’s outreach programming including an improved sense of concentration and cognition which fosters an increased sense of purpose, accomplishment, satisfaction, and happiness. There has been a decrease in physical signs of stress and improvement in arthritic symptoms from sensory fulfillment and the maintenance and attention to fine motor skills and eye/hand coordination. A noticeable improvement in memory and recall. Lastly, a decrease in isolation and symptoms of depression stemming from the increase in communication among participants during the program, all of which has built a stronger sense of community among participants, staff, and artists overall.
Susan also said, “Watching the interaction between generations is the best part of the workshops. Their conversations, their cooperative decision making process, and their kindness to one another. It’s wonderful to observe. Often in our society, our senior citizens become invisible to the younger generations. Providing enjoyable, cooperative and creative activities such as this workshop changes that attitude just a little bit. I’m proud to be a part of it”.
Northern Clay Center is grateful to have talented teaching artists who continue to support our mission through ART@HAND. We strive to create inclusive educational ceramic programming that provides a myriad of uplifting community-based engagement and experiences that increase the confidence and creative abilities of its participants from their partnerships throughout the Twin Cities and beyond.
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