Engaging the Elderly in a Dialog with Art via Art Slides

Art invites the mind to ponder the seemingly endless possibilities of form and color. I fell in love with art as a dialog between the viewer and the work itself when I was twelve years old and my mother took me to NYC, we lived in East Brunswick, NJ., to view an exhibit of contemporary women artists at the MOMA. After we walked the gallery floors, we went to a nearby bookstore where I purchased my first art poster for my bedroom wall. I was hooked. I have a particular passion for work done by conceptual artists and, too, for painters like Agnes Martin and Mark Rothko (his art above).

One of the younger seniors that attends the Bridge expressed an interest in art by Picasso, Dali and Matisse. I searched EBay for some affordable slides and was fortunate enough to have placed the winning bid on 40 slides of work by Matisse and Lichtenstein.

I pulled the slide viewer I had used in my classroom (for that post view here) from one of the boxes of materials stored in my closet and brought it to work. I showed the senior that I thought would enjoy it the most how to use the viewer and how to handle the slides. I don't have a white glove...yet.

 As he looked at one slide and then another.

He made comments about the color and referred to objects he thought the imagery reminded him of.

I looked at a few of this senior's paintings later that week. I saw so much beauty in his color choices and his minimalist style. They invite a dialog within myself that I do not yet have words to express outwardly. I think I will add his name to my list of favorite artists. Here is a recent piece he painted for you to converse with: