Friday, the Cincinnati Art Museum will display works from 14 seniors across the Cincinnati area as part of a collaboration between Meals on Wheels, ArtWorks, and the museum.
Each senior created their own works of art—whether it’s through watercolor, cardboard, collage, mixed media, acrylics, decoupage, or more—as part of the Senior Art Cohort program put together by Meals on Wheels.
“This program provided an opportunity for the participants to explore their own lives, their own personal journeys, to explore different forms of art, and to use the arts as a way to stay healthy and connected to their communities,” said Natalie Koking, communications director of Meals on Wheels of Southwest Ohio & Northern Kentucky. “The theme for each work centered around aging and time and identity, so it lent itself to a lot of really, really personal projects.”
On the first Friday of each month, from January to May, seniors who signed up for the program were given free transportation from their homes to the studio at ArtWorks plus a boxed lunch.
“One of the challenges that I’ve heard our seniors highlight a lot is that when they’re retired, and their kids are at work or they have no family nearby, they’re alone,” Koking said. “That can really take a toll on your overall well-being, whether it’s emotional or physical, and these programs are designed to remedy that. We’ve seen so much happiness come out of older adults from these events just from being able to stay engaged and curious.”
Those projects came about thanks to Annie Ruth, a teaching artist who helped each program participant express themselves and their stories through visual arts. For example, one senior crafted a mask inspired by her childhood, and it revealed “unresolved emotions related to never meeting her birth mother,” Ruth said.
“It became evident that many participating seniors were being transported from the Roselawn area, the same community in which I live,” Ruth said. “This raised an important question. Why aren’t these experiences happening directly within the neighborhood where participants reside?”
Now that the program has concluded, Ruth has begun her own steps to support local artists, including participation in the newly formed Hillcrest Artist Society.
For the seniors—several of whom had no artistic experience before the program began—going from learning in a studio to having their work displayed in the Cincinnati Art Museum is “a bit of a whirlwind,” Koking said.
“I really appreciated being able to see them working and really coming alive to work through some complex ideas in their art… Aging is a challenge, but it’s also incredibly rewarding, and it’s a well-earned chapter if you get there,” she said. “I would love for viewers at the museum to be able to walk away considering what they might envision for themselves as they age. Take a look at what each participant is presenting, and really try to understand their perspective. It can be very, very satisfying, and can really prompt a lot of deeper thought.”
The exhibition from the Senior Artist Cohort at Meals on Wheels will be on display on Friday, May 29, at the Cincinnati Art Museum in the Merrick Family Commons. A special opening reception will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. For more information, visit the official website of Meals on Wheels of Southwest Ohio & Northern Kentucky.
