The New Old Age - Caring and Coping
February 21, 2011, 11:12 am
Artwork From Experienced Hands
By PAULA SPAN

Amy Henderson knew the name she chose would be provocative. She was opening an airy 1,400-square-foot space in Portland, Ore., for artists over age 60, and she christened it the Geezer Gallery.
The Geezer Gallery Chuck Castro, 68, a woodworker whose art is shown at the Geezer Gallery in Portland, Ore.

“It’s memorable,” she said. “It’s edgy. Laughing at oneself is a sign of maturity.” I wonder, not for the first time, why so many smart ideas about aging originate in the Pacific Northwest.

About 60 older artists have been selected to display their work — paintings and prints, sculpture, photography, furniture, jewelry, ceramics — at the gallery itself. But there are many others who lend their art to traveling shows that visit retirement communities or exhibit at local businesses.

“There are so many older artists who found their passion after they retired,” said Ms. Henderson, probably one of the world’s few interior designer-turned-gerontologists. “They’re talented. They want to show their work and be appreciated.”

The Geezer’s exhibitors include Frank Springer, who takes a motorized stairglide to his basement kiln each morning to produce plates, bowls and vases of fused glass. Mr. Springer, a retired vice cop, is 99. Madeline Janovec, a lifelong artist at 76, shows huge, abstract monotypes in brilliant colors; her friends were happy to see her at a benefit for the gallery recently, finally done with chemotherapy for lymphoma. And LeRoy Goertz, a former social worker in his 70s, creates large-scale bronze sculptures.

When their art sells, the creators receive 60 percent of the price; the remainder finances free art workshops and art therapy programs, staffed by licensed professionals, for low-income seniors. The Geezer is offering a popular hat-making workshop at a senior center in suburban Tualatin this week, for example, followed by a three-week workshop in printmaking at a continuing care retirement community called Mary’s Woods and a six-week art therapy program at the gallery.

Ms. Henderson has seen too many facilities, she said, where “people sit around and watch TV and there’s no creative stimulation.” She particularly wants to bring art to homebound elders in Portland’s many small adult foster care residences (much like board and care homes or small-scale assisted living elsewhere).

That will require more money than individual art sales can produce in a soft economy, even when the gallery space itself is donated. So the Geezer is applying for grants and cranking up efforts to interest corporations in buying its art for offices and lobbies. Meanwhile, Ms. Henderson, who is 40, said she’s been working without a salary for two years and getting a bit tired of it.

But she’s otherwise unflagging. “When older adults participate in ongoing, professionally led art programs, they reap physical, mental, social and spiritual benefits,” she said. “Memory improvement. Fewer falls. Less depression.

“Art is really preventative medicine.”

Paula Span is the author of “When the Time Comes: Families With Aging Parents Share Their Struggles and Solutions.”

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