Making Friends and Making Art: An Intergenerational Learning Experience

Abstract

In this article, an after school art program titled, Making Friends and Making Art is described. The art program provided an opportunity for older adults and children to work together. Over a six-week period, community members, age 50 years and older, volunteered to learn along-side local elementary age children to create a collaborative mosaic project. Through the analysis of the data, themes of value-sharing, cooperation and collaboration, motivation, and playful interaction emerged. Also evident was that the artmaking experience provided mutual benefits for both generations. The art-making experiences and discussions about art were useful in generating relationships between older and younger generations. This project may serve as a practical example of intergenerational art education.