ART CART

EDITOR’S NOTE: Each week, we feature intergenerational program ideas that were tried and successful. This series is a tool to highlight various age-optimized programs and practices. The program descriptions are provided by representatives of the programs. Inclusion in this series does not imply Generations United’s endorsement or recommendation, but rather encourages ideas to inspire other programs.

This week’s cool idea is ART CART, a replicable, interdisciplinary, intergenerational, educational experience that connects aging professional artists with teams of graduate and upper-level undergraduate students to undertake the preparation and preservation of their creative work, and to help shape the future of our American cultural legacy.

(Check our archives for parts 1-77 | non-archived: 1 and 2)

Over the course of an academic year, several teams of students, each working with a single visual artist, will document a substantial number of works – collecting both high-quality digital images as well as relevant historical, biographical, and artistic background information.

Piloted at Columbia University in 2010, with six professional visual artists and twelve graduate students in art education, art history, arts administration, occupational therapy, public health, and social work, ART CART was repeated in the New York City and Washington, DC metro areas in 2012–2013 with 10 professional artists age 63–100 and 20 fellows in each location in a partnership with seven universities, a major museum, and a senior services center.

Got something cool you tried that was successful? Why not tweet your cool intergenerational ideas to #cooligideas? You can also post them to our Intergenerational Connections Facebook Group. We want to highlight innovative age-optimized programs and practices through our blog, social media and weekly e-newsletter! Share the inspiration.