Art and Aging
ART AND AGING
Training: April 11 - May 9, 2007; Dennis and Judith Jones Visitor and Education Center; Mel Watkin, Instructor
Exhibition SITE #1: Dennis and Judith Jones Visitor and Education Center
September 25, 2007 - January 5, 2008
Special Exhibition: OASIS Artists' Annual, Clayton on the Park, St. Louis
December 13, 2008 - February 3, 2009
Website: www.oasisnet.org/Cities/StLouisMO.aspx
The credit for this Photography Project goes to OASIS, a national non-profit organization founded in St. Louis, through which older adults continue their personal growth and provide meaningful service to the community. OASIS was awarded a grant from the National Institute on Aging to promote the practice of geriatric medicine. Working with Washington University's School of Medicine they offered the Photography Project as a combined class of 15 first-year medical students and 15 older adults (over 55) who were members of OASIS. The goal of the Project was to broaden young medical students' experience with active mature adults, promoting inter-generational communication and encouraging them to take an interest in geriatric medicine. Ranging in age from 20 to 84 years, participants focused on the theme of photographic portraiture. Participants paired off and, frequently changing partners, photographed each other in a variety of settings, using a variety of techniques. In addition, they kept a class journal and interviewed each other. Years will pass before we know whether this experience resulted in any of the medical student choosing geriatric medicine, but the exhibition clearly showed a new level of understanding and camaraderie among participants.
--Mel Watkin, Instructor and Director
PPRC Photography Project
PARTICIPANTS:
Washington University 1st Year Medical Students
Kristin Bibee
Fred Chu
Edward Hawkins
Elizabeth Jagodinski
Ana Kadkhodayan
Lacey LaGrone
Marcos Peng Lei
Vanessa Lewis
Ariel Lyons-Warren
Jason Meyers
Aaron McAllister
Cheryl Mather
Lina Nayak
K.C. Wumesh
Cassandra McArmstead-Williams
OASIS Members
Don Abrams
Beverly Abrams
Gloria Curtis
Claire Hyman
C. J. Klein
Karen Levine
Marilyn McGartland
Pat Memhardt
Cecelia Nangle
Betty Seims
Virginia L. Williams
Thelma A. Willis
Diane Young
Ann Zink
Bob Zink
COMMUNITY PARTNERS:
OASIS
Washington University School of Medicine
National Institute on Aging (through a grant to OASIS)
Forest Park Forever
Dennis and Judith Jones Visitor and Education Center in Forest Park
Clayton on the Park