Fighting ageism with art. Photos: TAC.
A new program at Tuggeranong Arts centre is using art to help senior Canberrans reclaim their voice and fight stereotypes about ageing.
The Centre is giving local seniors the chance to participate in a series of free workshops with professional artists to create artworks, which will be part of an exhibition called Reclaimed Vintage.
Over 10 weeks, artists Blaide Lallemand, Carol Cooke, and Tony Steel will work with local seniors at a number of locations throughout the Tuggeranong Valley, helping them to find their voice through creativity.
Lallemand will encourage participants to ‘Fill the Frame’ with their wealth of memories and life experiences as she works with them to create collages inside upcycled vintage picture frames at Uniting Amala Aged Care in Gordon. Mondays 10 am – 12 pm (29th April to 1st July) at Uniting Amala – 200 Woodcock Drive, Gordon.
Filling the frame with memories and life experiences.
Steel will run ceramics workshops at Tuggeranong Arts Centre, helping participants to create storyboards in clay that celebrate the positive sides of ageing. The final glazed panels will form a collaborative installation for the exhibition. Thursdays 10 am – 12 pm (2nd May – 4th July) at Tuggeranong Arts Centre – 137 Reed Street, Greenway.
Meanwhile, textile artist Cooke will use a variety of stitching and embroidery techniques in her workshops at the Marigal Gardens Retirement Village in Kambah. Cooke will help participants explore the language of ageing and ageism and create beautiful garments in the process. Fridays 10am-12pm (3rd May – 12th July, excluding 14th June) at the Marigal Gardens – 21 Snodgrass Crescent, Kambah.
All of the workshops are free and open to anyone aged 55 plus who wishes to participate. At the end of the workshops, the artworks will be brought together in a specially curated exhibition at TAC in August.
All of the workshops are free and open to anyone aged 55 plus who wishes to participate.
Alongside the exhibition, TAC will run a media campaign, which will use the participants’ own artworks to change attitudes in the broader community and encourage respect and inclusion of seniors. Instagrammers Canberra will help the participants themselves take part in this campaign by running an Introduction to Instagram workshop and hosting an Instameet at the exhibition.
Tuggeranong Arts Centre CEO Rauny Worm says, “the project draws on research which demonstrates that marginalised groups who reappropriate or take possession of terms previously used in a derogatory manner through self-labelling gain a sense of empowerment and reduce the negative stigma attached to those terms.”
Finding their own voice and challenging negative attitudes towards ageing in the broader community.
“The Arts Centre hopes that by giving local seniors the opportunity to express their identity and challenge stereotypes in a fun and creative environment, they will be able to find their own voice and challenge negative attitudes towards ageing in the broader community,” she continues.
If you’re over 55 and would like to get involved, get in touch with TAC now!
The Arts Centre is currently taking registrations from people who would like to take part in the workshops. If you’re over 55 and would like to improve your skills in collage, textiles or ceramics, get in touch with Tuggeranong Arts centre today!
Registrations are now open for FREE workshops for people aged 55+ in ceramics, collage and textiles.
Head to www.tuggeranongarts.com or call 02 6293 1443 to find out more.
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