Lifelong Arts Indiana

Angie Andriot (New Albany)
Visual Arts

I am a painter, working in both oil and acrylic.  Through art, I attempt to connect to a reality deeper than the one we can access with our senses. Although I work primarily as a painter (acrylic and oil), I also have a deep love for crafty art projects. For me, art is spiritual. The act of creating art expresses our own inner spark of divinity. Viewing art connects us to the artist and to a meaning that exists beyond both the viewer and the creator. My creative practice has been most active in my co-leadership role at the creative contemplative community called Limen Place.

Fellowship Project: Senior Portraits: A Painting Class

In this class, students paint a portrait from start to finish. The course involves a five-week exploration of the art of portraiture, including portrait photography using our phone cameras. Students learn skills such as framing a photo, angles, composition, and lighting, as well as paint mixing, brushwork, and other tips and tricks for painting a portrait.

Mary Ardery (West Lafayette)
Literature

I am a writer, primarily a poet.  My poem “Fear of Drowning” won the Academy of American Poets Prize.  My work as a writer is not just about the writing, but about bringing writers together.  I believe that I could be valuable to the elder population as a knowledgeable instructor in the art of poetry, and that our relationship would be symbiotic – I would learn from their wisdom.

Fellowship Project:  Poetry Class

Come read and write poetry together, once a week for 90 minutes. No experience necessary. Together, participants will mine past and present for poetic content, learning how to write list poems, epistolary poems, elegies, odes, and more. There will be an opportunity to share work aloud in a final event.

Dawn Kirsten Batson (Indianapolis)
Music

I have been teaching the steelband (known as the steel drum in the US) for over forty years. The ease with which a beginner can get a good sound from the steelband family of instruments makes new students excited and intrigued. The deep historical background of the instruments also adds to the experience.

Fellowship Project: Creating Joy - An Exploration of the Steel Ensemble (Steel Drums/Pans)

This program will utilize the instruments of the steel ensemble (steel drums/pans) and participants' stories of music and life, to create an intangible musical and communal tapestry. Participants will gain insight into the journeys of others, delve into the history of the instruments (the only family of acoustic instruments created in the 20th century), and gain the skills needed to play the pans.

Leota Bauman (Valparaiso)
Visual Arts

I work in watercolor, acrylic, mixed media, illustration, and graphic art.  My artistic life has always included a studio practice with teaching as a way to share my skills.  Whenever I have given my time and energy to others by sharing my art, I have always received unexpected blessings.

Fellowship Project: Golden Years Art Club

The Art Barn School, Valparaiso has partnered with artist Lee Bauman to form Golden Years Art Club (65+). The first 6-week session is going to celebrate food, farm animals, and nature. Equally important to artmaking, social activities and group conversations are integrated to create community. To celebrate accomplishments, Pines Village Community will host a public display and reception.

Michal Ann Carley (Bloomington)
Visual Arts

I work in drawing and painting, artglass, metal fabrication and forging, and limestone carving.  All the 3-D work is organically shaped with fire, pressure, and movement.  Older adults often find they are no longer engaged with their previous occupation or skills.  There is still a need for relevance, accomplishment, delight, and socialization, and the creative arts can offer that.

Fellowship Project: The Language of Nature and Self in Drawn Compositions

The program is designed to teach basic manual and observational skills but can evolve in complexity if so desired. The skill development uses an array of senses as it asks the participant to make expressive physical movements, more controlled dexterous movements that use the brain and body to analyze, measure, and observe, and the heart to respond to and find beauty in their mark making. As the creative process and memories of nature connect participants to a sense of awe, it will also build trust through shared discoveries and disclosures.

Karen Chilman (Commiskey)
Visual Arts

My personal artwork consists of painted portraits, live painting at events, multimedia abstracts, scenic work, clay work, and jewelry.  I was named the Art Education Association of Indiana’s Teacher of the Year on two occasions- once for middle school and once for high school. Since participating in the 2021 Lifelong Arts program, I have taught five other creative aging courses- including pastel, acrylic, multi-media and watercolor.

Fellowship Project:  Basic Drawing Skills: Creating a Personal Still Life

Participants will learn basic drawing skills in a safe, collegial environment over six to eight sessions, in person or online. Working through each drawing to build skills and empower participants to create a finished work that will be shown in a gallery setting.  Participants will choose from a variety of still life objects, either in studio or at home to arrange into a personal still life.

Janet Chilton (Carmel)
Visual Arts

I am a lifelong artist, designer, and maker with a B.A. in design.  After returning to Indianapolis from Tulsa, I used the expressive arts for personal growth and healing, which led me to grad school to study mind/body health.  Through my work in Life Enrichment at two retirement communities, I worked with elders who delighted in expanding their creative horizons. My latest expressive arts projects incorporate digital arts using an iPad.

Fellowship Project:  Foundations of Color Mixing with Acrylic Paints

This foundational color course will give students an opportunity to paint an expressive art mandala while learning practical color theory. Students will learn to use professional color terminology, confidently mix color and identify resources for future color exploration. Understanding color is a lifetime process. The goal of the course is to inspire students to continue this joyful path of discovery.

Lynn Darda (Winamac)
Visual Arts

I have been working in mixed media and papercrafts for nearly 20 years.  I have been published several times in papercrafting magazines for my card-making entries.  Being instrumental in bringing new resources to older adults in my rural community will be an exciting and new challenge for me.

Fellowship Project: Let's Gogh: Adventures in Watercolor

The proposed project will provide adults over the age of 55 with sequential instruction, over a 6 week period, on using watercolors to paint landscapes. The final project will allow participants to create a work of art illustrating a travel destination of their choice.

Kenya Ferrand-Ott (West Lafayette)
Visual Arts

I am a wildlife artist working in illustration and realism.  I have worked with an assisted living community to teach a variety of painting and technique classes.  They liked being told that they don’t need expensive tools, the only thing you need is time.

Fellowship Project: Drawing and Watercolor Magic

Melissa Gallant (Indianapolis)
Music

I am a classically trained harpist and teaching artist.  Incorporating improvisation through forays into jazz and folk music traditions is my current pursuit.  Throughout my career, I have maintained a private teaching studio working with both children and adults.  During the pandemic, I have become more aware of how sharing arts learning with a group of fellow learners can build a sense of community.

Fellowship Project: Tuneful Harps at Witherspoon

The Tuneful Harps at Witherspoon program offers in person social engagement through an in person harp class. Participants will learn the parts of the harp, how to identify strings, proper posture and hand position, and how to play short musical selections in this six week class. A seventh session will be the culminating event. Each weekly session will last 90 minutes. No previous musical experience is required. Reading music is not necessary to participate fully in this class. Participants will be introduced to leading African American harpists through videos and discussions. Guests may be invited to the final sharing performance opportunity.

Sandra Gay (Indianapolis)
Theatre

Contact Ms. Gay at sgay2019@outlook.com

Fellowship Project: Afternoon Delight - Exploring the POCA Possibilities (POCA; People of a Certain Age)

Afternoon Delight - Exploring the POCA Possibilities will be designed to show just what POCA's are capable of. (POCA - People of a Certain Age) The project will inform participants as to the rigors of both performing and producing an event. The event mantra is: Start where you are, Use what you have, Do what you can...and laugh as much as you can along the way. The sessions will involve script reading, easy movement for the actor, presentation and performance techniques, and simple marketing.  The project will inform participants about performing and producing a product.

Devon Ginn (Indianapolis)
Literature

Contact Devon at dcgnoved@gmail.com

I am the Programs & Outreach Manager at the historic Madam Walker Legacy Center.  Outside of my day job, I serve on the board at the Indiana Writer’s Center and also lead meditative sound bath experiences with Haven Wellness Collective.  My grandmother is responsible for the artist I am today, and I would love to help seniors feel supported and cared for.

Fellowship Project: The Mindful Chronicle: Sound & Reflection

Dive into an immersive voyage of opulent sound and self-discovery. To facilitate this creative writing activation, Devon uses crystal/ brass singing bowls, tuning forks, chimes, indigenous instruments, and guided breathing. Today and every day, you're invited to relax and reflect.

Emily Guerrero (Fort Wayne)
Traditional Arts

Contact Emily at Em@Mexica-Arts.com

I am a cultural arts storyteller and installation artist.  The emphasis of my work is on my ancestral heritage of Mexica-arts.  I share my knowledge and experiences of my Mexican ancestral traditions, arts, music, and food through demonstrations and storytelling.

Fellowship Project:  Create & Celebrate Arts with Flowers

"Create & Celebrate with Flowers" gathers elders to create and celebrate diversity of arts and traditions involving flowers in a five part series of weekly workshops, beginning April 2022 to culminate with a showcase event on May 5, 2022. The showcase event is open to the community in the downtown arts district of Huntington, Indiana.

Jean Harper (Uniondale)
Literature

I am a nonfiction writer and poet.  Still Life with Horses (2017) and Rose City: A Memoir of Work (2005) are two of my award-winning memoirs. In 2020, I was selected by Indiana Humanities to present a creative writing workshop leading participants to write their own memoirs.  I am humbled and dazzled by the authenticity and commitment in the work of participants in their later years.

Portia Jackson (Indianapolis)
Theatre

Through my storytelling, I have educated people about Black History, Juneteenth, the Underground Railroad, and other stories.  I have received awards for education, leadership, and performing arts from the Indianapolis Jewish Community Center, Indiana NAACP Youth Summit, US Artistic Olympics, and the Coalition of 100 Black Women.  Storytelling allows us to create a safe village for elders to learn from the youth as well as share their own knowledge.

Fellowship Project: Comfort and Joy; Recipe and Story Sharing

The  Comfort and Joy sessions will allow participants  to create  personal stories based on their favorite recipes while learning storytelling performance techniques. The final session of Comfort and Joy will showcase the participant stories and prepared recipes.

Tammeron Jonesfrancis (Muncie)
Crafts

Ceramic art has been a pursuit for 5 years and I have worked in architecture and design for thirty.  I am co-owner of ClayWood LLC, a ceramic art studio.  Drawing is my principal interest but, rather than paper, my drawings are now more often painted or drawn on clay surfaces.  Making something and expressing the inward-self out can change our mood, outlook, and improve our bodies.  For an instructor, to be in that atmosphere of rediscovery is a pleasure.

Fellowship Project: Story Telling Pottery for a Meal

We take pleasure in making something with our hands that springs from our design and can be used by ourselves and a community. Preparing meals might be the most common example of the pleasure of making amid a community. Everyone eats and meals are the time to share stories. This five session workshop brings together the craft of meal-making with the making of pottery tableware as a means to tell stories about the meals and the foods we love and have enjoyed in the past. Participants will learn basic hand-building pottery techniques including: clay preparation and treatment, basic pottery-ware construction such as bowls and cups as well as decorating techniques. The fifth and final workshop meeting will be a potluck meal outdoors using pottery made during the workshop.

Elizabeth Leachman  (South Bend)
Dance

Contact Elizabeth at elizabethleachman@gmail.com

In my work with various community development organizations, like Downtown Southbend, I often used my dance training to bring innovative, fun experiences to the community.  I found joy in dance by structuring my classes and outreach to ensure any person could participate.  It is now my mission to bring dance to anybody that wants to learn, regardless of pre-conceived barriers that the dance worlds often imposes.

Fellowship Project: Discovering Movement for Older Adults

Funding will be used to provide inspirational dance and movement opportunities for older adults that bring joy, care, and health to their lives. This dance program for older adults aims to provide fun and meaningful social and artistic experiences through classical dance, including ballet, jazz, modern, and yoga. Over the course of five sessions, students will learn the basics of various dance techniques, stretching and strengthening exercise, and will end with a culminating dance routine that shows off their exciting new skills. Dance classes aim to provide seniors an opportunity to be active, develop refined motor skills and mind-body awareness, and maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Debra Levy (Fort Wayne)
Literature

I have been writing full-time for about seven years, following my retirement from teaching.  Working mostly in the short-story and flash fiction format, my writing has been nominated for numerous awards and selected for the prestigious Wigleaf Top 50 List as well as selected as a finalist for the Jeanne Leiby Chapbook Award.  Writing can be a historical document handed down to younger generations so they can learn about their ancestors, learn their stories.

Fellowship Project: Your Story Begins, in a Flash!

Requested funds will be used to offer five consecutive writing classes (each 90 minutes in length) at the Fort Wayne Community Center (which offers programming for older learners 55+), and will specifically cover teaching expenses, blog set-up and maintenance, learning materials (notebooks, pencils, handouts), and refreshments for the culminating event—an informal participant reading and party at the Center.

Wacey Robertson (Terre Haute)
Music

I am a multi-instrumentalist with 10 years of experience.  Percussion, the drum set, and music business were my primary areas of study in college.  I currently work as a music instructor and band director at The Community School of the Arts at Indiana State University as well as freelancing for various bands. Music as an art form is ever-changing, much like the people that play it.  The ability to adapt and allow yourself to be molded by your student is just as beneficial as sharing your music with them.

Fellowship Project: Creative Aging Series: Ukulele for Beginners

The fellowship funding will be used to enrich local communities through music. The project will aim to help our 55 and better residents realize their goals of trying something different and creative through music. The funding will support the purchase of needed supplies to tailor a class towards this demographic.

Darlene Rosario-Reese (East Chicago)
Multidisciplinary

I have been an art educator for the last 7 years in East Chicago, Indiana.  My work has been selected to hang in the state capital on two different occasions: once in the office of the Lt. Governor and once in the Treasurer’s suite of offices.   For me, teaching does not feel like a job, it feels like a gift I didn’t know I wanted.

Greg Rose (Indianapolis)
Visual Arts

I am an Indianapolis-based artist who has been creating content that births new narratives and experiences for marginalized folx in a way that honors the past, present, and futures full time since 2019.  My artistic work expands across multiple genres including curating, directing, sculpting, and visual arts.  I am a seeker of wisdom and our elders can teach me just as much as I can teach them, if not more.

Paula Scott-Frantz (Indianapolis)
Visual Arts

I work in fiber art and design, felt making, garment making, Eco Dyeing, Chinese brush painting, and multimedia.  Numerous organizations have shown my work and engaged me to teach including Newfields, the Indianapolis Jewish Community Center Gallery, and the Zionsville Cultural Arts Center.  It’s a profoundly rewarding feeling to help another person express their own creativity.  I have found that felt-making provides a magical way for older adults to express themselves.

Fellowship Project:  A Visual Anthology of Personal Stories: Felt Paintings

Thought the course Felted Anthology, each participant will creatively capture a memory or event from their life story as a handmade felt wall hanging. Participants will learn several enjoyable fiber art processes, including needle felting, wet felting, and techniques that form wool into 3D felted shapes. This course encourages a new look at sharing life stories through fiber, empathy, and creative joy.

Peggy Taylor (Westphalia)
Crafts

My work is primarily weaving, but includes many related fiber arts, such as spinning, dyeing, stitchery, and knitting.  The work I do is based on traditional domestic weaving that was common in the early 18th and 19th centuries. I have been included in Early American Life magazine’s Directory of America’s Best Craftsmen since 2015.  My interest in working with older adults is in sharing the knowledge and skills that I have while getting to listen to the stories these older folks share. I also teach acrylic painting to senior learners in a sequential format, designed to be a successful creative experience for those with little to no previous painting experience.

Fellowship Project:  Woven Together

Woven Together is a series of classes in Saori weaving, on 4-harness looms, for older students in the community of New Harmony. These visual arts experiences will build skills sequentially and foster social engagement, through the Saori method of weaving, a very freeing, creative and individualistic approach. A public art exhibit of student work will be held at the culmination of the project.

Jennifer Weinert (Kewanna)
Multidisciplinary

Contact Jennifer at diamondhill.duo@gmail.com

For over three decades, I have provided educational, therapeutic, and spoken art experiences for individuals with various abilities.  As a multi-disciplinary artist, I find particular interest in storytelling, photography, drawing, acrylics, bookbinding, and printmaking.  When applying process-oriented and contemplative practices, such as collage, free form mandalas, journaling; people at any age can learn to express themselves fully and confidently.

Fellowship Project: Story in Three Dimensions: A Multi-Medium Collage Experience

Participants will learn important steps to creating a work of art from concept to completion by exploring the principles of collage. Working alongside others they will explore ways to express themselves through imagery, learn to incorporate elements of design, how to choose materials and engage in creative exchange, all of which can be applied to future visual art and storytelling endeavors.

Roberta Wong (Indianapolis)
Dance

I danced professionally with Boston Ballet, Indianapolis Ballet Theater, and Dance Kaleidoscope.  Compelled by a belief that dance can be useful for all, I attended Dance for Parkinson's and Hubbard Street Adaptive Dance teacher training workshops.  As a middle-of-life artist, I remain committed to dance, its exploration, and the evolution I am experiencing as a retired dancer who feels dance is valuable at any age.

Fellowship Project: Ballet. Connected.

Ballet. Connected. engages older adult learning in group activity to learn, share, create and enjoy through ballet dance techniques, culminating in a shared creative dance experience.