Older People Learning through Contemporary Visual Art – Engagement and Barriers

Abstract

This article addresses how older people understand and engage with contemporary art in the gallery context – whether there is something unique to the art, the format of the visits, the pedagogical approaches used by gallery educators, the social contact, or a combination of all these factors. It also addresses the psychosocial barriers to engagement. It draws from ‘Contemporary visual art and identity construction – wellbeing amongst older people’, a two‐year research project funded by the cross‐research council New Dynamic of Ageing Programme. Over 21 months, 43 participants aged 60–92 made three visits to contemporary art galleries in north‐east England. The potential for art galleries to develop lifelong learning opportunities for post‐retirement people has implications for the cultural, health and voluntary sector.

Experimental museology: institutions, representations, users,

“…These cases exemplify the elitist character of culture in Brazil and Latin America, where access to the production and consumption of culture is associated with economic power and formal education, both of which enable an understanding and appreciation of artisticcultural elaborations. Indeed, museums are not well-visited even when admission fees are very low, since a significant part of the population feels that they do not have the necessary knowledge to engage in such experiences (Goulding, 2013). However, museums can be a locus of emancipation when public access is improved (Castro, 2013(Castro, , 2016.…”

Development and Validation of the Elder Learning Barriers Scale Among Older Chinese Adults

“…According to some authors (e.g., Dench & Regan, 2000;Purdie & Boulton-Lewis, 2003;Wang et al, 2016), older people are mainly hindered by health-related factors (e.g., chronic illness, failing eyesight) when they want to engage in education and training. Other age-related barriers to participation include poor school experiences, lack of confidence and possible embarrassment (Purdie & Boulton-Lewis, 2003;Whitnall & Thompson, 2007), lack of motivation (Eilers, 1989), feelings of intellectual exclusion (Goulding, 2013), and fear of being out at night (Courtenay, 1989). Most of these age-related barriers fit into the classification from Cross (1981) as well as Darkenwald and Merriam (1982).…”