A recent study examined the impact that art has on older women. The study examined women’s motives for visual art-making and the impact that producing art has on their lives.

The age of the participants ranged from 60-86 years, with the median age of 70. Among the women, the majority of them had worked in a full-time or part-time career until retirement and nearly all took up art as a hobby after retirement. The researchers interviewed each participant on their subjective well-being and focused on the role that art played in their life.

The women described the contribution of art-making as a way to attain a richer mental life. For example, artistic projects have become a source of life satisfaction for respondents. One respondent responds in the study “That sense of challenge and learning. ..it’s helped me through a lot of what could have been very dead periods, you know. To have something constructive. To me it’s all important that you do something… and not just sit and watch television”.

Artistic projects were also a way for these elder women to find connections to the environment and other people. Art-making was shown to increase the participants’ attention to the aesthetic nature of their surroundings. Participants reported that they recognized a new sense of detail in nature. They also found the ability to make connections with other people through artistic opportunities. Because many of these women have retired from work, the interaction with others outside of their immediate friends and family became limited. However, artistic involvement allowed them to build a reciprocal relationship with others and in enhance their social life.

Older women have also found that art can be utilized as a coping mechanism. “It all began about six years ago. My husband was suffering from senile dementia and became difficult. I used to get 2 hours respite once a week and discovered a painting class… it makes me feel alive”(Jan, 86). By adding art into their life, these older women displayed an openness to life, increased cognitive stimulation, and a more positive perception of how they felt about aging.

This study confirms that service providers who provide arts education and programming can enhance the quality of life of their clients.

Source: Reynolds, F. ‘Color and Communion’: Exploring the influence of visual art-making as a leisure activity on older women’s subjective well being. Journal of Aging Studies 24: 135-143.