USU Art Museum Celebrates Creative Aging Movement With Culminating Exhibition

LOGAN — The Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art at Utah State University is excited to announce the culmination of this year's Creative Aging classes in partnership with the Cache County Senior Citizen Center.

The classes are sponsored by the City of Logan and taught through the Creative Aging model, a movement promoted by Lifetime Arts, a nonprofit foundation that supports the arts to serve, inspire and engage America's growing population of older adults.

The Creative Aging model seeks to increase skills in an art form, promote cognitive functions, and offer social opportunities to its participants. It also aims to educate the public about ageism and discrimination against older adults.

To further this mission, the Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art participated in a Lifetime Arts training sponsored by the Utah Division of Arts and Museums to learn how to employ the Creative Aging model effectively.

This year's Creative Aging classes consisted of a clay hand-building experience, with participants learning methods in pinch pots, coil pots, slab building and slump molding. The classes ran for seven 2-hour sessions at the Cache County Senior Center. Participants were encouraged to express their creativity through unique works of art.

“I created this work of art through instructions and patience,” said artist Shelley Hurtley. “Some of the things I learned while creating it were that things will turn out and that it is a slow process.”

NEHMA also has an exhibition entirely based on ceramics called Unearthed that they invite visitors to explore within the museum.

The culmination of the Creative Aging classes will take place at 11 a.m. March 2 at the Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art. The culminating exhibition and celebration will feature a short program with the senior artists discussing their work, a display of the artworks, and light refreshments. All are welcome to this public event.

“I created this work of art with my imagination, said artist Steve Hoedt. “I had no set plans. Some of the things I learned while creating were to enjoy myself and relax. While making this piece, I was surprised that a kid is still alive in me.”

NEHMA is located on the USU Logan campus and is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Visiting the museum is free of charge, and NEHMA offers free visitor parking in the lot behind the Rusell/Wanless Hall.

For more information, see the museum’s website (https://artmuseum.usu.edu/).