Hartford Art School to Host Lecture on Intergenerational Art-Making
The Hartford Art School will host a lecture by Elizabeth “Like” Lokon, who will present a talk about intergenerational art-making and how younger and older adults can use arts to build a more age-inclusive society. The lecture will be held on Feb. 8, at 5 p.m., in Auerbach Auditorium. Lokon is this year’s Koltenuk Arts in Healthcare lecture series speaker.
The lecture, titled “Scripps Gerontology Center’s Opening Minds through Art (OMA): Connecting generations through art-making” stems from OMA’s award-winning and evidence-based program. For 16 years, Scripps Gerontology Center at Miami University designed, implemented, and evaluated the Opening Minds through Art (OMA) program. OMA has connected younger and older adults using the arts to build an age-inclusive society. OMA pairs students with older adults who are living with dementia to form friendships and create art. A new virtual program, ScrippsAVID (Arts-based, Virtual, Intergenerational, and Dementia-Friendly), also connects older adults with students via video chat. This presentation will cover rationale for and benefits of the intergenerational relationships built through these programs.
About Elizabeth “Like” Lokon: Elizabeth “Like” Lokon, Ph.D., MGS founded Opening Minds through Art (OMA) in 2007 at Scripps Gerontology Center, Miami University. OMA is an intergenerational art program for people living with dementia. OMA has been replicated in 200+ communities throughout North America. In 2023, she implemented OMA in Indonesia as a Fulbright Scholar. She also developed ScrippsAVID (AVID stands for Arts-based, Virtual, Intergenerational, and Dementia-friendly). ScrippsAVID is a video-chat platform that connects generations to share the arts. Launched in 2023 with the support of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the NextFifty Initiative, ScrippsAVID seeks to reduce loneliness and ageism.
As an artist (BA-UC Berkeley, BFA-California College of the Arts), gerontologist (MGS-Miami), and educator (PhD-Miami), she frequently speaks on the intersection of the arts, dementia, and intergenerational service learning and has published in these areas. She has presented her work in North America, Europe and Asia. She is also a fiber artist.
The Arts & Healthcare lecture series is supported by the Koltenuk Endowed Fund held by the Hartford Art School Endowment, Inc.
