Folk Art and Aging: Life-Story Objects and Their Makers

Author:   Jon Kay
Publisher:   Indiana University Press
ISBN:  

9780253022066


Pages:   146
Publication Date:   08 August 2016
Format:   Hardback
Availability:   In Print   Availability explained
This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us.

Our Price $113.95 Quantity:  
Add to Cart

Share |

Folk Art and Aging: Life-Story Objects and Their Makers


Add your own review!

Overview

Growing old doesn't have to be seen as an eventual failure but rather as an important developmental stage of creativity. Offering an absorbing and fresh perspective on aging and crafts, Jon Kay explores how elders choose to tap into their creative and personal potential through making life-story objects. Carving, painting, and rug hooking not only help seniors to cope with the ailments of aging and loneliness but also to achieve greater satisfaction with their lives. Whether revived from childhood memories or inspired by their capacity to connect to others, meaningful memory projects serve as a lens for focusing on, remaking, and sharing the long-ago. These activities often help elders productively fill the hours after they have raised their children, retired from their jobs, and/or lost a loved one. These individuals forge new identities for themselves that do not erase their earlier lives but build on them and new lives that include sharing scenes and stories from their memories.

Full Product Details

Author:   Jon Kay
Publisher:   Indiana University Press
Imprint:   Indiana University Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 1.40cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.363kg
ISBN:  

9780253022066


ISBN 10:   0253022061
Pages:   146
Publication Date:   08 August 2016
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Undergraduate ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print   Availability explained
This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments Introduction: Folk Art and Aging 1. Bob Taylor: Stories in Wood and Words 2. Gustav Potthoff: Memory Paintings 3. Marian Sykes: Recalling Memories and Making Rugs 4. John Schoolman: Objects, Life Review, and Sociability 5. Milan Opacich: Life-Story Displays and Narratives Conclusion: Life-Story Objects and Aging in Indiana Bibliography Index

Reviews

Drawing on case studies of five well-chosen Indiana artisans-wood sculptor, rag-rug weaver, musical instrument maker, painter, and maker of wood canes-Kay offers a thoughtful, revealing meditation on the relationship between aging and art making... Highly recommended. -Choice Reviews An approachable and valuable book... a masterful assessment of the relationship between folk art and the construction of personal narratives, in this case among a selection of elderly individuals from Indiana. -Daniel C. Swan, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Oklahoma and Curator of Ethnology at the Sam Noble Museum A very important contribution to scholarship in folklife, material culture studies, and gerontology studies... an imminently readable book... This is the first book I know of that so carefully first renders specific portraits of older artists, then sensitively and acutely analyzes how the construction and sharing of their work realizes this meaning making. -Marsha MacDowell, Professor of Art History at Michigan State University and Curator of Folk Art at Michigan State University Museum All too often, aging is regarded merely as an end-of-life period, and therefore those within that age-defined category are often treated in a somewhat condescending manner, as if lumped into one clinical entity, with similar needs and aspirations. Kay presents case studies which clearly stand as counter to such narrow thinking and generalizations regarding seniors and their abilities to interact in, and contribute to, their communities and society. -


All too often, aging is regarded merely as an end-of-life period, and therefore those within that age-defined category are often treated in a somewhat condescending manner, as if lumped into one clinical entity, with similar needs and aspirations. Kay presents case studies which clearly stand as counter to such narrow thinking and generalizations regarding seniors and their abilities to interact in, and contribute to, their communities and society. Drawing on case studies of five well-chosen Indiana artisans-wood sculptor, rag-rug weaver, musical instrument maker, painter, and maker of wood canes-Kay offers a thoughtful, revealing meditation on the relationship between aging and art making. . . . Highly recommended. * Choice Reviews *


A very important contribution to scholarship in folklife, material culture studies, and gerontology studies.... an imminently readable book.... This is the first book I know of that so carefully first renders specific portraits of older artists, then sensitively and acutely analyzes how the construction and sharing of their work realizes this meaning making. Marsha MacDowell, Professor of Art History at Michigan State University and Curator of Folk Art at Michigan State University Museum


An approachable and valuable book... a masterful assessment of the relationship between folk art and the construction of personal narratives, in this case among a selection of elderly individuals from Indiana. -Daniel C. Swan, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Oklahoma and Curator of Ethnology at the Sam Noble Museum A very important contribution to scholarship in folklife, material culture studies, and gerontology studies... an imminently readable book... This is the first book I know of that so carefully first renders specific portraits of older artists, then sensitively and acutely analyzes how the construction and sharing of their work realizes this meaning making. -Marsha MacDowell, Professor of Art History at Michigan State University and Curator of Folk Art at Michigan State University Museum Drawing on case studies of five well-chosen Indiana artisans-wood sculptor, rag-rug weaver, musical instrument maker, painter, and maker of wood canes-Kay offers a thoughtful, revealing meditation on the relationship between aging and art making... Highly recommended. -Choice Reviews


Author Information

Jon Kay is Professor of Practice and Director of Traditional Arts Indiana in the Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology at Indiana University Bloomington.

Tab Content 6

Author Website:  

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

No review item found!

Add your own review!

Countries Available

All regions
Latest Reading Guide

Aorrng

Shopping Cart
Your cart is empty
Shopping cart
Mailing List