At 94, She’s the Hot New Thing in Painting
By DEBORAH SONTAG
Under a skylight in her tin-ceilinged loft near Union Square in Manhattan, the abstract painter Carmen Herrera, 94, nursed a flute of Champagne last week, sitting regally in the wheelchair she resents. After six decades of very private painting, Ms. Herrera sold her first artwork five years ago, at 89. Now, at a small ceremony in her honor, she was basking in the realization that her career had finally, undeniably, taken off Read More...
Studies On Baby Boomers - Interesting Facts Revealed
for Aging Homeowners
By ABHISHEK AGARWAL
If there was one generation that has shaped the way this country is now that is the baby boomers. Just look at everything that is around you from the workplace to science. Baby boomers have had a huge role in just about everything that has happened in the modern United States. Without them and their ideals, this country could be a vastly different place. First baby boomers need to be defined. While there are different variations of baby boomers, the group as a whole is considered the people born between 1946 and 1964. There was an increase of babies born after World War 2. With the economy becoming stable, families had the opportunity to grow and the birth rate increased. Baby boomers account for a huge part of the population now. Look at everything that went on while the baby boomers were growing up. It's not hard to figure out why the baby boomers had such a huge effect and they turned out the way they did. Baby boomers grew up during a time of civil unrest. Read More...
Studies Suggest There's An Art to Getting Older
Creative Activity May Have Health Benefits
By BETH BAKER Special to The Washington Post
In the Greenbelt Community Center, 25 elders sit in a circle, watching professional storyteller Candace Wolf. She moves around the circle, smiling, giving someone's shoulder a gentle squeeze, making eye contact. The artist, on the faculty of the nonprofit Bethesda-based Arts for the Aging (AFTA), enlists the group's help in creating a story, based on a silly photo she has passed around of a stocky older couple arm-wrestling. Most of her listeners seem engaged, going along with the gag. "Why are they wrestling?" Wolf asks. "He wants to go out to a bar, but she won't let him," one woman suggests. "She's smarter than he is, too," says another. A man in the circle rolls his eyes. "Why is he so strong?" Wolf asks. "Used to work on the railroad," offers another woman. Before long, a narrative has been spun, with threads offered by participants -- most of them people with dementia or other cognitive problems -- and woven by Wolf. She has adapted her storytelling workshops to this audience because studies suggest that making art, or even listening to music or viewing paintings, supports physical, mental and emotional well-being and eases some symptoms of illness, including dementia Read More...