High school students and seniors shared stories as they painted with acrylics in the final “Therapy Through Art” class at Friendship Arms Apartments Nov. 4.
It was the last class for the four-week program, which featured two student artists guiding senior residents of the apartments in various art styles.
“You really realize by doing this how similar people are, and that even though most of them are less experienced artists than we are, that they still have a lot to offer us,” said Atiya Kingsland, a senior at Frederick Douglass High School who taught the class along with fellow senior Daphne Jackson, of Northwestern High School.
Kingsland and Jackson designed the class to give seniors a space to be creative, they said. The first class focused on pencil sketching, the second on watercolor painting, the third on collages and the fourth on acrylic painting, according to Marci LeFevre, who manages the City of Hyattsville’s services for seniors.
LeFevre said around 14-18 residents of Friendship Arms attended the class each week.
“It’s just relaxing,” said resident Renée Robinson in the middle of her second acrylic painting of the evening. “It makes you feel accomplished,” she continued.
Robinson said that having the class at the apartments made it much easier for her to come and spend time making art with her peers.
Her second painting featured a series of separate brush strokes marching along the canvas. Strokes of the same colors grouped together, with each group resting under a long blue stroke that stretched the length of the canvas.
After thinking about it, she decided to call the painting “A Parade of Colors.”
Making the class accessible for the many residents with disabilities was a top priority, said Heather Jackson, area director for the west area branches at Prince George’s County Memorial Library System, who did her own painting during the class.
“We needed to make sure that there were ways that folks could participate even if they did have some of those impediments,” she said.
Both she and LeFevre stressed the importance of seniors having strong social bonds, and said that making the class accessible gave them a place to forge those bonds. The class opened a space to talk about stories of the past, LeFevre said.
“We all have a story,” said Tonya Powell, a resident who participated Nov. 4.
She painted the word “SUPERWOMEN.” Reds, yellows, blues and greens all splash on the canvas, spelling out Powell’s declaration.
Powell has battled multiple sclerosis for 27 years and counting, she said.
“I’m a superwoman!” She declared with a grin.
LeFevre said that part of what made the class so valuable was having a chance to hear so many stories like Powell’s.
“You get this kernel of something about their lives that just blossoms, it otherwise would have been hidden,” she said.
Heather Jackson and LeFevre said they hope to be able to continue the class in the future.
Daphne Jackson, who also taught the class, agreed.
“I think this is such an important opportunity, because I think art should be taught everywhere and that everybody should get the opportunity to practice it,” she said.
The Hyattsville Branch Library and the city’s Aging and Wellness Services Program partnered to create the class, LeFevre said. A Naturally Occurring Retirement Community Grant from the state’s Department of Aging also helped make the class possible.