Retirees find joy and community at this art class at a Miami museum
Music played softly in the background as older adults —don’t call them seniors!— quietly worked on their final art pieces at a five-week free community art class at Pérez Art Museum Miami.
One woman carefully painted from a photo of three women balancing baskets on their heads. A man added papier-mâché texture to his painting of a cat.
Others chatted softly, giving each other advice and encouragement.
“I do what the canvas wants,” said Orlando Airas, 64, a retired designer, smiling at his classmate.
The classroom for the Creative Aging program, a free art program for participants over age 55, is on the museum’s second floor in a light-filled room with a beautiful view of Biscayne Bay, the port, and downtown Miami. The students spend four weeks taking classes and working on their art in preparation for a final gallery exhibition in the fifth week. They take a small break midway through their class each day for tea and sweets.
The students also learned about the museum’s history and its collection of contemporary art through a guided tour.
Past cohorts of students explored other mediums like book-making, textiles, and ceramics.
Nereida García Ferraz, a renowned Cuban American painter, was the students’ professor for this series of classes.
As she addressed the class, she described painting as a personal activity and told her students that “the act of taking an instrument, moving it around the space, creating an image — that is such an incredible luxury.”
“It is a luxury for your spirit, mind, and muscles,” she said.
“I’m just a vehicle for them to work and open up about their creative ideas,” said Ferraz, who over five weeks taught her 15 painting students about color theory, shadows and lights, and figure drawing.
“She’s our coach,” one participant chimed in warmly.
The program is funded by philanthropist E.A. Michelson, and the Pérez Museum is just one of over 25 institutions with similar programs. Since 2013, E.A. Michelson Philanthropy has invested over $15 million in these programs.
Orlando Airas, 64, a retired designer, painted a face in a purple box. Airas said the figure in his painting is supposed to represent a survivor. “She is saying, you can punch and bruise me all you want, but I can overcome it.”
Marie Vickles, the museum’s senior director of education, says the program tries to raise awareness around ageism and the importance of community for older adults.
“The demand for these programs is through the roof,” she said.
Participants have to submit an application answering questions about why they want to participate and how they will benefit from the program.
Nicole Combeau, the program coordinator, says she tries to pick a diverse group of participants — some with art experience, and some without. Since the program began in 2023, it has served over 224 people from over 20 countries.
She usually gets 40-70 applications and only accepts 15 students.
This year’s cohort included budding artists from all over the world — from Peru to Bosnia to the United Kingdom.
Alums of the program include federal judges, surgeons, and Colombian immigrant mothers who spent their working years in textile factories in New York.
Combeau says the program aims to challenge the idea that life ends at retirement. “This is a way to make sure they’re still active, that they don’t fall into the stereotype of disintegrating,” she said.
Jacqui Love Thornell, 77, says that the most profound suggestion she received from Ferraz was to take her time while painting.
“In slowing down, I saw things differently,” she said. But it has not been without difficulty for Thornell, as she has struggles to hold her hand steady and also struggles with her vision.
But the group’s encouragement made it easier.
“You just feel like you can do it because everyone is cheering you on,” she said.
Mirna De Los Santos, 82, a mother of three from the Dominican Republic who worked for two decades as a social worker for government agencies, was in tears as she spoke to her classmates and teacher on the final working day before the exhibition.
She said that after her first day of class, she wanted to leave because she had never painted in her life and was intimidated by the other artists who had more experience.
“I thought to myself, I don’t belong,” she said.
But Ferraz encouraged her, telling her that her painting was “amazing.”
De Los Santos said that motivated her to continue. As she presented her final artwork to her classmates, she said, “I know it’s not the best in the world, but for me it’s a masterpiece.”
Two women, Maja Guzina, 64, and Macarena Maiman, 59, both applied and were accepted into the class together. Guzina survived thyroid cancer, and her friend Macarena survived breast cancer.
“We fought and we are here,” said Guzina.
Children, grandchildren, and friends all gathered with the students inside the Pérez Gallery on a Saturday afternoon for the final exhibition, congratulating each other and celebrating their accomplishments.
The organizers of the program were celebrating this cohort of artists, but were also celebrating the news that their funding will be extended for another two years.
At the exhibition, Ferraz encouraged the students to keep making art.
“Go home, find a space in your house, and keep going back to painting. Make a space for it in your life,” she told the artists.
