Sculpting the bonds between students and seniors

Shannon Rose

March 2009

Students and seniors often have misconceptions about each other. The Yellow Door and N.D.G.’s Centennial Academy are coming together to break the generation barrier.

“This project came about when I wanted to match the group of seniors that I was working with on a weekly basis with students because I felt that they were such a dynamic and lively group,” said Dominique Desroches, coordinator of the Yellow Door seniors social club.

The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts gives organizations such as these a chance to use their resources and tailor projects to their needs.

“I really believe in the value of intergenerational programs because of what it gives to both the students and the seniors – a better understanding of different generations,” Desroches said. “There are a lot of stereotypes going both ways.”

She says the seniors she works with were ambivalent about working with students when she proposed the project. “They imagined loud, boisterous kids who maybe weren’t very respectful.”

Ben Sklieas and Claude Serebrykoff

“I don’t usually talk with seniors,” says Ben Sklieas, a Centennial student. “I spend most of my time with teens. It’s fun getting to learn about different types of people. Over the past few months I’ve been forming friendships with everyone – seniors included.”

The group has been meeting at the museum at the end of every month since October. Past art projects include a still life drawing of an object that they felt represented them, and a collage of newspaper clippings, drawings, and pictures that were important to them.“The whole theme of the project is around telling your story,” Desroches said. “I really wanted it to be about sharing lived experiences. A teenager’s lived experience is very different from someone who has lived in 10 countries and is 85 and retired.”

Desroches explained that while the students don’t have as much experience, they can still bring their diverse backgrounds and personalities to the project. And she said they have a great deal to learn from the seniors. This month, the group members were instructed to make clay sculptures of people who had influenced their lives. Leona Olioff, a Yellow Door member, said she enjoys the entire experience. “I love to create things. It can be so ridiculous, but it’s wonderful to get your hands dirty. I’m not really good at following rules and instructions, but I make something – and that’s just about the best thing there is.”

Desroches said that at the first meeting it was a group of “seniors” and a group of “students” getting to know each other. “But now it’s not really a group of seniors and a group of students – it’s a group that’s working together. It’s really nice to see the barriers broken down