North Dakota Council on the Arts’ Art for Life Program in partnership with North Dakota State University (NDSU) School of Design, Architecture and Art, as well as folk artists are creating four unique sets of art kits with sequential skill-based art instruction videos accessible online for elders and children. Printmaking that incorporates folk art designs from East Indian Warli, Swedish bonadsmålning, Ojibwe floral beadwork, and Polish wycinanki is the focus.
To make the kits affordable, designed and adapted for elder mobility issues, and easily shipped, 3D printers with laser cutters will be used to create working 3D models of printing presses no bigger than a shoebox. The kits will include printing presses, art materials, creative ageing resources, and curriculum. The kits may stand-alone with online video instruction for individuals or led by activity directors and teachers; or they can be used by artists to complement in-person residencies.
To learn more, watch this video.
The printing will connect to occasions where greeting card exchanges are part of the already existing cultural practices of the elders connecting them to loved ones. An intergenerational component is an important part of the effort with schoolchildren participating in the printmaking and card exchange with elders through such things as pen pal programs.
These kits will be distributed to eldercare/service organizations that have an ongoing relationship with a school. They will be provided free of charge to one paired eldercare/service organization and school in 36 communities throughout North Dakota in spring/summer 2022. (A set of four kits will go to the eldercare organization and a set of four to their paired school partner).
Social distancing, quarantines, and other actions taken to protect people in the wake of Covid 19, or even with the annual flu season, can have a deleterious health impact due to isolation and loneliness. The kits and their associated activities are meant to address such situations by connecting people in a safe way.
The number of free kits is limited. If you are interested in receiving one, please contact Troyd Geist, NDCA folklorist at tgeist@nd.gov.
This activity is made possible by a grant provided by the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies in partnership with Aroha Philanthropies. In addition, the North Dakota Council on the Arts and NDSU School of Design, Architecture, and Art.