OCM BOCES students and Parkrose Estates residents partner for intergenerational art show

On Thursday, February 28, 2013, the collaborative artwork of students from the OCM BOCES REACH program (grades 7 & 8) and senior residents of Parkrose Estates Retirement Community was on display at the senior living facility in Liverpool. The intergenerational art exhibit, “Freedom of the Arts,” was open for two public viewings that day; one from 1:00 to 3:00 PM and one from 5:30 to 7:30 PM.

For two months leading up to the exhibit, the senior living facility and the school had been working together to present a truly intergenerational and unique art exhibit. On multiple occasions, students visited the facility and worked with residents to create shared pieces of art. Those joint creations were displayed at the show, along with a variety of artwork in various other media and photographs of the student/resident teams.

Earlier this year, Carolyn Lincoln, the Director of Fun at Parkrose Estates, sought out Renae Montroy, a School Social Worker at OCM BOCES, about the project. The school and retirement community have successfully worked together in the past and Lincoln thought the art show collaboration would be a good fit between the two. She said, “Spectrum [Retirement Communities, LLC.,] who owns Parkrose, hosted art exhibits at all 25 of their facilities across the United States this February. At Parkrose, we wanted our intergenerational art show to include students from OCM BOCES.”

Montroy was excited about the idea of the students’ collaborating with Parkrose residents. She said, “We’ve done a lot of things with Parkrose in the past where the kids were able to interact with and learn from residents. I think this project has been the best collaboration so far. The students really had a chance to spend time with residents as they created artwork together. Even when some students appeared unsure about participating in the event, they truly enjoyed the time they spent with the residents. As one student talked about his apprehension, he said that he thought it wouldn’t be fun or interesting but in the end he didn’t want to leave. He connected well with the ladies he worked with and he really enjoyed his experience.”

Students in other OCM BOCES programs have also contributed to Parkrose Estates’ Freedom of the Arts show and had their works displayed along with their peers. Many of these students were guided and supported by their OCM BOCES art teachers, Leah LaChausse from the Career Academy in Liverpool and Pamela Macnabb from the STARS Alternative High School in Solvay. Additionally, artwork from residents, family members and also preschool students from the Child Time day care facility in Liverpool was exhibited at the show.

Carolyn Lincoln extended an invitation to the community to attend the special event. She said, “We really wanted the kids to be able to come to the event and to have their families present also so we decided to offer two viewings. We’re very excited about this and can’t wait to see the reactions of everyone involved when they see the awesome work!”

For more information about OCM BOCES alternative education programs, contact Karen Clark, Director of Alternative Education at 315/952-7847 or kclark@ocmboces.org.