Meet Lata 65: Urban Art Workshops for Seniors

marieajames
24 juil. 2015
2 min de lecture

As we are getting closer and closer to the date of our next playground (it will be on July 31st, but shhh don’t tell anyone) – we are digging deeper into the topic of this next playground. And as we mentioned earlier this week on the blog, it will bring together play, city planning, collaboration and street art.

During our research we came across this article from the Creators Project about Portugal's Gang of Graffitiing Grandparents. Yes we are definitely talking about elderlies making street art together as part of the lovely project Lata 65 - a urban art workshop for seniors initiated by Lara Rodrigues. And we thought it’s A.W.E.S.O.M.E.

Photo: Lata 65

"Meet Portugal's oldest graffiti posse: a motley clan of retirees, virally known as "Graffiti Grandmas." These are the members of Lata 65, a WOOL Fest arts education group for seniors founded by Lara Rodrigues. For the past few years, Rodrigues has been dedicated to breaking down ageist stereotypes and cultural perceptions through her senior-focused theory seminars and two-day workshops. At the end of each session, the founder takes her class to the streets for a practical application of her lessons. These involve students' handmade stencils and copious amounts of spray paint".

As Lara Rodrigues mentions, what is most important in this project "is the process of participants understanding what they see in the city and demystifying these artistic expressions". Which this is close to what we aim to do in our next playground, during which will encourage participants to explore urban art as a way of participating in the creation of our cities.

And what we also like is that with Lata65 urban art becomes a mean for greater social and intergenerational inclusion, as members of the families of the participants are invited to accompany them and take part in the making of the murals.

Awesome, don't you think?

Read the full article by Sami Emory on the Creators Project. And stay tuned, as we’ll be very soon revealing everything about our new playground!