Amy Gorman

Aging Artfully 

Aging Artfully is the synthesis of Amy Gorman's experience working with aging and in the arts. Her work as a medical social worker with dementia and Alzheimer's patients led to her service as a board member at Lifelong Medical Care/Over 60 Clinic in Oakland, California, which addresses the medical and social needs of the aged.

Amy founded Kidshows in 1982, a non-profit arts organization, to introduce children to the arts, live theater, music, dance and storytelling. During her 18 years as its Executive Director, the professional performers she worked with shared many concerns about getting older and whether or not they could continue earning a living in their chosen art form.

She lives with her husband, George, in Berkeley - says she married him because of his resonant voice, also because he keeps her laughing. Their two adult sons, Ari and Phil, both professional musicians, live in the Bay Area.

Besides hanging out with women artists over 85 -- all aging gracefully, aging positively, and aging creatively-- and shmoozing with many friends, she likes to sculpt ceramic heads, scuba dive in the tropics, travel and watch penguins.

She is a member of the Association of Personal Historians (www.personalhistorians.org) as well as the Northern California Chapter of the organization. Her work showcased in November, 2007 as part of the conference of the International Institute for Reminiscence and Life Review (more about this in an upcoming newsletter).

She is giving presentations and showing the film at workshops and events all over the country. Please contact her if you are interested.

amygorman@agingartfully.com 510-527-4977

Reinventing Oneself Creatively
After Retirement

The other day I ran into an acquaintance at the Farmer’s Market as we were both picking through the multi-colored Heirloom tomatoes. She was someone I had worked with many years ago and it was good to see her again.

She told me with a big grin that she was soon to retire from her corporate job, about her excitement mixed with some trepidation. She had painted in earlier years but because of work commitments and family, her art had gone by the wayside. She was eager to get back to it and imagined joining classes, meeting new women friends, even showing her art in local cafes.