Embraced Inc

The Centenarian Portrait Project by Teenagers is a professional community arts project that promotes inter-generational friendship, celebrates elders and fights the negative ageing stigma.

Following the culmination of a life-affirming inter-generational process, an art exhibition profiles 100 centenarians through portraits created by skilled young artists largely from local secondary schools. For most of our artists it is an opportunity to meet a centenarian for the first time; for our centenarians a chance to share history and for both generations a memorable experience exchanging perspectives.

Via a centenarian and artist call out, our pairs are matched geographically. Following this a guided initial introduction takes place lead by our staff. From this point the artists visit their partnered centenarian multiple times. During these visits sketches are created, photos shot and a portrait approach established amongst conversation that is always memorable. Following these get-to-know-you sessions the artists return to their studios to complete their portraits.

Post exhibition, the portraits are gifted to the centenarians and their families.

This project is a celebration of our oldest community members. Seniors citizens have the ability to contribute well past retirement age. Here a platform is provided for our centenarians to do precisely this. The sharing of wisdom, stories and past experiences is real life education, it´s oral history and it is just as important as what our kids learn in the classroom.

When you engage with someone from a different generation, you are pushed to consider another point of view. This is a quality that we need our young people to develop. Empathy, understanding and sensitive communication are skills that will benefit our youth long into the future and assist in the creation of a more harmonious community.

In October 2017, The Centenarian Portrait Project by Teenagers presented 100, a celebration of Melbourne´s oldest residents, as part of the Victorian Seniors Festival. This followed on from a pilot project, where the concept was originally tried and tested at Bird´s Gallery in March 2017. The donations will be used to bring this project to Sydney and enable 200 participants (100 teenage artists & 100 centenarians) to be a part of it. Donations will cover the gallery hire, art supplies, public liability and volunteer insurance  essential in making this project happen.

Please see some of the comments left at the gallery during the 100 exhibition in Melbourne from our gallery-goers: 

´A beautiful exhibition that brings a tear to the eye, along with a giggle!´  

´Better than The Archies, I would love to see this every year!´ 

´A natural fit; the generous spirit of the old embracing the enthusiasm of the young. Expressive and insightful.´

´We are always learning about the next generation and the one before us.´

A stunning exploration of inter-generational conversations through art.

´´A richly meaningful project – beneficial to all who participated and inevitably will have a ripple effect for a long time to come.

Did you see The Centenarian Portrait Project on Channel Nine News? 

If not, you can see the clip via this link:https://vimeo.com/215467555

The funds will be used to:

• purchase art supplies to provide our artists with the means to crete their works 
• pay the gallery hire 
• pay for the installation of the works
• pay for public liability insurance and volunteer insurance

The format of this project has been tried and tested in the pilot project (March 2017). It was very positively received by the community. Challenges that we came across in the pilot project were: 

• Finding centenarians in the community to participate. To tackle this, we are working directly with a number of nursing homes and will be putting a call out for centenarians in the media. 
• Ensuring artists finish and submit their portraits and accompanying texts by the deadline. To overcome this, artists will be required to sign an artist agreement.