Jon Kay – författare

Growing old doesn't have to be seen as an eventual failure but rather as an important developmental stage of creativity. Offering an absorbing and fresh perspective on aging and crafts, Jon Kay explores how elders choose to tap into their creative and personal potential through making life-story objects. Carving, painting, and rug hooking not only help seniors to cope with the ailments of aging and loneliness but also to achieve greater satisfaction with their lives. Whether revived from childhood memories or inspired by their capacity to connect to others, meaningful memory projects serve as a lens for focusing on, remaking, and sharing the long-ago. These activities often help elders productively fill the hours after they have raised their children, retired from their jobs, and/or lost a loved one. These individuals forge new identities for themselves that do not erase their earlier lives but build on them and new lives that include sharing scenes and stories from their memories.

Growing old doesn't have to be seen as an eventual failure but rather as an important developmental stage of creativity. Offering an absorbing and fresh perspective on aging and crafts, Jon Kay explores how elders choose to tap into their creative and personal potential through making life-story objects. Carving, painting, and rug hooking not only help seniors to cope with the ailments of aging and loneliness but also to achieve greater satisfaction with their lives. Whether revived from childhood memories or inspired by their capacity to connect to others, meaningful memory projects serve as a lens for focusing on, remaking, and sharing the long-ago. These activities often help elders productively fill the hours after they have raised their children, retired from their jobs, and/or lost a loved one. These individuals forge new identities for themselves that do not erase their earlier lives but build on them and new lives that include sharing scenes and stories from their memories.

Can traditional arts improve an older adult's quality of life? Are arts interventions more effective when they align with an elder's cultural identity? In The Expressive Lives of Elders, Jon Kay and contributors from a diverse range of public institutions argue that such mediations work best when they are culturally, socially, and personally relevant to the participants. From quilting and canning to weaving and woodworking, this book explores the role of traditional arts and folklore in the lives of older adults in the United States, highlighting the critical importance of ethnographic studies of creative aging for both understanding the expressive lives of elders and for designing effective arts therapies and programs. Each case study in this volume demonstrates how folklore and traditional practices help elders maintain their health and wellness, providing a road map for initiatives to improve the lives and well-being of America's aging population.

Can traditional arts improve an older adult's quality of life? Are arts interventions more effective when they align with an elder's cultural identity? In The Expressive Lives of Elders, Jon Kay and contributors from a diverse range of public institutions argue that such mediations work best when they are culturally, socially, and personally relevant to the participants. From quilting and canning to weaving and woodworking, this book explores the role of traditional arts and folklore in the lives of older adults in the United States, highlighting the critical importance of ethnographic studies of creative aging for both understanding the expressive lives of elders and for designing effective arts therapies and programs. Each case study in this volume demonstrates how folklore and traditional practices help elders maintain their health and wellness, providing a road map for initiatives to improve the lives and well-being of America's aging population.

Baskets and the Burdens They Bear explores how a seemingly simple woven object can sustain community resilience and personal well-being. Once common household tools, baskets carry family stories and memories while allowing makers to express identity and find purpose and meaning in their lives.Tracing the lives of individual makers across Indiana from the 1800s to the present, author Jon Kay demonstrates that baskets and other traditional arts are not obsolete objects but time-tested and community-proven strategies for navigating life's challenges. While some may no longer need baskets for their modern lives, everyone still needs the work that basketry once provided—fostering social and intergenerational reciprocity, strengthening personal and community well-being, and cultivating a sense of mastery and satisfaction. Kay remembers the dozens of basket makers he has researched, documented, and worked with over the course of his life as a folklorist, including a Miami artist's revitalization of elm bark basketry, the hidden history of Brown County's oak rod baskets, the traditional knowledge of Mennonite basket making, and the work done by two refugees in Indianapolis who repurpose plastic strapping to recreate baskets they learned to make as boys in Burma. From essential farm tools to symbols of a romanticized pioneer past, avenues to develop individual artistry, and sustainable projects that look toward the future, these everyday creative practices forge intergenerational connections, foster personal resilience, and sustain community well-being.Featuring a local study with a universal message, Baskets and the Burdens They Bear reveals the true burden baskets and other everyday expressive acts carry: their enduring ability to connect people to one another and to the places where they make their home.