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Want to write your
personal stories?
Contact Amy Gorman for information on Guided Autobiography groups
510-527-4973



What People Are Saying

"Amy Gorman is skilled in helping you to recognize critical junctures in your life and gently helps you explore them. And she makes such self-discovery delicious."
JC

"Amy's autobiography class has unexpectedly nudged to the surface subconscious experiences that my memory never would have recollected but for Amy's suggestive thought process."
Linda K

"The group provides an incentive to write and Amy creates a safe space which encourages reflection and honesty."
Susan G.

"Amy has a remarkable skill in creating community in a group. We were encouraged to go deeply into our own lives, rediscovering meaningful relationships we had buried and fun we had forgotten. She modeled the support and encouragement each of us then gave to each other. It was a very energizing experience!"
Liz

"The guided autobiography class led by Amy Gorman was magnificently insightful, meaningful and joyful. Amy was able to create an atmosphere were 8 highly individuated women bonded and cared deeply for one another as they shared their unique stories. I loved the experience which could only have been accomplished with the skill and gentleness that Amy brought to the table."
Joan Diamond

"The autobiography writing opportunities that Amy Gorman's group offers were deeper and more useful for me than "morning pages" or other journal writing.
The orientation of the group asks members to read their writings to each other which often felt like we were creating a tapestry from pieces of each others lives that connected and inspired our writing. Writing about significant life events, family history and other revealing themes offered opportunities for personal investigation and understanding. The sensitizing questions that accompany each theme are both useful and creative. "
Eve Corey Poling

read more testimonials about Amy

Director Kimberlee Acquaro wins a Guggenheim Fellowship for her new film, "I'll Rise." It features 101 year-old Frances Catlett, one of the artists highlighted in Amy Gorman's Aging Artfully book, and Greg Young's "Still Kicking" film. The documentary is a look back at Civil Rights from the perspective of centenarians.

Visit the website here:
ForRealFilms.net

Welcome to my website!

My book, Aging Artfully, is about the twelve women aged 85-105 who inspired this work. It’s also about promoting positive healthy aging for the general public, and for advocating involvement with the creative arts in retirement years. It’s never too late to start something new…it could prolong your life!

The women demonstrate optimism. Whether you call it healthy aging, creative aging, aging gracefully, successful aging or just plain aging well, the women artists in the book, Aging Artfully: 12 Profiles of Visual and Performing Women Artists 85-105, which (usually) includes a CD by Frances Kandl entitled, 7 songs of Women’s Lives, and Greg Young’s accompanying DVD, Still Kicking, are exemplary role models for all of us.

51% of women live alone, according to the New York Times in 2007. With increased longevity, Boomers now have many years to re-create their retirement years, their re-firement years, or re-wirement years for aging gracefully. I focus on women, and women artists aging artfully with a purpose in life.

I created Project Arts and Longevity out of my love for stories, and for passing on the legacies of women artists, and to find some answers to how to age gracefully. So far, three PAL projects are out in the world:

  • Aging Artfully: Profiles of Visual and Performing Women Artists 85-105, the book by Amy Gorman.
  • Still Kicking a film by Greg Young.
    http://www.goldenbearcasting.com
  • 7 Songs of Women's Lives, a CD by Frances Kandl. Currently, we are continuing to meet and interview healthy elders who exemplify an active artistic "third age."

It's that kind of spirit I found in all the women I interviewed. Inspiration, Optimism, Creativity. Resilience. Where there's an obstacle, these role models find a way around it. The women artists demonstrate for Boomers and the rest of us, that there are ways to promote healthy aging through a positive attitude. May they give you inspiration for aging gracefully, aging positively and aging artfully.*

*Amy Gorman won a coveted bronze IPPY Award for her book, "Aging Artfully: 12 Profiles of Visual and Performing Women Artists" in the category of Women's Issues.

In the process of interviewing many artistic women over 85, I met Greg Young, http://(www.goldenbearcasting.com. Young, a Boomer just in retirement from UC Berkeley, had recently finished a documentary of the eccentric Mary Beth Washington, a storyteller on the Aging Artfully cover. He was ready for his next film and what emerged is Still Kicking, which follows 6 of the 12 women in the book, all over 90. “I’ll never look at an old woman the same way again,” said one male viewer. “You never know what’s behind that face.” The film to date has screened in 14 International Film Festivals.

A while ago I gave a presentation to Boomers and others in retirement, and during the discussion one woman near the front piped up. "I'm 95," she said, "and I'm a painter but I can no longer paint with my right hand. That's not going to stop me. I started painting with my left hand."

It's that kind of spirit I found in all the women I interviewed. Inspiration, Optimism, Creativity. Resilience. When there's an obstacle, these role models find a way around it. The women artists demonstrate for Boomers and the rest of us, that there are ways to promote healthy aging through a positive attitude. May they give you inspiration to age gracefully, age positively and age artfully.

I am giving presentations and showing the film at workshops and events all over the country. Please contact me if you are interested.

Contact Info:
Phone: 510-527-4973
FAX : 248-671-0488
amygorman@agingartfully.com


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