Life course transitions and their impact on the artistic trajectories of older artists

Abstract

Research on older people’s artistic participation has increased. However, the inclusion of a life course theory and the examination of differences between men and women in artistic trajectories is still scarce. In this study, we explored how life course transitions influence the artistic trajectories of older people throughout the lifecycle, and analyzed whether life course transitions affecting older artists’ trajectories differed between men and women. We conducted semi-structured individual interviews with 30 older visual artists, craftsmen and craftswomen, and identified eight life course transitions in the participants’ stories that affected their artistic trajectories. Five of these life course transitions were linked to the family domain and three to the work domain. Most were visibly different between men and women, and influenced the artistic trajectories of female and male artists in different ways. Our study expands on previous research on artistic participation among older adults by considering life course elements in the analysis of relationships between artistic trajectories and life transitions.