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Arts & Communication

ARTICLE
Art, photography, and museums for senior

students

Ricard Huerta*
Institute of Creativity and Educational Innovative, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain

Abstract

The present research approaches the need to bring art closer to adult students,
analyzing the process and the results of a course in a university program for the
public over 55 years old. The interest of these students in art is given in most cases
because they would have wanted to study art in their youth. Beyond the usual focus
either on art history or artistic workshops, this program generates a multidisciplinary
experience, introducing concepts and practices such as urban derive or performance.
Aspects such as visual culture or digital technologies and art education are also
integrated. This study adopted a research methodology of mixed nature, combining
case study with arts-based research. The photographs acquire an important value
as a result of the research. The benefits of lifelong learning were evaluated based on
the participatory practices taking into account the previous experience of students
and their knowledge in this regard. The information collected through individual
surveys and focus groups highlighted a positive and rewarding result, according to
the students.

Keywords: Education; Lifelong learning; Photography; Museums; Heritage education;
*Corresponding author: Sustainability
Ricard Huerta
(Ricard.Huerta@uv.es)
Citation: Huerta R. Art,
photography and museums 1. Introduction
for senior students.
Arts & Communication. Some Spanish universities, mostly public, have implemented academic programs designed
2024;2(1):1740.
https://doi.org/10.36922/ac.1740 for senior citizens. Several interconnected factors that lead to the implementation of
these programs are follows: (i) it is considered necessary to meet the demand of certain
Received: August 31, 2023 students who no longer study for work or initial training purposes since they are
Accepted: November 23, 2023 retired or choose to retire early, after having worked for decades. (ii) With this type of
Published Online: February 13, 2024 face-to-face program, public universities can maximize the potential of teaching staff
to cater to a social demand while teaching actual students. (iii) Many people developed
Copyright: © 2024 Author(s). abilities during their lives out of imperative necessity, having always postponed their
This is an Open-Access article
distributed under the terms of the desire to study humanities subjects, such as art, history, or philosophy, something they
Creative Commons Attribution have always wanted to learn.
License, permitting distribution,
and reproduction in any medium, University training programs for older people are usually created by connecting with
provided the original work is conventional subject areas and courses, so that they can share learning experiences with
properly cited.
much younger students. In addition, complementary programs are also offered, usually
Publisher’s Note: AccScience made up of workshops or subjects of a more practical nature. In 2022, a complementary
Publishing remains neutral with
regard to jurisdictional claims in program called “Photographing the city’s museums” was developed at the University
published maps and institutional of Valencia. The present study was conceptualized based on the experience derived
affiliations.

Volume 2 Issue 1 (2024) 1 https://doi.org/10.36922/ac.1740