There is no age limit on creativity and self-expression. Two art galleries in the surrounding communities are featuring exhibitions that highlight the works of artists generations apart.
The Marion Cultural Alliance at Brick City Center for the Arts, 23 SW Broadway St., Ocala, is presenting its 11th annual Art of Aging: Living Color exhibition in partnership with Marion Senior Services. The free exhibit will be on display through Aug. 29 and features the works of artists 55 years and older. The Leesburg Arts Center is featuring its Summer Camp Exhibition, also on display through Aug. 29, in the historic Tropic Theatre, 122 W Main St., Leesburg.
Jaye Baillie, executive director of the Marion Cultural Alliance, said the Art of Aging exhibit celebrates the colorful stories and experiences of 32 artists who are members of the Marion Cultural Alliance.
“We’re very proud of the collaboration with Marion Senior Services because it gives us an opportunity to spotlight the creativity of our seasoned artist,” Baillie said. “Each year is just a reflection of the importance of creativity in our world and for our senior artists that just keep on. We’ve had artists as seasoned as 100 years old participate in the show. The work is just absolutely inspirational, even for our emerging young artists.”
Baillie said the 42 art pieces in the exhibit showcase the seasons of life and offer a reminder that, although there are good and bad moments, it’s all needed to live a full life.
“I happen to fall in this age range, too, so I find the art that I’m looking at now in this gallery truly as diverse as our senior population,” she said. “It’s wonderful to see when you give an artist a prompt to say, ‘What does living and color mean to you, particularly for an art of aging?’ to see their interpretation. Some of these I just want to take home because they just make me happy. Others make me think, but none make me sad.”
The artwork and creativity of younger artists are on display at the Summer Camp Exhibition.
Richard Colvin, executive director of the Leesburg Arts Center, said the show features a collection of artwork from the 2026 Summer Art Camp program the center hosts for children 5 to 8 years old and 8 to 13 years old. During the program children are taught the basics of art, including crafts, drawing, painting and movement.
“Through the projects and the teaching about the history of art, we give the kids the experience of expressing themselves in different ways,” Colvin said. “This gift of self-expression is something that enables them to have a result at the end of the process.
“Doing art at all ages — whether it be a kid or an adult or even a senior — is on top of the intrinsic value of the art process,” he said. “It also is therapeutic and it makes you feel good. You can’t worry about anything else when you’re concentrating on making a beautiful painting, creating a beautiful color or putting together a complicated puzzle.”
For more information about the art on display at the Leesburg Arts Center, visit leesburgarts.com. For more information about the 11th annual Art of Aging: Living in Color exhibition mcaocala.org/exhibits.
Staff writer Brea Jones can be reached at 352-753-1119, ext. 5414, or brea.jones@thevillagesmedia.com.
