In the introduction to his 2016 book Folk Art and Aging: Life-Story Objects and Their Makers Kay says,“ I explore how older adults use fork art, specifically material forms of life stories, as a strategy for coping with some of the difficulties they face as they age.
“ Often deployed to express their personal or cultural identities, these distinctive objects also help maintain and forge connections with family and friends, and assist in distilling and telling their own meaningful life stories.
“ Although some people make art throughout their lives, many gerontologists recognize that old age is often the creative age.”
The Mathers Museum of World Culture has a current exhibit on“ Creative Aging” which includes a scale model of Brown County resident Bill Root’ s boyhood home. Root worked on the model while participating in the Indiana State Fair, a venue Kay has used to find folk artists. The museum’ s website says the exhibit, which Kay curated, shows how some elders
“ Little Italy” hooked rug by Marian Sykes. photo by Bob Gustin
use their creations to assist in recalling and sharing important life stories and are often part of social interactions or storytelling events. Among other artists in the exhibit are Columbus woodcarver Bob Taylor. The exhibit runs through July 27.
Kay, 51, was raised in southern Brown County, attending Nashville Elementary and Brown County High School before enrolling at Indiana University, where he is now a clinical associate professor in the Department
Zelton Kay performing with his father at the 2017 Youth Music Showcase. photo by Cindy Steele of Folklore and Ethnomusicology. He dropped out of IU a couple of times before graduating with a degree in general studies, and played music as a side career. He finished his IU degree in 1994 and got a master’ s in folk studies at Western Kentucky University, followed by a doctorate in folklore from IU in 2014, which has one of the premiere folklore departments in the U. S.
He worked at the Florida Folk Culture Center at White Springs, Florida, and directed the Florida Folk Festival before returning to Indiana. He was named director of Traditional Arts Indiana in 2004.
Kay and his wife, Mandy, have a son Zelton, who recently participated in National History Day in Washington, D. C., and was named winner of the best overall History Day project from the State of Indiana.
For more information on the TAI project, contact Jon Kay at < jkay @ indiana. edu > or( 812) 855-0418. •
July / August 2018 • Our Brown County 21