Generational Journeys Oral History Project

Generational Journeys is an Arkansas-based mentor-apprentice program dedicated to preserving the stories, contributions, and creative legacies of Arkansas senior artists. This program connects high school students with senior artists, fostering meaningful relationships while documenting Arkansas’s rich artistic heritage. Over the course of one semester, students create a comprehensive digital portfolio that includes photographs of the artist’s work, recorded and transcribed interviews, and personal reflections from the mentors themselves. Apprentices and artists are paired based on mutual interests and geographic proximity, ensuring a collaborative, mutually enriching experience.

Senior artists are selected through local arts organizations, senior centers, and community outreach efforts. Each mentor commits to guiding a student through their creative journey while opening their own life’s work and personal story to be documented.

The interviews, transcripts, and images below reflect the work students did to document their mentors’ lives and work, and we hope will provide a valuable digital archive of Arkansas artists for future generations.

See the interviews from 2025

Each of the students are now members of ANA and many come to Social Paint Night.