Love & Wisdom
Crossing Generational Streams
Teens create art, receive insightful life advice
By Seattle Mag February 14, 2025
This article originally appeared in the January/February 2025 issue of Seattle magazine.
Kids look toward the future. Older people often relive the past.
Those two worlds collided in the best of ways recently when the Woodinville Teen Arts Alliance collaborated with residents from Fairwinds Brittany Park Retirement Home to create beautiful art inspired by residents’ lives.
“Our conversations made me appreciate the value of human connection and community.”
“This project was interesting to create because it’s essentially my interpretation, as an outsider, of the life of an elder,” says Alliance member Ellina Chang. “Art is inherently subjective, and I found it refreshing to get to hear about and understand the unique lens through which someone has experienced so many views of the world.”
The teens’ creativity was met with some helpful life advice as well.
“Listening to their stories broadened my perspective on life,” says another Alliance member, Anvitha Suresh.
“Our conversations made me appreciate the value of human connection and community.”
The artwork was also recently displayed at Tara Jennings Fine Art Gallery in Woodinville.
Follow Us
Daring Women: It’s Never Just About One Person
Perkins&Will’s Marie Henson calls collaboration ‘critical’ to effective leadership
Architecture captivated Marie Henson at an early age. By the time she was 10, Henson had accompanied her history-buff father on visits to all eight Virginia presidents’ homes. It left a lasting impression: She decided on a career in architecture before she graduated from elementary school. Today, the Seattle-based Henson is the firmwide health practice…
Dollars & Sense
Youth Finance University helps kids think logically about money
Princeton Lock likes to tell the story of a third grader who learned money management through Youth Finance University, a free, student-led financial literacy program created by three 16-year-old students at Bellevue’s Newport High School. “(She) successfully saved for her first major purchase instead of spending on impulse buys, exactly the kind of behavioral change…
Moxie on Monday: Open Your Presence This Christmas
Practice being mindful, kind, and savor each moment
The holidays can feel like a whirlwind — our to-do lists grow, our calendars overflow, along with the pressure to create the “perfect” Christmas atmosphere. But what if the best gift wasn’t wrapped in ribbons or bows? What if the most meaningful gift we could give was our presence? I’ll bet you’ve met someone in…
The Joys and Challenges of Living out of a Converted Bus
Don’t talk to Heather Shutter about small spaces. Sure, she lives in a converted, 400-square-foot school bus — a skoolie — with her husband, Ben, three children (ages 14, 12, and 10), several dogs, and a Gecko lizard. She’s a full-time attorney who works in a tiny, cramped compartment in the back. Her kids are…