OLLI Receives Accolades and Extra Funds at National Conference

Photo Submitted

Mike Adelman, board chairman for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Arkansas recently received praise and a $25,000 bonus from its parent organization at the 6^th Annual OLLI Conference in Park City, Utah.

Institute coordinator Kathleen Dorn and board chairman Mike Adelman attended the Oct. 12-14 conference where the Fayetteville program was praised for fostering a gallery that focuses on artists age 50 years or older.

“The University of Arkansas is one of the first institutes to have an art gallery centered around the 50 and older artist,” Dorn said.

Photo by Ellen Gregory from gallery exhibit

During the event, Mary G.F. Bitterman, president of the Osher Foundation based in California, announced that the Fayetteville program will receive a $25,000 gift from Bernard and Barbro Osher for the growth and development of programs this year.

The “lagniappe” gift comes in addition to the $100,000 yearly grant from the Bernard Osher Foundation that was secured by the local program after reaching membership goals and achieving success in its programs. Those programs include lectures, “Dine & Discover” events, field trips to educational sites and travel series that take participants on trips outside the state.

The Fayetteville program, now in its third year, was praised for fostering a gallery in the street-level lobby of the Global Campus at 2 E. Center St. Recent artists featured at the gallery include Myrtle Labbs, a centenarian who paints with watercolor, and Ellen Gregory, 67, a photographer.

“What this did for Gregory was to give her a new career,” Dorn said.

Helping people age 50 years and older find new vocations is part of the Osher foundation mission, Dorn said.

The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute provides non-credit courses and programs for people age 50 years and older who find joy in pursuing their intellectual interests and in building friendships and social networks. The courses are taught at the University of Arkansas Global Campus and other locations around northwest Arkansas by current and retired university faculty and community experts. The program is the only Osher Institute in Arkansas, and is one of nearly 120 institutes established at colleges and universities nationwide by the Osher Foundation since 2002. 

More information about the institute is available on its Web site.