Two years ago, Debbie Hunter Snow began teaching a class called Bridging the Gap: Drawing and Painting at the Alpharetta Adult Activity Center. Held once a week in six-week cycles, the class is designed for seniors who want to explore visual art – many for the first time in decades.
This spring, the course took on a special significance. In the session just ahead of Mother’s Day, Snow invited students to create a still life using objects that reminded them of their mothers. The idea wasn’t just about improving technique. It was about tapping into memory and emotion through something tangible.
“Using an object that has meaning will help you convey a story or an emotion to your painting,” Snow says. “Whether it’s a piece of pottery, a utensil, or a vase, we’re using these heirlooms to create something personal.”
Snow knows what it means to approach art with intention. After living in Chicago for several years, she moved to metro Atlanta five years ago to be closer to her daughter in Alpharetta. She enrolled in the Studio Art and Design certificate program at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago as part of her retirement plan.
“I was clearly older than almost everyone in the school except the instructors,” Snow says. “But I managed to get through it and received my certificate during the year of COVID.”
The program was interdisciplinary, exposing Snow to everything from painting and textiles to curating art exhibitions. It also shaped her teaching style. “I approach my classes very much like the way I was taught,” she says. “I start each class with a short art history lesson, showing students slides from the artist or period we’re studying. I hope they learn as much about the artist as the technique.”
In class, Snow offers clear guidance on composition, color, and shape. For the Mother’s Day assignment, she walked students through setting up a balanced still life and observing their objects not just as familiar forms but as studies in light and value.
“Letting go of objects inherited through the ages is often difficult. I’ve heard people say they’re afraid of losing the memory of someone once the object is gone. But if you paint it—or even photograph it—it stays with you in a different way.” – Debbie Hunter Snow
Still life, she explains, is more than a beginner’s exercise. It’s rooted in centuries of symbolism and emotional storytelling. “In advanced studies, still lifes can carry deep symbolism. In vanitas paintings or metaphorical still lifes, artists used objects to tell a story or convey an emotion.”
And that symbolism can be especially powerful in a class of older adults. “Downsizing and aging seem to go hand in hand,” Snow says. “Letting go of objects inherited through the ages is often difficult. I’ve heard people say they’re afraid of losing the memory of someone once the object is gone. But if you paint it—or even photograph it—it stays with you in a different way.”
This thoughtful approach runs through all her instruction. In a previous session, for example, students used toned paper to practice pen and ink drawing. “Toned paper is a great way to focus on simple lines,” Snow says. “It helps us paint more like artists—looking at shapes and values—since the paper gives us the mid tones.”
Snow also prioritizes accessibility. “I consider the studies I provide and how difficult it would be to paint them,” she says. I’ll often offer a more simplistic composition or limited color palette alongside something more complex, so students can choose based on their confidence.”
Beyond skill-building, Snow believes art plays a vital role in healthy aging. “Painting is a great way for us to maintain healthy cognitive function,” she says. “It’s also a way to create community and prevent isolation from setting in.”
She regularly shares cognitive research in class, including findings from the National Institutes of Health, which show that arts education in older adults can help improve memory, attention, problem-solving, and brain stimulation. “Studies from the NIH found that art studies in seniors have a protective effect against cognitive decline, reduce stress, and mitigate loneliness.”
Those benefits are something she’s seen firsthand. “I’ve had students tell me how much calmer they felt after meditative drawing classes,” she says. “And I’ve seen a student with a tremor from a stroke calm their movements when they focused on painting.”
But her core message is simple: showing up is enough. “There are no ‘bad’ paintings,” she says. “Just the act of participating is what makes it worthwhile.”
That philosophy helps students, many of whom stopped drawing decades ago, reconnect with creativity. “I learned that most children stop drawing when they’re around 10 years old. They start comparing themselves to others. But being an artist is less about what you’ve done or not done—and more about being inspired and doing something about it.”
Next, Snow will begin leading workshops at the Alpharetta Arts Center in November, January, and February. But for now, she’s watching her students develop skills, confidence, and a new way to process memory through still life.
“I can’t predict how art will touch those I teach,” she says. “But I know they take something with them.”
