Kishkovich
SMITHFIELD – Local artist Marina Kishkovich is one of 10 artists selected nationwide to help combat ageism by creating age-positive birthday cards as part of Changing the Narrative’s Anti-Ageism Campaign.
Kishkovich, of Smithfield, said she is proud to be part of a program that is changing the social conversation about ageism. She said the movement is important to her due to her Eastern European ancestry.
She said her culture has a lot of respect for older people. Upon moving to the U.S., she said one of the things she felt was strange was the insulting nature of birthday greeting cards for the aging population.
Kishkovich said her grandfather lived to be well over 100 years old, and walked more than five miles a day well into his 80s.
“A lot of the cards for older people are mean and rude,” she said, adding that some of the ones she saw in stores were “horrific.”
She said she knows people who would go into a store looking for a gift card and leave without one due to the offensive nature of cards reinforcing negative stereotypes.
Kishkovich said she was inspired by a video by Changing the Narrative’s campaign about not only the negative impact of the ageism message, but also the lifelong impacts it has on a person in feeling useless, not valued, decrepit, or your body just not working.
“...It is not true. There are so many examples of elderly continuing work through older years,” Kishkovich said.
She added that reality does not match the cultural perspective and expectation.
“I feel strongly that it was an important thing to do. I felt absolutely thrilled to be able to participate,” she said.
Kishkovich already writes greeting cards, and she used her portfolio to apply to the nationwide campaign to write respectful birthday cards for the elderly. She was one of 10 artists selected out of thousands of applicants, Kishkovich said.
Her portfolio includes cards with vegetable puns, with some featuring illustrations of thyme and sage. The message reads, “Time brings sage wisdom. Happy Birthday.”
“It’s really celebrating that we gain experience, and richness in life. We have more wisdom to share with everyone around us,” Kishkovich said.
She previously worked on a children’s interactive board book, but did not receive all the funding necessary to develop it despite interest in its design. Rather than allowing herself to be set back by the letdown, Kishkovich said she was inspired by the reaction to her illustrations.
From there, she began designing cards, she said, and she would love to continue creating greeting cards that celebrate all walks of life.
Changing the Narrative is a Colorado-based non-profit celebrating aging by challenging the perpetuated notion that people should feel badly about aging and getting older.
“In an effort to be humorous, some of the cards portray older adults as bench-sitting curmudgeons, boozy women who can’t remember what they just said, flatulent grandparents or lecherous old men, all reflecting and reinforcing the negative stereotypes about getting older,” states the organization.
Janine Vanderburg, director of Changing the Narrative, said the non-profit’s goal is to raise awareness about ageism and make a real-world difference by changing the way people think, talk and act about people as they age.
Changing the Narrative cards are available at changingthenarrativeco.org and at Kishkovich’s online shop, www.ampersandmstudio.com/shop.
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