Motivation and creativity art practices for adults through museum and photography

Ricard Huerta

doi:10.3384/rela.2000-7426.6474

Authors

Ricard Huerta Universitat de València https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1430-3198

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3384/rela.2000-7426.6474

Keywords:

heritage education, lifelong learning, photography, museums, creativity

Abstract

This article investigates the promotion of creativity, studying the process and results of a course given to students of the Nau Gran, an educational program that is offered to a public over 55 years old. It is a workshop designed to activate creativity through the practice of photography and visits to museums. Learning processes are approached from a multidisciplinary perspective, integrating aspects ranging from Visual Culture and Art History to digital technologies and Art Education. The research methodology is based on the Case Study, combining Arts-Based Research, so that the images acquire an important value as a result. Assuming the problem of learning for senior students, due to the gerontophobia, and valuing the benefits of lifelong learning, we use motivation as an argument, while reinforcing participatory practices evaluating the students’ experience. The positive results of the project are reinforced with the opinions of the people involved in the research.

Author Biography

Ricard Huerta, Universitat de València

PhD Ricard Huerta. Artist and Full Professor of Art Education in the University of Valencia (Spain). Regular member at the Institute of Creativity and Educational Innovation, and member of InSEA and ICOM. Head director of the Research Journal EARI Educación Artística Revista de Investigación. Director of the master “Art Education and Museums” (University of Valencia). Director of Museari www.museari.com Graduate in Fine Arts, in Music, and Communication. Head of the international project Women Teacher. Invited researcher in universities of France, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom, Cuba, Uruguay, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Argentina, Portugal, Paraguay and Chile. He has coordinated several publications and activities inside the areas of Visual Arts, Education, ICT and Museums. Head of the project “Dechados Inclusive creativity in secondary school”. Member of the Seminar on Gender and Sexual Diversity of the Museums of Catalonia. He has published books and articles in specialized journals, having coordinated numerous publications within the field of art, education, educator training, heritage and museums. Letters and alphabets are a relevant aspect of his work both at an educational level and artistic creation. He has presented exhibitions with themes heavily impregnated by typography and calligraphy in different countries. He has directed twelve international seminars on research in art education and six international congress.

References

Atkinson, D. (2019). Art, disobedience, and ethics; the adventure of pedagogy. Palgrave Macmillan.

Barone, T., & Eisner, E. W. (2011). Arts-Based Research. Sage.

Barthes, R. (2025). Camera Lucida. Reflections On Photography. PublishDrive.

Baudelaire, C. (2006). Le Spleen de Paris. Gallimard.

Bílá, M., & Kalenda, J. (2025). Empirical research on motivation in adult education and learning: A scoping review. European Journal for Research on the Education and Learning of Adults, 16(3), 289-320.

Bourriaud, N. (2009). The Radicant. Lukas & Sternberg.

Careri, F. (2017). Walkscapes. Walking as an aesthetic practice. Culicidae Press.

Corbisiero-Drakos, L., Reeder, L. K., Ricciardi, L., Zacharia, J., & Harnett, S. (2021). Arts integration and 21st century skills: A study of learners and teachers. International Journal of Education and the Arts, 22(2), 1-25.

Dewey, J. (2005). Art as Experience. TarcherPerigee.

Duncum, P. (2015). Transforming Art Education into Visual Culture Education through Rhizomatic Structures. Anadolu Journal of Educational Sciences International, 5(3), 47-64.

Figueras Ferrer, E. (2022). Prácticas artísticas como herramientas de empoderamiento en colectivos sociales vulnerables [Artistic practices as tools for empowerment in vulnerable social groups]. Barcelona Investigación Arte Creación, 10(1).

Foley, C. M. (2014). Why creativity? Articulating and championing a museum’s social mission. Journal of Museum Education, 39(2), 139-151.

Foucault, M. (1995). Discipline and Punish. The Birth of the Prison. Vintage.

Freire, P. (2015). Pedagogia da autonomia: saberes necessários à prática educativa [Pedagogy of autonomy: Knowledge necessary for educational practice]. Paz e Terra.

González-García, R. (2019). El giro educativo del arte como herramienta para la transformación social en los nuevos museos del siglo XXI [The educational turn of art as a tool for social transformation in the new museums of the 21st century]. Eikón Imago, 8(1), 199-216.

Guilford, J. P. (1950). Creativity. American Psychologist, 5(9), 444-454.

Gutiérrez González, M. J. (2022). La visualización de los elementos patrimoniales supervivientes que han articulado el paisaje de la acequia de la Rascanya [The visualization of the surviving patrimonial elements that have articulated the landscape of the Rascanya canal]. Barcelona, Research, Art, Creation, 10(2), 74-91.

Hachem, H.-H., Formosa, M., & Westberg, J. (2025). Emancipating older learners: On the problems of naïve consciousness and the enlightened teacher. European Journal for Research on the Education and Learning of Adults, 16(2), 265-281.

Hamlin, J., & Fusaro, J. (2018). Contemporary Strategies for Creative and Critical Teaching in the 21st Century. Art Education, 71(2), 8-15.

Han, B. C. (2023). Contemplative Life: A Praise to Idleness. Penguin.

Healey, M., Flint, A., & Harrington, K. (2016). Students as partners: Reflections on a conceptual model. Teaching & Learning Inquiry, 4(2), 8-19.

Healey, M., Matthews, K., & Cook-Sather, A. (2020). Writing about Learning and Teaching in Higher Education. Elon University.

Huerta, R. (2021). Silk road museums: Design of inclusive heritage and cross-cultural education. Sustainability, 13(11), 6020.

Huerta, R. (2022). Art & Paideia: Design of titles in LGBT cinema posters and resources for teacher training, Convocarte, 13, 203-223. https://hdl.handle.net/10550/97243

Huerta, R. (2024). Projektowanie ex‑librisów jako sposób na rozwiązanie problemów tożsamościowych w społeczności nauczycielskiej [Design of ex-libris to face identity problems in the teaching community]. Nauki O Wychowaniu. Studia Interdyscyplinarne, 18(1), 93-113.

Huerta, R., & Alfonso-Benlliure, V. (2025). Museums as catalysts for creativity in adolescence: A review. Heritage, 8(8), 327.

Lee, J. (2024). Why a Contemporary Art Museum? The Museum Experience through Contemporary Art Exhibition. International Journal of the Inclusive Museum, 17(2), 51-71.

Luigini, A. (2020). Una indagine interdisciplinare tra imagine disegno e arte [An interdisciplinary inquiry into imagining design and art]. Libria.

Macaya, A., Fabregat, E., Huerta, R., & Serra, N. (2025). Dechados, pràctiques per fomentar la creativitat inclusiva a l’àmbit local. El cas del MAMT de Tarragona [Dechados, practices to promote inclusive creativity at the local level. The MAMT case of Tarragona]. Diferents. Revista De Museus, 10(10), 148-169.

Maksimovic, M. (2024). Exploring lost spaces: Integrating place, arts, and adult education. European Journal for Research on the Education and Learning of Adults, 15(3), 331-348.

Mascarell Palau, D. (2020). Mobile learning en las artes visuales. Un acercamiento a las experiencias educativas artísticas con smartphones en los últimos años [Mobile learning in the visual arts: An exploration of educational experiences with smartphones in the visual arts in recent years]. Artseduca, 27, 160-173.

Meléndez, J. C., Alfonso-Benlliure, V., & Mayordomo, T. (2018). Idle minds are the devil’s tools? Coping, depressed mood and divergent thinking in older adults. Aging & Mental Health, 22(12), 1606-1613.

Morin, E. (2016). Sur l’esthétique [On aesthetics]. Robert Laffont.

Navarro Espinach, G. (2022). Alfabetos e investigación basada en las Artes. La obra de Ricard Huerta en Museari [Alphabets and arts-based research: The work of Ricard Huerta in Museari]. [Doctoral dissertation, Miguel Hernández University of Elche]. RediUMH. https://hdl.handle.net/11000/28998

Panciroli, C., Macauda, A., & Ghizzoni, M. (2020). Museums and digital ecosystem connections: The MOdE, Museo Officina dell'Educazione-Hub model. Annali di Storia delle Universita Italiane, 24(1), 211-220.

Saam, J., & Egetenmeyer, R. (2026). Empowerment and adult education: A multi-level perspective. European Journal for Research on the Education and Learning of Adults, 17(1), 63-78.

Sofaer, J., & Vicze, M. (2020). Creative Practice and the Limits of Evidence in Journey to the Beginnings. Journal of Museum Education, 45(3), 350-356.

Sontag, S. (2001). On Photography. Picador.

Soto-González, M. D., Huerta, R., & Rodríguez-López, R. (2025). Educational Connections: Museums, Universities, and Schools as Places of Supplementary Learning. Education Sciences, 15(5), 543.

Souza, M. A. de, Salgado, P. A. D., Chamon, E. M. Q. de O., & Fazenda, I. C. A. (2022). Interdisciplinaridade e práticas pedagógicas: O que dizem os professores [Interdisciplinarity and pedagogical practices: What teachers say]. Revista Portuguesa de Educação, 35(1), 4-25.

Specker, E., Tinio, P. P. L., & van Elk, M. (2017). Do you see what I see? An investigation of the aesthetic experience in the laboratory and museum. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 11(3), 265-275.

Stake, R. (1995). The Art of Case Study Research. Sage.

Starrett, M. (2020). Street Photography and the Flâneuse. Visual Communication Quarterly, 27(3), 172-178.

Suh, J. (2019). Where to start: Archetype-based pre-ideation exercises and the enhancement of creativity. International Journal of Design Education, 13(2), 59-77.

Sutton, R. E. (2020). Discovery from Discomfort; Embracing the Liminal in Auto-Ethnographic, Biographical and Arts-Based Research Methods. International Journal of Art & Design Education, 39(4), 712-723.