Aging artists in New York City stay engaged and productive well past retirement age and would choose their profession again if they were starting over, according to a new study.

"Above Ground: Information on Artists III: Special Focus New York City Aging Artists" found that contrary to the stereotype that people become more isolated as they age, aging artists remain passionate and display high self-esteem and life satisfaction.

Seventy-seven percent communicate daily or weekly with other artists, according to the study, conducted by the Research Center for Arts and Culture at Teachers College Columbia University and supported by the Pollock-Krasner Foundation and the Cornell Institute for Translational Research on Aging.

Sotheby's Institute of Art, the independent educational arm of Sotheby's auction house, issued a news release about the study on Monday. It said the full findings were scheduled to be released at a Dec. 3 conference it will host in New York.

The study, which looked at 213 visual artists ages 62 to 97, was undertaken to assess the needs of aging artists. It found that they "avoid traditional systems like retirement and exemplify a lifelong commitment to and engagement with their art."

"These artists are resilient and have an ongoing engagement with both their life and art," and can serve as a model for society at large, the study said.
A second phase of the study is to include aging artists in the performing and literary fields.

Joan Jeffri, director of the study, said the various artists were being looked at separately because she expected to find different results. "They behave very differently because of the kind of artists they are," she said.

For example, many dancers' careers effectively are over at 35, while some opera singers might be just beginning their careers at that age. However, she said, the study was finding that even those artists whose careers end early transition into other jobs successfully.