Sign up for Weekday J and get the latest on what's happening in the Jewish Bay Area.

More than 100 seniors — including seven who live at the Reutlinger Community in Danville — recently celebrated their artwork with their families, caregivers, teachers and friends at the opening of an Art With Elders exhibition at Laguna Honda Hospital in San Francisco.

The 25th annual exhibit has since moved on to San Francisco International Airport, where it will run through Jan. 25 in the arrivals area of terminal 3. The exhibit is accessible to all airport visitors and there is no charge to view the paintings.

Officials from Reutlinger reported that the opening reception “was a joyful, glorious gathering” and that the exhibit will travel to different San Francisco locations during 2018. (Click here to see the paintings.)

All seven of the Reutlinger artists in the show are residents in long-term care. Betty Rothaus, who runs the Reutlinger’s award-winning “Discover the Artist Within” program, explained the benefits of seniors creating art. “Skill-building is paramount, as well as original thought,” she said, promising that “plenty of surprises await the lucky viewers” who have an opportunity to see the exhibit.

“The show also teaches that all people have creative ability,” she added, “and that although the body and mind might have real challenges, it is the spirit that has the ability to continue to learn, grow and create.”

In the opening reception at Laguna Honda Hospital’s Gerald Simon Auditorium in late October, Mark Campbell, the executive director of Art With Elders, noted, “A year of hard work learning new skills, exploring fresh creative frontiers and forming meaningful bonds among our art-making peers has again resulted in an exceptional Art With Elders annual exhibit. [It is] certainly one of, if not the largest and most accomplished presentations of elder art in the Bay Area.”

In addition, there is also an exhibit of residents’ art at the Reutlinger, a senior care living provider with several levels of care that began in 1950 as the Home for Jewish Parents in Oakland. For more information on the Danville facility or its arts program, visit rcjl.org or call (925) 648-2800.