Senior Spotlight Book

Works from four years of the Senior Spotlight project are now a book and online publication for the local communities of Lyons and Decatur, NE.

Each year senior students spend time with a senior citizen in Lyons or Decatur and write a narrative about that person’s life. They also create a unique black and white photographic portrait of the senior citizen. Through collaborations with storefront building owners and the Decatur Sears Center, their printed works have been on public display. And now four years of stories and portraits are archived together into one collection. 

The Senior Spotlight publication preserves local oral history and portraiture of those who call Lyons and Decatur home. Over 60 students and over 70 senior citizens are a part of cultural preservation through this publication. Some of those involved in this project have since passed away; this archive will provide one way to remember their stories.

The online collection of the book can be found at www.SeniorSpotlightProject.org.

Many thanks to Jarod Hamm for his beautiful book design.

This project is generously funded by Mid-America Arts Alliance, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the state arts agencies of Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas, as well as local donors.