Portraits to celebrate over 60s on the Isle of Man

The faces of 60 Manx people over the age of 60 are set to be captured in an art project to celebrate how "getting old is a privilege and every wrinkle is a gift".

The Isle Be Creative project, run by Debra Tracey, aims to celebrate residents who have contributed to island life or made a difference further afield, into their later years.

Funded the Isle of Man Arts Council's extraordinary events fund, a range of artists and community groups will create 60 portraits set to be displayed in December.

Ms Tracey said "sometimes the older you get the more invisible you become. We want to shine a spotlight on those people who haven't been championed before".

The artist, who is coordinating the 60 Over 60 Faces of Mann project which was awarded £15,000 from the fund, will also create six glass portraits.

Six other artists will be given a small fee to produce further images, and the rest will be completed by schools, care homes and community groups.

Ms Tracey said while the people in the portraits were to be over the age of 60, she wanted it to be an "inclusive project" which saw young people working with older people to "open up a dialogue and share wonderful stories".

The artist said the project would bring people who were "quietly brilliant into the spotlight".

"We need to know their stories," she added.

Ms Tracey is calling on residents to nominate people to feature in the exhibition, whether they are alive or are figures from the past, by 30 April.

The Isle of Man Arts Council's £100,000 fund, launched to mark its 60th anniversary in 2025, was designed to support innovation by the creation and development of new "audience-centred" events.

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