Dottie Asher’s lifelong love for the arts began as a little girl in a class at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. (You may remember it as the building where Sylvester Stallone ran steps in the film “Rocky.”)

As a girl, Dottie sold small, handmade pins to her classmates. Today, as a Westminster Village resident, she’s still making pins for friends — just one of many in our retirement community who make creative art an enjoyable, everyday part of everyone’s lives!

Dottie earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Purdue before working 22 years as an art director at Hallmark, where she designed greeting cards and other gifts.

“I loved it,” Dottie says. “It was fun to do the sorts of greeting cards I was doing — flowers and little animals, that sort of thing.”

Dottie and her husband, William, returned to Greater Lafayette in the late 1990s, where she took up painting as a hobby and pet portraiture for friends. When they moved to Westminster Village a few years ago, Dottie hadn’t painted for some time.

But serving on a council to coordinate Westminster Village’s Fall Bazaar, where residents create and sell handmade arts and craft, rekindled her interest. In addition to painting, Dottie also has branched out into woodworking — for which our retirement community has a full woodshop on the grounds!

“Here we are in our houses and apartments creating wonderful things,” Dottie says. “It’s an amazing surprise to see these beautiful items — fiber art, large quilts, needlework, painting — and I’m proud to say they were made by people here!”

At 1:30 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 21, Dottie will deliver a lecture called “A Day in the Life at Hallmark” for Westminster Village’s newly convened art club. The group plans to meet twice a month for lectures or videos about creative arts.

Westminster Village also offers numerous opportunities for residents to express themselves with their own art. Our quilting group meets regularly. We have a variety of watercolor and oil painters in our retirement community. And we’ll hold a jewelry-making class for our assisted living residents at 1:30 p.m., Friday, Feb. 3, and a flower-arranging class at 1:30 p.m., Monday, Feb. 6.

Westminster Village has the artistic activities and inspirations you need to keep your creative juices flowing. If there’s something you’d like us to add, please let life enrichment coordinator Kathy Hyman know by phone (464-5116), This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or asking her in the hallway!

Posted by Dawn W., WV Blog Team