Abstract

Research on older people’s artistic participation has mainly focussed on its benefits. Fewer studies have addressed the antecedents of older people’s artistic participation, especially barriers to artistic practices, and particularly those related with contextual factors. In this study, we examined which contextual barriers older artists perceive when they are carrying out their artistic practices from a socioecological perspective. We conducted semi-structured individual interviews with 30 older visual artists and craftspeople. We found four themes relating to contextual barriers to artistic practice: value of arts and crafts, financial difficulties, discrimination against women, and the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Our study expands on previous research on antecedents of artistic participation among older people, and specifically on barriers. Finally, our study suggests the need to decrease these barriers by implementing programmes aimed at older artists to maintain their artistic and meaningful practices for as long as possible.