“Everyone is fascinated by their own childhood,” says teacher Deborah Davidson. During the first meeting of “Forever Creative,” a bookmaking workshop for adults over 55, Davidson prompts her students to think back to when they were 5 or 6 years old and to draw a map from home to school.

As is the way of memory, this exercise recalls other moments, commonplace details that didn’t seem significant at the time but which, after the passage of so many years, hold greater meaning. Then students begin to tell their stories. They make drawings, they bring in photos and letters, and they discuss the idea of memoir as they assemble their recollections into books. Davidson’s goal for her students is simple and profound: “I want them to understand how important their lives are.”

The workshop began last fall with a grant from the Cambridge Agassiz Harvard Fund as a project to reach out to older adults, and to connect Maud Morgan Arts and the Living Well Network, both run by Agassiz Baldwin Community, to three Cambridge community programs: the Cambridge Community Center, the East End House, and the Margaret Fuller House. The students enjoyed the initial classes so much that Agassiz Baldwin Community decided to continue the series into the spring.

Davidson, who usually works with much younger students, found herself intrigued by the anecdotes that the older adults shared, and the historical context surrounding the everyday events in her students’ lives. To Davidson’s surprise, many of her students plan to give away their creations. Davidson says that people are usually reluctant to part with a painting or a sculpture, but because these books are repositories for life histories, the “Forever Creative” students often want to give them to their children or grandchildren.

“Forever Creative” meets at Maud Morgan Arts on intermittent Mondays from 10am-noon. There will be two self-contained workshops from 10am-1pm at other locations: the first on February 4th at the East End House, and the second on March 4th at the Cambridge Community Center. All workshops are free, but contributions are welcome. The series will conclude with an exhibition and reception at Maud Morgan Arts on Sunday, March 17, from 3-5 pm.

Deborah Davidson received her M.F.A. from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts/Tufts University and her B.A. from Binghamton University. She is part of the core faculty at the MFA program at the Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University, where she also teaches “Visual Books.” She is currently involved in independent curatorial projects including the planning of a major, multi-venue exhibit entitled Tenacity of the Book. Her work is online at www.deborahdavidson.net.