In April, Maura O’Malley, Lifetime Arts’ co-founder and CEO, was joined by fellow creative aging practitioners from across the country in the virtual series, Thriving Better Together: Creative Aging & Resilience, presented by the National Guild for Community Arts Education. Maura partnered with 7 other creative aging thought-leaders and practice experts to design a series aimed at Guild member organizations that explored the ways in which the creative aging model can address and abate social isolation.

“Our planning meetings were intense and inspirational and in themselves, an antidote for the social isolation we were all experiencing. For me personally, it was thrilling to get to know these much younger colleagues — many of whom Lifetime Arts had trained as part of the Guild’s Catalyzing Creativity programs. The future of creative aging is in good hands.”

MAURA O’MALLEY

As part of the series, Maura presented “Cultivating Collective Support for Creative Aging Programming,” with colleagues, Gavin Farrell, Executive Director of Powers Musical School, and Vita Litvak, Associate Director of Adult Education at Fleisher Art Memorial.

During this session, attendees had the opportunity to build relationships with fellow participants and learn strategies for presenting their creative aging work to multiple stakeholders. The presentation also included a discussion on the importance of advocacy work in cultivating creative aging and community wellness led by guest speakers, Tiffany Jackson, Director of Education at Bishop Arts Theatre Center in Dallas, and Aljosie Aldrich Harding, an elder of the Civil Rights Movement, social justice advocate, and spiritual guide who currently serves on the National Council of Elders.

The recording of this webinar is for Guild members only. To access this resource, visit Thriving Better Together: Creative Aging & Resilience: Part 1 | Social Isolation: The Silent Pandemic