If there's one thing that we can take away from our collaborative work in 2022, it's that responsive, purposeful, and accessible arts education programming is a foundational pillar for lifelong learning. This work can only be achieved when every older adult is seen, valued, creative, proud, and part of a community. We couldn’t have accomplished this work without the abundant support of our staff, trainers, partners, and funders.
From 2021-2022, Lifetime Arts trained and coached nearly 1,000 teaching artists, librarians, and community-based organization staff across 22 states on building creative aging programs, partnerships and practices via the National Assembly of State Arts Agency’s (NASAA) Leveraging State Investments in Creative Aging Initiative.
Our final training sessions with state art agencies in Oklahoma and Nebraska concluded in October. In November, Lifetime Arts staff and members from the Utah Division of Arts & Museums and Ohio Arts Council presented the impact of this initiative at NASAA’s 2022 virtual Creative Aging Institute. Read on to learn more about these engagements and how state art agencies are building on the success of this initiative
This fall, we trained 100+ teaching artists, library programmers, arts council staff and stakeholders through continued partnerships with the Connecticut Office of the Arts, Delaware Division of the Arts, Utah Division of Arts & Museums and Michigan Arts and Cultural Council. Our work with these state agencies builds on projects they launched with Lifetime Arts’ support through the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies’ (NASAA) Leveraging State Investments in Creative Aging Initiative (May 2021-September 2022).
In October, Maura O’Malley, Lifetime Arts’ CEO/Co-Founder, and Annie Montgomery, Senior Education Designer & Trainer, presented creative aging best practices, participated on a panel discussion with local organizational leaders and artists, and facilitated a 4-hour Creative Aging Foundations Workshop at the Arts and Ageing Forum 2022: The Future of Arts and Ageing in Singapore, hosted by the National Arts Council (NAC) of Singapore.
In a featured interview, Maura and Annie share their experiences participating in this international event. They share their insights about the arts, culture and aging scene in Singapore, and share moments of learning and collaboration with local community artists and educators on how they engage older adults in lifelong learning educational programs. Maura also envisions how we can collectively share creative aging practices and resources internationally to succeed the common goal for universal lifelong learning opportunities.
This October, Lifetime Arts will be participating in a series of virtual and in-person engagements for arts and aging professionals in New York, Ohio and Florida. We will deliver presentations on a variety of creative aging topics for students, older adults, artists and arts educators and network with professionals in the arts and public health sectors. Read on to learn more about these opportunities.
On October 7, 2022, Maura O'Malley, Lifetime Arts' CEO/Co-Founder, and Annie Montgomery, Senior Education Designer and Trainer, are invited to participate as leading creative aging experts in the in-person event, Arts and Ageing Forum 2022: The Future of Arts and Ageing in Singapore, hosted by the National Arts Council (NAC) Singapore. Maura will present Lifetime Arts as the featured keynote, participate in a live panel discussion with local industry leaders, and co-lead an interactive workshop with Annie.
This year, Maura O'Malley, Lifetime Arts CEO and Co-Founder, was named a NYU Alumni Changemaker for her 40+ years of experience in the arts and public sector, specifically for creating infrastructure around sustainable and anti-ageist arts education programming for older adults nationwide.
In this interview, Maura discusses her life in the arts and public sector; how she overcame challenges and obstacles in pursuing this work; and how she received buy-in from stakeholders. Maura also discusses how she envisions positive growth in the creative aging field and how it intersects with equitable, lifelong learning opportunities for all.
Since May, 15 virtual and in-person programs have been offered throughout Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) branches and the Library's Services for Older Adults (SOA) department as part of our Brooklyn Digital: Connecting Through Creative Aging initiative supported by The New York Community Trust. The most recent series brings the total number of older adult participants in this initiative to nearly 1,000.
In May and June, 2022, Lifetime Arts provided nearly 40 hours of training and professional development services (in-person and via the Lifetime Arts Portal) to over 200 state arts agencies, museum staff, and teaching artists across the country as part of the national and statewide initiatives Leveraging State Investments in Creative Aging and Advancing Creative Aging in Arizona's West Valley. Below we share some highlights from these professional development opportunities and emerging partnership opportunities this fall.
In July, Lifetime Arts welcomed Heather Ikemire as Deputy Director. Drawing on 20+ years of experience in arts education and nonprofit leadership, Heather is responsible for Lifetime Arts’ field building and advocacy work.
From May 19-22, 2022, museum and arts educators from across the U.S. reunited in-person at the American Alliance of Museums' Annual Meeting & Museum Expo in Boston, Massachusetts to explore and address the pressing issues, challenges, and opportunities that museums are facing today.
During the conference, Lifetime Arts delivered the workshop, "Creative Aging: Paving the Way for Lifelong Learning," to museum leaders and educators. Lifetime Arts also participated on a panel which featured our museum programming partners.
In spring 2022, Maura O’Malley, Lifetime Arts’ CEO/Co-Founder, was a featured speaker at two international conferences: MuseumConnections Paris where she presented, “Social Impact: Engaging with Older Adults,” and Ageing Artfully: Going Global, organized by the Creative Ageing Development Agency (CADA), where she presented, “Connecting Through Creative Aging: Social Distancing ≠ Social Isolation.” Maura was joined …
n the Leveraging State Investments in Creative Aging Initiative supported by E.A. Michelson Philanthropy, Lifetime Arts partnered with the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies to grow their creative aging programs, practices, and partnerships with 21 state arts agencies across the country. In this post, teaching artists and organizational staff share their insights on the impact that our training has made in their practices, institutions, and communities. Additionally, the Lifetime Arts team shares insights on working with our partners and trainees.
In the Creative Aging in Wyoming Public Libraries Initiative, Lifetime Arts partnered with the Wyoming State Library and Wyoming Arts Council to implement creative aging programming in 23 county libraries throughout the state. In this post, we highlight some examples of creative aging programs that were offered through this initiative, and share insights from library program coordinators, older adult participants, and the Lifetime Arts team.
The New York State Creative Aging Initiative, an innovative partnership between The New York State Council on the Arts, The New York State Office for the Aging, and Lifetime Arts launched during the middle of the pandemic concluded in February 2022. Lifetime Arts trained and coached staff members from 7 area agencies on aging and nearly 70 New York state based teaching artists to plan, design, and implement 14 remote creative aging programs throughout the state.
advancing arts education programming in Brooklyn public libraries — has proven to serve as an anti-isolation remote program model for public library systems.
The following are examples of programs offered in museums across the U.S. — during and immediately prior to the pandemic — in which teaching artists centered their curriculum in Black cultures and history and/or taught media inspired by Black and Brown artists.
