As part of the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies’ (NASAA) Leveraging State Investments in Creative Aging initiative supported by E.A. Michelson Philanthropy, NASAA has awarded $1,457,000 in grant funding to state and jurisdictional arts agencies across the country to grow their creative aging programs, practices, and partnerships.

State and jurisdictional arts agencies share a public mandate to make the social, educational, economic, and health benefits of the arts available to all residents, especially underserved populations. Older Americans are an essential part of this commitment.

Their cohort of 36 grantees comprises 64% of all state and jurisdictional arts agencies and includes every region of the country, five out of six jurisdictions, and state arts agencies of every budget size. Leveraging State Investments in Creative Aging grant-funded activities will take place between March 1, 2021 – August 31, 2022.

Lifetime Arts to Partner with 21 State Arts Agencies

The National Assembly of State Arts Agencies and E.A. Michelson Philanthropy named Lifetime Arts as the recommended capacity-building partner for this national initiative. Nineteen (19) of the 36 state arts agencies included consulting, professional development, and program implementation services from Lifetime Arts in their proposals.

We will guide the 21 agencies as they leverage existing state partnerships and forge new ones; develop responsive programming (i.e., veterans in Idaho); form and foster new communities of practice (New Jersey); and train a workforce of hundreds of teaching artists nationwide to develop safe, effective, meaningful, socially engaging, and sustainable programming for older adults. 

Participating agencies include: