Arts education programs enhance the well-being of older adults
New York, NY—Twenty nonprofit arts education organizations from 14 states have been selected to participate in the National Guild for Community Arts Education’s Catalyzing Creative Aging Program. This multi-phase initiative, provided in partnership with Lifetime Arts, is designed to support the establishment of new, professionally led arts education programs for older adults that increase social engagement and mastery of one or more art forms. Research shows that professionally led, arts education for older adults fosters positive aging.
Program participants:
Broadway School of Music & the Arts, Cleveland, OH (Multi-Disciplinary)
The Carson Center, Paducah, KY (Theater)
Casita Maria Center for Arts & Education, Bronx, NY (Multi-Disciplinary)
Center of Creative Arts (COCA), St. Louis, MO
The Music Settlement, Cleveland, OH (Music)
Community Music School of Springfield, Springfield, MA (Music)
Creative Action, Austin, TX (Multi-Disciplinary)
Fleisher Art Memorial, Philadelphia, PA (Visual Arts)
Foluke Cultural Arts Center, Cleveland, OH (Multi-Disciplinary)
Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton, NJ (Visual Arts)
Hartford Stage Company, Hartford, CT (Theater)
IPFW Community Arts Academy, Fort Wayne, IN (Multi-Disciplinary)
Pasadena Conservatory of Music, Pasadena, CA (Music)
Pullen Arts Center, Raleigh, NC (Visual Arts)
Rocky Ridge Music Center, Boulder, CO (Music)
Sweetwater Center for the Arts, Sewickley, PA (Multi-Disciplinary)
The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music Preparatory and Community Engagement, Cincinnati, OH (Music)
University of Kentucky Arts Extension, Lexington, KY (Multi-Disciplinary)
West Michigan Center for Arts and Technology, Grand Rapids, MI (Visual Arts)
Wharton Institute for the Performing Arts, Berkeley Heights, NJ (Multi-Disciplinary)
“Through the Catalyzing Creative Aging Program, the Guild will continue its long-standing commitment to supporting and advancing lifelong learning in the arts,” said Jonathan Herman, Executive Director of the National Guild. “Guild members are uniquely positioned to play a leading role in providing innovative programming for an aging population that is living longer, healthier lives. Lifetime Arts is a nationally-recognized leader and uniquely qualified to help our members build their capacity to serve older adults.
The program will provide training and technical assistance for eight months (Nov. 2017 – June 2018) via a series of workshops, webinars, and video consultations designed to increase each organization’s capacity to serve older adults through skill-based, participatory arts programs. 10 of the participating organizations will be selected through a separate competitive application process to receive seed grants of up to $7,000 to implement new creative aging programs in fall 2018.
“This deep dive into creative aging training will jump start great programming across the United States,” said Maura O’Malley, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Lifetime Arts. “We are proud to partner with the National Guild to enhance its members’ capacity to develop, evaluate, and sustain successful creative aging programs and share what we learn with the field.”
The goals of the Catalyzing Creative Aging Program are to:
- increase the capacity of nonprofit community arts education providers to serve older adults;
- expand and/or deepen existing creative aging programs of high quality; and
- identify exemplary creative aging programs as models for the field.
Catalyzing Creative Aging is made possible with support from Aroha Philanthropies, The Moca Foundation, and The Music Man Foundation. For more information, visit www.nationalguild.org or call (212) 268-3337 ext. 10.
The National Guild for Community Arts Education strives to ensure all people have opportunities to maximize their creative potential by developing leaders, strengthening organizations, and advocating for community arts education.
