Because older adults are a part of every sector, Lifetime Arts works at both the local level and at a systems level — facilitating regional, state, and national partnerships between arts agencies, library services, veteran services, museums, arts organizations, and others. Through these partnerships, we build leadership and investment to sustain creative aging practices and continuously train, coach, and connect teaching artists, programmers, and other stakeholders on the ground. Our overarching goal is to shift the narrative about growing older away from a negative view to one of optimism, engagement, and joy.
This summer, we trained hundreds of teaching artists, library workers, museum educators, and arts organization staff in Missouri, Wyoming, Hawaii, Tennessee, and Arizona as part of our major projects Advancing Creative Aging Through State Library Leadership and Vitality Arts Project for Art Museums and in partnership with the Phoenix Center for the Arts and Indiana Arts Commission. These creative aging leaders will go on to impact the lives of more than 3,500 older adults in this year alone. Below are training highlights and reflections.
Missouri + Wyoming Public Libraries Build a Pathway for Program Sustainability
Libraries are key institutions for creative aging at their core, offering opportunities for accessible learning and community enrichment. In May, Lifetime Arts trained nearly 75 Missouri and Wyoming library workers, veteran home staff, and assisted living staff through four in-person Creative Aging Foundations Training sessions as part of the Advancing Creative Aging Through State Library Leadership Initiative, a collaborative partnership between the Wyoming State Library, Missouri State Library and Califa Group, and supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). These library workers are part of the 250 total who will be trained in delivering 100 in-person and remote programs throughout 132 public and county library systems in Wyoming and Missouri, which will positively impact the lives of nearly 2,000 older adults and build the case for long-term sustainability. Check out our Instagram highlights from the Missouri training sessions here and reflections from all training sessions below.
“The librarians made real connections to how evaluation of programs can lead to pathways of sustainability. This initiative is being embraced by the libraries of Missouri and it has real potential to reimagine what arts programming for older adults across the state can look like.”
— Annie Montgomery, Senior Education Designer & Trainer
“I always felt there is a need to be met in our community to help the 55+ community. It is thrilling that we have this amazing opportunity to make a difference in the world at the library.”
— Missouri Library Worker
Brian Greene, Library Development Manager at Wyoming State Library, was thrilled to participate in the Wyoming library worker training with partners Joshua Chrysler, Folklorist and Health & Wellness Specialist at the Wyoming Art Council, and Ben Kinion, Scholarship and Grants Coordinator at the Wyoming Community Foundation. “They [Joshua and Ben] didn’t ‘just show up.’ They were just as engaged in the workshop as the library staff,” said Brian. Staff members from the Wyoming Department of Health, Allison Wrye, Activities Coordinator, and Mary Sue Williams, Activities Specialist, also participated in the training. They work in the small libraries and programs at the Veterans’ Home of Wyoming and the Wyoming Retirement Center. “This brought me great joy. It was a new way for us to be of service to our state institutions,” added Brian.
A selection of these library workers were part of the Creative Aging in Wyoming Public Libraries Initiative, where we virtually trained nearly 100 library workers working in 23 county libraries throughout the state to deliver direct and innovative in-person and online programs. “Having a panel of library workers who had already gone through this process was huge,” said David Woehr, Lifetime Arts’ Program Manager. “It went a long way towards building trust in the process for new libraries and communicated what goes into implementing these programs.”
Pictured in top middle photo from L to R: Antonia Perez, Lifetime Arts Trainer; Allison Wrye, Activities Coordinator, Wyoming Department of Health; Julie Kline, Director of Education & Training; and Brian Greene, Library Development Manager, Wyoming State Library
Museums Tap into Their Roots as Viable, Age-Friendly Community Hubs
Antonia Perez, Lifetime Arts Trainer (pictured in right photo), facilitates a visual demonstration class for museum educators at the Honolulu Museum of Art in Hawaii.
“For cultural organizations like museums, creative aging extends their reach; advances their educational, cultural, and social missions; builds new community partnerships; and creates new funding streams.”
— Maura O’Malley, Lifetime Arts’ CEO/Co-Founder on making the case for creative aging in museums.
Lifetime Arts delivered Creative Aging Foundations trainings this summer to nearly 80 museum educators and leaders at Honolulu Museum of Art, Crystal Bridges Museum of Art, and Memphis Brooks Museum of Art. These trainings were designed to help museum educators and staff start to create their museums as creative aging “hubs” for lifelong learning, community connection, and inclusive artistic engagement. This work was done as part of the Vitality Arts Project for Art Museums Initiative, a two-year project designed to support the launch of a new series of art programs in 16 nationally-prominent art museums.
We also have been supporting museums to examine how ageism is often a key barrier to serving older adults well and how creative aging can be a powerful tool for transforming organizations into age-friendly spaces. Lifetime Arts launched its new seminar, “Creative Aging: A Tool for Undoing Ageism in Your Organization” with museum staff at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and Philbrook Museum of Art. Participants learned about cutting-edge research on ageism, reflected on their own age beliefs and implicit biases, and explored how arts programming can challenge ageist stereotypes and help organizations shift their culture to better engage older adults.
“One of the strengths of these seminars is the way that they draw ageism — often invisible in the landscape of ‘isms’ that we readily confront — out of the shadows,” said Sarah Jacobus, Lifetime Arts Trainer. “It’s always exciting and gratifying to see how the reflection questions we pose resonate with participants, especially for those who have sensed, but not named, ageism in action.”
Credit: Eliot Berven, Digital Content Manager, Catholic Charities Twin Cities
“I don’t know how many times I’ve had my day saved by doing one of my drawings. I’ve had crummy days that were made better with my artwork. If it’s a good day, it makes it even better, and that’s a great feeling of accomplishment.”
— Brad Schubert, Program Participant and Higher Ground Resident
As part of the Vitality Arts Project for Art Museums Initiative, the Minneapolis Institute of Art (MIA) and Catholic Charities Twin Cities Higher Ground campus collaborated on the six-week drawing program this summer for older adult residents. Higher Ground serves men who have struggled with homelessness or housing instability. The residents’ case managers also participated in this course, which was led by Lynda Monick-Isenberg, teaching artist and Lifetime Arts Trainer. Participant artwork is on display at the MIA through November 12. Read more about this program in this article published by MPR News.
Through our partnerships with museums, we are determined to raise awareness of older adult needs in a community, share and gain knowledge of what innovative programming can look like in these institutions, and ultimately shift any internal perception of older adults from being just ticket buyers and patrons to becoming part of the artistic fabric of a museum.
Connecting Culture, Community, and Creative Aging in Arizona
Lifetime Arts is currently working with the Phoenix Center for the Arts to train their board members and staff from culturally-diverse non-profit organizations in an effort to advance creative aging and build community partnerships throughout Phoenix. These organizations are part of the Center’s six-month teaching artist mentorship program, Art in Mind, designed to connect artists with professional teaching artists and equip them with the training and resources necessary to deliver their own program at the Center. The organizations will provide the Center with insight to create culturally relevant and in-demand artist training and support programs that will support their respective communities. In October, we will train teaching artists who are selected to participate in the Art in Mind Program to further establish a strong foundation of teaching artists and connect them to cultural organizations in the area.
The organizational training cohort included staff members from Cahokia PHX (an indigenous platform for creative placemaking), Xico, and Lights, Camera, Discover. Participants learned the roots of the creative aging field, explored anti-ageist program curriculum, and were introduced to strategies on partnering with teaching artists and other organizations to support program development and sustainability. Participants also held constructive conversations around cultural perspectives on age, social activism, and inter- and multigenerational engagement.
“It was interesting to hear distinctions among different tribal nations on how age plays out in their communities, along with cultural distinctions in symbols, topics, or names that may be shared in one season, but not in another,” said Antonia Perez, Lifetime Arts Trainer.
Another trainer, Asma Feyijinmi said, “There was a special soul in the room who spoke like a poet. She said the elders in her community play a special role passing down ancient artforms: basket weaving, silversmithing, etc. She spoke of how the elders were the guides, showing younger generations how to create their own impression in time.” Asma also noted that the organizations are already involved in social activism and multigenerational community activities. “Building bridges is important for these organizations as they seek out teaching artists and participants in creative aging programs,” she added.
