On Friday, May 17, the Association of Teaching Artists (ATA), the oldest, independent organization serving teaching artists in the country, held its 2019 Awards ceremony in New York City, to honor artist educators who have made a significant impact on the field of Teaching Artistry and to kick-off Teaching Artist Appreciation Week (May 20-27).
Lifetime Arts co-founders, Ed Friedman and Maura O’Malley were honored with The Teaching Artist Ally Award in recognition for their support of teaching artists in the field of Creative Aging. The ATA honored multimedia teaching artist, Ali Santana with The Innovation in Teaching Artistry Award for a series of multimedia programs he developed for MoMA Teens; and founder of ATA, Dale Davis, with The Distinguished Service to the Field Award.
Ed and Maura founded Lifetime Arts with the knowledge that professional teaching artists would be the driving force behind successful Creative Aging programming. Together, they have guided the design and funding of training workshops for over 1,000 teaching artists across the U.S. In addition, Lifetime Arts offers mentorship opportunities in the New York area for teaching artists new to the field. Lifetime Arts’ Creative Aging Roster lists hundreds of qualified teaching artists across the country, including Master Teaching Artist and current President of the ATA Board of Directors, Lauren Jost.
In his remarks, Ed said “The success and continued growth of Lifetime Arts and the field of Creative Aging can be attributed to the rigor with which teaching artists approach this work, [to] their empathy, passion and dedication. Research confirms what those of us in the arts have always known; that participating in the arts is good for you, at any age. And with the increasing number of teaching artists interested in Creative Aging, this work will no doubt have a positive impact on an increasing number of older adults. We look forward to the future, and so should you.”
Read more about the winners in the ATA Press Release and watch the Facebook Live coverage of the Awards Ceremony on ATA’s Facebook Page.
Photo credit: Hyphen Photography
