Creative Aging Collaborative

Creative aging is the practice of engaging older adults in artistic and creative activities to enhance well-being, boost physical and cognitive abilities, and enrich overall quality of life.

Creative aging is more than just a fulfilling pastime; it’s a crucial element of a healthy, vibrant life. Creative aging programming can take many forms, including but not limited to art classes, theater workshops, storytelling sessions, music making, and intergenerational arts projects. These programs not only encourage active, positive aging but also challenge aging stereotypes by showcasing the continuous potential for growth and creativity at every stage of life.

Creative aging is a proven way to shatter chronic loneliness which affects 25% of older adults and is often deadlier than smoking. This staggering statistic from a recent advisory from the National Library of Medicine is one of hundreds which show the physical and mental health effects of aging alone. Social isolation not only diminishes our health and well-being, but it also fuels negative stereotypes and perspectives around aging. Ageism distorts our view of ourselves and others. Creative aging enables us to paint a different picture; a new canvas where connection and creativity is woven into every chapter of our lives.

Lifetime Arts believes that everyone, no matter where they live or who they are, has the right to be creative and share their creativity with the world. We help people and organizations weave creative aging practices into the fabric of their communities by offering expert training, support, and comprehensive resources. Through multi-sector partnerships, we empower organizations, agencies, and individuals to dismantle ageism, reduce loneliness, and foster growth through the arts. Our innovative approaches, backed by decades of research, ensure that everyone can live a life fueled by creativity, curiosity, and connection.

When you reached the end of the Creative Aging Foundations training, did you think, “What’s next? How can I stay connected? Where can I learn more? Who else is doing this work? I have more questions about…”

Maybe you didn’t, but these are the most common questions we at Lifetime Arts have been hearing over the last decade. The Co-Lab is our best attempt to answer these questions.

Our hope is that you will walk away with new connections and perspectives, resources that are useful, and you feel supported in both your professional development in creative aging and your personal journey into or in elderhood. We also hope that YOU will help create The Co-Lab with us, but we’ve planned the first year based on the feedback and questions we have received from trainings.

All sales are final. No refunds or proration will be issued except in the case that an individual becomes sponsored by an organization. If an individual becomes sponsored through an organizational subscription, to receive a refund, this situation must be communicated in writing to info@lifetimearts.org within 30 days of payment date.

All individual subscriptions are set to auto-renew. You can turn off auto-renew or cancel an annual subscription at any time. You can turn off auto-renew or cancel a monthly subscription any time after the 6th month. You can sign up with a credit/debit card here.

Group/organizational subscriptions are for up to 5, 25, or 50 individuals, valid for 1 year with no auto-renewal. Unless the organization pays for another year, individuals will be asked if they would like to continue with an individual subscription after their year of sponsorship is over.

If paying by credit card, there will be a 3.6% transaction fee. You can pay by credit card here. To avoid these fees, you can pay by ACH or check by emailing info@lifetimearts.org and we will provide a quote with terms and conditions and/or an invoice with payment instructions (and T+C).

Once payment is complete, the organization’s contact will receive a forwardable email to send to eligible individuals up to the number of seats paid for, with your unique group code and instructions on how these folks can access the portal space, which will include the calendar of events and subscriber resources.

By The Co-Lab being a subscription, it allows us to pay the experts, speakers, panelists, and other guests for their contributions, like preparing materials, sharing their time, and offering their expertise. At Lifetime Arts, we value service AND fair compensation, and we do our best to model and honor this exchange. In this spirit, we have worked really hard to make this as affordable as possible while still being able to bring in these great collaborators.

We are unable to offer scholarships at this time. However, we are working on a template letter to help you request professional development funds from foundations, grant-making organizations, arts agencies, and other funding sources. Please check back soon.

We are starting with one live, synchronous engagement per month. To provide some structure as we establish this community of practice and learning, we’re starting with an annual plan of 3x Learning Lounges or Backstage Speaker Series, 4x Peer Power Chats for networking centered around a topic, and 5x Jam Sessions to ask questions. This does NOT include the free and open-to-the-public Speaker Series, which will coincide with the Backstage engagements that are exclusive to Co-Lab subscribers.

Please reach out to us at info@lifetimearts.org.