Lifetime Arts Featured in Inaugural Creative Aging Track at National Guild Conference

National Leaders in Creative Aging Address Ageism Head On

On November 2, nationally-recognized gerontologists, practitioners, funders, and aging service organization partners joined Annie Montgomery for a session titled, “Age Equity: Combating Ageism to Fuel Creative Aging Programs, Funders and Partnerships.”

During the session, the speakers shared how their organizations are addressing ageism head on and advancing creative aging in communities across the country:

  • Keynote speaker Teresa Sansone Ferguson, Executive Director at AustinUp, a community alliance committed to making Central Texas a place where older adults can live full and engaged lives, talked about how they work directly with stakeholders to address policy and raise awareness for ageist practices that place barriers on older adults
  • Teresa Bonner, Executive Director at Aroha Philanthropies, delivered a case study that addressed ageism as it relates to funding priorities
  • Eliza Kiser, Executive Director at Pullen Arts Center in Raleigh, and Carmen Santos-Robson, Assistant Director of Development at the Newark School of the Arts, shared how their organizations are including Creative Aging opportunities in their list of services, and how their organization’s cultures are beginning to shift as a result of these programs.
  • Ken Bloomer, Activities Director at Alamo Recreation Center in Austin, spoke about the positive impact that Creative Aging programs have on the center’s participants: “Their confidence has grown, the center is more active, and they know each other so much better now.”

The session concluded with a robust art-making session, where attendees co-created  poems inspired by how they feel about ageism and their own aging processes. 

Our Partnerships Continue to Drive Creative Aging Forward

Maura O'Malley, co-founder and CEO, Lifetime Arts
Maura O’Malley, co-founder and CEO, Lifetime Arts

When asked what attendees learned about Creative Aging programming, ageism and older adults, Maura replied, “This experience provided a solid and inspiring path forward into the Creative Aging movement. The Guild’s members come to this work already committed to community arts engagement — but working with older adults through sequential, skill-building programming is new — and requires a shift in approach and tone.”

“This is new work for most — the members were grateful for the coaching, the information, the resources and were inspired to dive deeper and make this programming a reality for their communities,” added Maura. 

“The conference felt different this year,“ said Maura. “We connected with so many delegates who were not only aware of the Creative Aging movement – but were actively seeking ways to get involved. It was gratifying to see how our partnership with the Guild has moved this field forward with more and more Guild members across the country rethinking their work with older adults.”

Photo and video credit: Annie Montgomery

Now through June 2020, the Catalyzing Creative Aging program will continue to provide training and coaching to this cohort via a series of workshops, webinars and video consultations. Ten 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 2020. To learn more about this program, please visit National Guild’s Catalyzing Creative Aging Program page.