April 24, 2020 – Amid reports of death and isolation, some older New Yorkers are modeling strength and resilience. The New York Times’ John Leland reports: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/24/nyregion/coronavirus-elders-nyc.html?referringSource=articleShare

April 13, 2020 – The coronavirus pandemic could sharpen the health risks of loneliness. But there are ways to connect. The New York Times’ Paula Span reports: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/13/health/coronavirus-elderly-isolation-loneliness.html

April 17, 2020 – This article features the report, Supporting Older Adults Through Coronavirus: Ideas From Experts and Leaders Across NYC, developed by The Center for the Urban Future (CUF) and other leaders from organizations that provide services to older adults, including Lifetime Arts’ Executive Director and Co-Founder, Ed Friedman.

The report, “offers ideas for combating social isolation, developing relevant technology, “bolstering telehealth services, mobilizing laid-off workers to increase the output and delivery of take-home meals, and developing a central information portal to communicate important updates and resources to seniors and providers.” The Gotham Gazette’s Katie Kirker reports: https://www.gothamgazette.com/city/9320-suggestions-to-help-especially-vulnerable-seniors-during-coronavirus-crisis-new-york

Greg Cook, Editor of Wonderland, an online magazine in greater Boston, MA, published a list of COVID-19 related resources for artists in the New England region regarding funding, organizational planning, healthcare, hunger and food resources, legal help, and more during this time.

From SAGEConnect:

“As we all experience the new reality of the COVID-19 pandemic, social isolation is becoming more common. Our LGBT community, like our country, is in uncharted waters. But we know what we need to do because we’ve done it before: we organize ourselves as effectively and as lovingly as possible to respond to an unprecedented health crisis.”

“For SAGE and LGBT pioneers across the country, the pandemic eliminated in-person group interaction. SAGEConnect links LGBT elders with their broader community, reducing isolation and promoting well-being. If you know someone who would benefit from SAGEConnect, but doesn’t have internet, call our registration line at 929-484-4160.”

For more information about SAGEConnect, please visit this page.

While the Neuberger Museum of Art is temporarily closed, they are providing weekly suggestions for art-related projects and virtual getaways. For latest updates, visit their NEU To Do page.

March 31, 2020 – “Building distance learning systems is not for the faint of heart. In theory, they can help make learning more accessible for more people, but not in an overnight crash situation like many are facing.” CNN’s David M. Perry reports: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/09/business/online-learning-virus.html

April 9, 2020 – Winner-take-all economics and cost-cutting may make many in-person lectures obsolete, but the best education continues to be intensive, expensive and done in person. The New York Times’ David Deming reports: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/09/business/online-learning-virus.html

March 31, 2020 –  The New York Times’ John Leland reports, “New York’s nursing homes have long been chronically understaffed, leaving family members to fill critical gaps, from feeding their relatives to checking for bedsores or infection. Now those family members are barred from entry, and existing workers are getting sick, quarantined or quitting because the work has become too dangerous.” Read the full article

OATS/Senior Planet Virtual Press Conference, March 30, 2020

In this press conference, OATS (Older Adult Technology Services) founder and executive director, Dr. Thomas Kamber, shares about how OATS is addressing the COVID-19 crisis, including offering new virtual programs and digital resources for older adults. For more information about their online programs and digital resources, please visit their blog, What We’re Doing to Address COVID-19.

The following is a post published by Pratt Institute to aid their student and faculty communities during COVID-19. The tips are universally relevant for anyone who wants to create at home.

“COVID-19 has quickly changed the way we study, teach, and create. As students, faculty, staff, and alumni in the Pratt Institute community are now working and learning remotely, here are some tips on maintaining a daily creative practice that is positive and productive.”

Visit the Pratt website to read their post

The San Francisco Community Music Center developed the Older Adult Choir Program to provide the many personal, social, artistic, and quality of life benefits that musical activity can bring to older adults. The program has grown as choirs have cycled out of the Community of Voices research study led by UCSF in partnership with CMC and DAAS.

These videos are aimed at the participating older adults, but would be useful and fun for anyone looking to sing at home.

The playlist has been posted to the SFCMC channel on YouTube, and are available embedded below.

March 12, 2020  – The Upper West Side (NYC) senior center, DOROT, shut down all programming in its physical site. WNYC’s Gwynne Hogan reports:
https://www.wnyc.org/story/senior-centers-face-tough-decisions-during-coronavirus-outbreak/

“As we’re all dealing with the realities of the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) outbreak, Senior Planet and Older Adults Technology Services (OATS), the nonprofit that sponsors Senior Planet, want to affirm that the health and safety of all members, participants, trainers, staff and volunteers is of the highest importance. Right now, they’re continuing to monitor the situation, facilitate best practices, provide support, and adjust course as needed to ensure the wellbeing of their community.”

• Read the complete statement from OATS and Senior Planet  
• Access the Senior Planet’s Coronavirus Resource Guide including Virtual Events, Stuck-at-Home Guide, and Information on COVID-19

From Generations United, March 13, 2020:

“It’s too early to know if social isolation or the Coronavirus (COVID-19) will kill more older adults in the long run. A heightened awareness of how a lack of social connection negatively impacts individuals as they age and their networks diminish has fueled a significant interest in intergenerational programming in recent years. Not only is the Coronavirus threatening our economy, institutions and way of life, it’s attacking the pathways created to connect young and old. Connections that strengthen our community and individual lives.”

Read the entire statement from Generations United

The Boston Globe, March 13, 2020

“With health authorities warning that the novel coronavirus poses a higher risk to older adults, many seniors are adjusting to a new reality, where gatherings they’d looked forward to are cancelled, and daily activities can feel fraught with risk.”

Visit The Boston Globe website to read the article

On March 17, 2020, the National Guild’s Creative Aging Network held a community forum for Creative Aging practitioners. Leaders in the field discussed how they’re responding to their community needs including: adjusting programs and learning environments, working with senior centers and other community partners, supporting teaching artists, and speaking to funders.

Visit the National Guild website to access the meeting recording

Elana Fishbein is an improv instructor, consultant, and performer based in New York City. She has designed curriculum and facilitated improv workshops for corporations, non-profits, and educational institutions all over the United States and beyond. Elana’s targeted, experiential sessions have helped thousands of students expand their ability to communicate, collaborate, empathize, and lead through radical respect and elevation each other’s ideas.

Elana has designed two different online workshops designed to aid teaching artists as they move their teaching practices online. These workshops will aim to empower teachers with a variety of tools to design and implement an online curriculum. Synchronous and asynchronous options are available, and tuition is set up as a sliding scale: $0-50.

Online Facilitation Workshops for Improv and Theatre Teachers (Thursday, March 26)

Techniques for Leading Long-form Improv Over Zoom (Sunday, March 29)

Note: Even if the live version of each of these webinars has elapsed, anyone interested will be able to register and access the recordings.

Access the collections and learning resources from museums around the world. This collection was assembled by MCN.

MAC have created this webpage to link you to as many at-home learning resources and activities being offered by NYC cultural institutions and beyond as possible. The list includes resources for families, individuals, teachers, and people with disabilities. They link to many institutions’ current offerings (including live streams from the MET opera) as well as podcasts and online classes.

Dance for PD is committed to supporting the global community and encouraging people living with Parkinson’s to keep dancing during a time when live classes may not be available. They are providing regularly-scheduled live online community meetups that include a live 30-minute Dance for PD class three times a week. They are also making their full digital class archive available free of charge.

A handful of folks from the Teaching Artists of the Mid-Atlantic, the Teaching Artists Guild, among others have drafted a customizable letter (Google Doc) for teaching artists to send to elected officials in your area.

On Friday, March 13, 2020, Association of Teaching Artists, Teaching Artists Guild, Creative Generation, National Guild for Community Arts Education, the NYC Arts in Education Roundtable, and Teaching Artists of the Mid-Atlantic hosted a free webinar to address how the COVID-19 health crisis is affecting teaching artists. The recording is available on the Teaching Artist Guild website as is information they have compiled for teaching artists on the following topics:

Compensation; Labor laws/Sick Leave; Webinars and Podcasts; Emergency Funding, Grants & Loans; Self-Care & Mental Health; Online/Distance Learning Activities & Exercises; Online/Distance Learning Technology Types & Information; News from the Field; Impact Surveys; Pre-Existing Resource Lists

Learn more:

TAG website:
https://teachingartistsguild.org/covid-19-resources/

National Guild website:
Creative Aging Covid-19 Forum Recording (related event)

This independent GoFundMe campaign is designed to support low-income, BIPOC, trans/GNC/NB/Queer artists and freelancers in New York City.

This list is specifically designed to serve freelance artists, and those interested in supporting the independent artist community. This includes, but is not limited to, actors, designers, producers, technicians, stage managers, musicians, composers, choreographers, visual artists, filmmakers, craft artists, teaching artists, dancers, writers & playwrights, photographers, etc.

Learn more about the COVID-19 & Freelance Artists resources:
https://covid19freelanceartistresource.wordpress.com/

In times of crisis, artists are often among those most affected. Creative Capital has always been anchored by a rich spirit of community and mutual generosity, and believe that continuing communication and exchange is crucial for all. As COVID-19 continues to spread across the United States, Creative Capital have created a list of resources for artists working in all disciplines, as well as arts philanthropists, and arts professionals.

The Boston Artist Relief Fund will award grants of $500 and $1000 to individual artists who live in Boston whose creative practices and incomes are being adversely impacted by Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19). With events of all types being cancelled to reduce spread of COVID-19, people who make income partially or fully through gigs and freelance work are losing critical opportunities to support their well-being in our city.

The Boston Artist Relief Fund will open for applications on Thursday March 12 for artists who have lost or anticipate losing income. The Boston Artist Relief Fund will be open on a rolling basis and will replace the Opportunity Fund for the rest of our fiscal year, ending June 30, 2020. The Opportunity Fund will reopen for applications after July 1. Opportunity Fund applications that were already received in this application cycle will be considered for funding.

Learn more about the Boston Artist Relief Fund:
https://cityofbostonartsandculture.submittable.com/submit/162763/boston-artist-relief-fund

From Ad Summa, the American Alliance of Museums blog on Museums and Creative Aging:

“Older adults are a population especially vulnerable to contracting severe cases of COVID-19, and are therefore advised to take special precautions to avoid infection. This may intensify the isolation they experience during the pandemic, making it all the more important for museums to continue reaching them through remote alternatives to on-site creative aging programs. Furthermore, because older adults may face a variety of mobility issues that make it difficult or impossible to come to a physical museum in the best of times, it’s useful to consider how remote alternatives could be deployed in creative aging programs even when museums reopen.

We talked to museums participating in the Seeding Vitality Arts initiative about the changes they’re already making to ensure their program participants are able to stay connected to each other. Read on to find out how Naples Botanical Garden and the John Michael Kohler Arts Center are carrying on with their important work.”

Visit the AAM website to read more:
https://www.aam-us.org/2020/03/20/how-creative-aging-programs-are-carrying-on-through-covid-19/

Beginning on Monday, March 23, and running for the next 10 days through April 3, Lifetime Arts Roster Artist Dave Johnson is partnering with Poets House to host 10-minute poetry workshops at 10AM EST.

During the workshop, you will write a quick poem with him each morning and share it. At the end of 10 days you will have 10 new poems!

Visit Poets House for complete details:
https://poetshouse.org/event/101010-intro/