After 15 years of leading Lifetime Arts, our beloved and tremendously visionary co-founder and CEO, Maura O’Malley will be officially “rewiring” at the end of this year. No, that isn’t a typo. Rewiring is an alternative to retiring. It underscores that as we age and move through different life stages, we continue to learn, create, and try …
Cross-sector, state-level partnerships are key to sustaining and ensuring access to creative aging programming, especially for older adults in rural communities. Research shows that these arts education programs contribute significantly to healthy aging and increased social connection. The Advancing Creative Aging in Westerns States Initiative, launched in 2023, is designed to deepen and sustain collaboration among state agency partners to advance creative aging in the Western region. Currently the Initiative includes partnership teams in Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Wyoming, and Utah. These teams include leaders from state arts agencies, state libraries, and state veterans services, and will expand to include aging services and health and human services.
Lifetime Arts is thrilled to announce that its Co-Founder/CEO, Maura O’Malley, has been named a 2024 AARP Purpose Prize® Award Fellow. The AARP Purpose Prize® Award is a national recognition that honors a select group of people aged 50-plus who have proven that they are using their knowledge and life experience to make a difference. As part of this award, Lifetime Arts will receive $10,000 and a year of technical support to help deepen and expand its creative aging work nationally.
This summer, Lifetime Arts had the opportunity to train 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, Indiana Arts Commission, and Creative Aging in Memphis. 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.
Lifetime Arts proudly announces the promotion of Heather Ikemire to the position of Executive Director. Heather’s promotion coincides with Lifetime Arts’ 15th anniversary year as a national service organization for creative aging. With her leadership, the organization is poised to launch a new phase of programming and cross-sector collaboration to accelerate the impact of creative aging nationwide.
Learn more about two innovative programs implemented via a partnership between the Utah Museum of Fine Arts and Utah Pride Center and explore more creative aging programs and resources that support the needs and interests of the LGBTQIA+ community.
A total of 132 public and county library systems in Missouri and Wyoming will develop and/or expand arts education programs that improve the lives of older adults (55+) through the Advancing Creative Aging Through State Library Leadership Initiative (2023-2025). In partnership with the participating state libraries, Lifetime Arts will train and coach up to 250 librarians and library programmers in creative aging program planning, design, marketing, implementation and documentation. A total of 100 in-person and remote creative aging programs will serve up to 2,000 older adults in Wyoming and Missouri public libraries and build the case for long-term sustainability.
