A scene from a Lifetime Arts Creative Aging training held in New York. Credit: Shawn Choi
Project Components & Partners
Created by a new partnership of the New York State Council on the Arts and the New York State Office for the Aging, the Creative Aging Initiative takes an innovative, evidence-based approach to healthy aging, underscoring New York’s leadership as the first age-friendly state in the nation.
Project Goals
- Build the capacity of NYS’s area agencies on aging to develop, implement and sustain creative aging programming
- Seed programs to demonstrate the efficacy of creative aging programming as a core service
- Increase the capacity of NYS teaching artists to facilitate online creative aging programs through a teaching artist mentor program
- Improve the quality of life and reduce social isolation for older New Yorkers through arts education
Project Administration, Training, & Mentoring
This initiative will be administered by Lifetime Arts who will train up to 25 staff members from seven area agencies on aging, plus 75 New York-based teaching artists, and provide implementation support and coaching for funded programming. Upon completion of this training, teaching artists will be eligible to apply to be placed as a paid mentee in an online creative aging program, learning from program instructors and receiving coaching from Lifetime Arts staff.
About the Programming
This programming will build on extensive research demonstrating the role of the arts in improving health outcomes for older adults. Lifetime Arts will match AAAs with programs from our catalogue that best reflect the artistic interests of the older adults in their communities. The programs in the catalogue cover all major arts disciplines, and have been especially designed for remote delivery by teaching artists qualified by Lifetime Arts.
Read our blog post, “Remote Creative Aging Programs Addressed Social Isolation in 7 New York Counties During Pandemic,” to learn more about this statewide initiative and its impact on area agencies on aging staff, teaching artists, Lifetime Arts staff and older adult New Yorkers.
Radio Storytelling: Westchester County Department of Senior Programs and Services
November 1, 2021Writing a radio play is part storytelling, part playwriting, and part sound design. During this 6-week workshop, students will gain the essential skills in making… Read more
Watercolor: Clinton County Office for the Aging
September 15, 2021During this 8-week workshop, students will see that beauty by looking intently and using watercolor to bring those objects to life on paper. Instructor Antonia… Read more
Memoir: Westchester County Department of Senior Programs and Services + Saratoga County Office for the Aging
August 24, 2021Storytelling is how we communicate who we are and learn about our shared histories. Register for “Into the Wild: A Memoir Class by Lifetime Arts”… Read more
Chinese Brush Painting: Westchester County Department of Senior Programs and Services + Essex County Office for the Aging
August 16, 2021This 6-week course will introduce participants to the fundamental concepts and techniques of Chinese brush painting. Learners will study and practice brushstrokes unique to this… Read more
Memoir: Schoharie County + Clinton County Office for the Aging
August 10, 2021Everyone has a story to tell and writing our stories is an important opportunity for pushing our memories, expanding our creativity, and making meaningful connections… Read more
Ballroom/Social Dance: Saratoga County + Rockland County Office for the Aging
August 2, 2021Stay social while apart and learn the basics of social dance from home! During this 6-week informative workshop, participants will learn the Mambo, West Coast… Read more
Drawing/Collage: Essex County Office for the Aging
July 20, 2021What if you could document your life in pictures? What kind of stories would they tell? What would influence those stories? The workshop, “Mapping a… Read more
Photography: Westchester County, Essex County + Saratoga County
June 29, 2021“Photographing the Beauty Around Me” is a 6-week course designed to teach older adults to capture excellent, artful digital photographs of their environments and the… Read more
Training Dates & Details
AAA Staff Training, Feb. 16-18
Teaching Artist Training, Feb. 22-24
Made possible by
This initiative is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts, New York State Office for the Aging, and the Association of Aging in New York with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.