So you think you can't afford arts programming...

You think you don't have the funds or time to develop arts programming at your site? You don't need a magic wand. Why not look at using volunteers in different ways to free up time for you to plan and develop programming. 

Start with How to Inspire Others and How to Find and Keep Leadership-Level Volunteers from The National Council on Aging's (NCOA) blog.

Center for the Study of Art and Community blog has a great article: What is Your Gift? why is Knowing Your Gift Important?

Make 2011 your year of finding out how to make things happen! (With or without your Magic Want!)

Magic Wand
Photo by Nieve44/La Luz

Build Community & Grow in the Arts. It's Monday - Start Today!

The Creative Age: How Artistic Expression Continues to Blossom

In this segment of AARP's Your Life Calling With Jane Pauley, Gay Hanna, Executive Director of the National Center for Creative Aging (NCCA), talks about the benefits of artistic expression as you age.

"The Arts are wonderful for their own sake, but they are so powerful in terms of tools for communication and healing...You can grow in the Arts."

Happy Monday!

(Can't see the video? Go to Artful Aging and enjoy!)

An interview with Gay Hanna...and more!

The Society for the Arts in Healthcare

has posted a brief interview with Gay Hanna, PhD, Executive Director of the National Center for Creative Aging. Gay is a former Executive Director of SAH.

After you read Gay's interview, check out this archived webinar: 

Creativity and Aging Forum

with Gay Hanna, National Center for Creative Aging

Amir Parsa and Laurel Humble, Department of Education,
The Museum of Modern Art, New York

Part 1 Embrace the Moment! Creativity Matters

Part 2 With Aging, Art is like Chocolate to the Brain!
Part 3 Art and Aging at MoMA
Part 4 Meet Me at MoMA

Don't worry about jotting down the contact information. SAH's website also shares the webinar slides in PDF:
Embrace the Moment: Creativity Matters
Art and Aging at MoMA: Programming for Older Adults

Whether you are in the aging world or the art world, take some time to check out Creativity Matters.

Arts & Creative Aging Across America

When an old person dies, it’s like a library goes up in flames.

—Unknown

Susan Perlstein's Arts and Creative Aging Across America may have been written eight years ago, but Susan's insights are still powerful today.  Susan Perlstein founded Elders Share the Arts (ESTA) in 1979 in New York City. In this article, Susan shares that it was in 1998 that the National Endowment for the Arts spurred her to put together a national organization dedicated to fostering an understanding of the vital relationship between creative expression and the quality of life of older people.  This became the National Center for Creative Aging.

If you want to hear more from Susan, go to Growing Bolder and listen to a short audio clip.  Thanks to the Community Arts Network  you can also read Generating Community Intergenerative Partnerships Through the Expressive Arts, the first chapter of a book Susan co-authored  in 1994.  Note: This is no longer available to read on Community Arts Network.

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Photo by just.Luc

Oops Again!

So sorry--I included an dead link to Judith Zausner's article in Aging Today.  But don't worry.  You can read her article Creativity Entrepreneur is a True Believer on page 10 here. Download it or preview it for some great reading!

Day 222 (Or is this Day 1 now?) - Oops!
Originally uploaded by ktpupp

Spotlight on Judith Zausner

Judith Zausner is in the news!  Judith's article Creative Entrepreneur is a True Believer was published in the November-December 2009 issue of Aging Today, the American Society on Aging's (ASA) bimonthly newsletter.  Scroll down to page 10 and you can read Judith's insightful article in this national newsletter.  She talks about her work and shares an example of how reconnecting to creative activity changed a woman's life in such a positive way.

"Creativity is the engine that makes things happen."

And since you're already there on ASA's newsletter, why not enjoy reading the other great articles about aging creatively, such as The Light of a New Creative Age by TimeSlip's Anne Basting & Peter J. Whitehouse on page 7; The Creative Age Explores New, Uncharted Waters by  National Center for Creative Aging Director Gay Hanna; "Journeys" is a Meaningful, Many-Storied Quilt by Mimi Schreiber; an interview with 83 year old artist Bobbi Gray; and an excerpt from Richard and Alice Matzkin's book The Art of Aging.

In addition to being a CAAN Board Member, Judith Zausner is a consultant, teacher, designer and writer who works to empower elders and people with disabilities through creativity. She is the owner of Caring Crafts, Inc., which provides craft kits for adults who have fine motor skill difficulties and/or cognitive problems, and writes the Creativity Matters blog.

Spotlight
Originally uploaded by enrico.maritano