On August 25, Arizona Commission on the Arts Director of Arts Learning Alexandra Nelson appeared on Eight, Arizona PBS, to announce the launch of AZ Creative Aging, an ambitious and comprehensive initiative that will build a creative aging infrastructure to enhance quality of life for older Arizonans.
Made possible through the generous support of Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust, AZ Creative Aging will provide training to teaching artists, support the development of high-quality arts programs for older adults, and embed creative aging knowledge and best practices in the community.
Dr. Susan Pepin, president and CEO of Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust, said the trust is pleased to support the initial phases of the Arts Commission’s thoughtfully designed creative aging community development plan. “We have no doubt that the Arts Commission will build and sustain a creative aging movement that will change for the better how older adults see themselves and how others see them,” she said.
The population of Maricopa County residents 65 and older is expected to surge to 700,000 people in 2020, according to the Maricopa Association of Governments. The Arizona Department of Health Services estimates that within the next decade there will be as many people 65 and older as those 15 and younger in the state.
The Arts Commission’s strategic initiative includes professional development for local teaching artists and building a network among artists, arts organizations, and aging and healthcare service providers. One of the most unique and promising components of the Arts Commission’s plan is a teaching artist institute, a comprehensive training program that will endorse individuals as creative aging teaching artists. The teaching artist institute’s first cohort will be selected this fall.
This is the second major initiative announced by the Arts Commission this week. On Monday, the Arts Commission announced the launch of AZ ArtWorker, an artist-to-artist professional development program funded by the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation that will create opportunities for Arizona artists to learn from national and international artists who are at the frontlines of contemporary art and community practice.
Photos (left to right): Master artist, photo courtesy of Southwest Folklife Alliance; Community dancer Arlene Lopez in Safos Dance Theatre’s “Dance the Mural” project, photo by Dominic AZ Bonuccelli; community steel drum workshop, photo courtesy of Musical Instrument Museum.
The Arizona Commission on the Arts is seeking applications from teams to participate in the Southern Arizona Creative Aging Cohort. The Southern Arizona Creative Aging Cohort offers small teams, made up of diverse members of your community, a unique opportunity to explore the many ways creative aging can be put to work for positive community impact. Join Creative Flagstaff and the Arizona Commission on the Arts to learn more about Creative Aging, an exciting national movement to advance understanding of the vital relationship between creative expression and healthy aging. In January 2024, the Arizona Commission on the Arts will kick off its Sustaining Creative Aging in Southern Arizona initiative with a series of free introductory training sessions for aging or healthcare service organization staff, caregivers, volunteers, teaching artists, and arts organization administrators! The Arizona Commission on the Arts, an agency of the State of Arizona, recently secured new funding from a national grant program to advance creative aging programs for older adults in Arizona. In May 2023, AZ Creative Aging will host convenings in four Arizona communities and online, offering a unique opportunity for people working at the intersection of aging, healthcare, and the arts to convene, reconnect, and explore the state of the field and the opportunities ahead!
Southern Arizona Creative Aging Cohort
Introductory Creative Aging Training in Flagstaff
Introductory Creative Aging Trainings
Arizona Commission on the Arts Secures New Funding for Creative Aging
Statewide AZ Creative Aging Convenings in May 2023
