In spring 2022, Maura O’Malley, Lifetime Arts’ CEO/Co-Founder, was a featured speaker and panelist at two international conferences: MuseumConnections Paris and Ageing Artfully: Going Global, organized by the Creative Ageing Development Agency (CADA). 

In this audio interview, Maura discusses: 1.) the innovative ways in which arts and cultural leaders in Europe and Asia are serving their older adult communities and combating social isolation 2.) their interests in Lifetime Arts’ capacity building efforts and advocacy around ageism, and 3.) the emerging opportunities that international engagements are creating for Lifetime Arts and cultural institutions across the world.

In this article, Lifetime Arts CEO and Co-founder, Maura O’Malley, shares how navigating the senior care system for her creative aunt in her eighties expanded her interest in educational arts programming for older adults, how Lifetime Arts’ approach has continued these efforts decades later, and how museums can impact their communities through creative aging programs.

Opening with an overview of aging and ageism in our country, this report commissioned by the American Alliance of Museums documents actions being taken to foster positive aging, and profiles the work of museums providing creative aging programming.

What does ageism have to do with creative aging? Everything. Lifetime Arts co-founder and CEO, Maura O’Malley, and writer and anti-ageism activist, Ashton Applewhite, discuss the work they have done, separately and together, to demonstrate that older people are interesting, capable, creative, active, and relevant.

Our latest case study highlights Museo de Historia, Antropología, y Arte in San Juan, who delivered a new, fully-online visual arts program, La Vida es un Arte 2.0, (Life is an Art Form 2.0) during strict COVID-19 quarantine and lockdown measures. Through careful planning and continuous refinement, the hands-on museum staff worked through the challenges of remote delivery format, internet access stability, technical support, and delivering an engaging culminating event online.

Older adults who have participated in creative aging programs have created some memorable and impressive artwork over the years. In this article, we highlight a selection of participant art and the creative aging programs that inspired their creativity.

When COVID-19 forced lockdown orders this past spring, professionals working in creative aging and arts education mobilized to discuss the pandemic’s impact on older adults and on the arts community. This article highlights these groups who covered topics such as alleviating social isolation for older adults, teaching artist employment, organizational capacity, innovative programming, online access and technology support, and funding.

The impact of COVID-19 has forced professionals in the creative aging field to navigate an entirely new virtual reality of professional development training by using innovative approaches to adapt the creative aging model for successful remote delivery. This article highlights the remote training and professional development work that teaching artists and organizations have accomplished during the pandemic.

One of the surest (and fastest) ways to understand exactly what creative aging programming is all about is to review short cases highlighting exemplary programs offered by a wide array of organizations that serve older adults. Browse this first series to learn how community educators in museums, public library systems, senior centers, arts organizations, and arts service organizations are combating social isolation and ageism through arts education.