(Title Photo: Jefferson Market branch of the New York Public Library, NY. Photo credit: Herb Scher)
For the month of October 2025, I took weekly classes from an organization known as Lifetime Arts and got my certificate of completion in “Creative Aging Foundations.” This was a 6-hour training course that emphasized connecting older adults (for our purposes, think ages 55+) to art classes to help them engage socially, combat ageism, and of course, build skills and create art!
I will be using what I have learned to move in the direction of including older adults in my own Woodblock Printmaking – and soon-to-come Carved Painting classes – as the demographics of older adults in the U.S. increasingly grow and change.
As we will see, the demand for creative aging is substantial and will be growing tremendously in years to come. As a teaching-artist and occupational therapist, I fully appreciate and am uniquely suited to address the call for these health needs.
For some more context, here’s a discussion from a Zoom lecture by Vinnie Mraz and Lynda Monick-Isenberg, Lifetime Arts Trainers.
Creative Programs and the Aging Population
Vinnie Mraz, Lifetime Arts Trainer, theater maker, and educator in NYC, says:
…[T]he U.S. Census Bureau projects that the size of older adultsand the older adult population in the United States is expected to grow by almost 50% from 2016 to 2030, and by 2030, more than 20% of the population will be over the age of 65. 2030 sounds like it is a very long ways away. It is 5 years away. It is happening, it’s right now. It sounds like a distant future, but it’s not.
Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2017/demo/popproj/2017-summary-tables.html
By 2034, adults ages 65 and older are projected to outnumber those under the age of 18, and that’s for the first time in U.S. history, and again, that’s only 9 years away. So this is all happening as we speak. (U.S. Census Bureau. (2017). 2017 National Population Projections Tables: Main Series)
We know that the natural process of aging brings with it a series of losses. Spouses and family members might pass away, and friends and children might move away. The ability to travel and see people can become more limited as we age, and there really can be more of a danger of social isolation.
There’s a Surgeon General’s report on loneliness across different age groups, and in the United States, nearly 25% of older adults are socially isolated in ways that can take years off their life, and can prove as dangerous to health as smoking. Loneliness and social isolation are linked to serious health conditions (CDC) and can shorten life expectancy by 15 years.
There’s also research that suggests loneliness is experienced more among adults who identify as BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, folks who are identified as immigrants, [those] who live in rural or remote areas, … and isolation is also a particular danger for folks living with dementia and for their care partners as well. (Espinoza, Robert. (n.d.). Meeting the needs of elders of color and LGBT elders. Grantmakers in Aging. Retrieved from https://www.giaging.org/resources/diverse-elders-issue-brief
[A goal of Lifetime Arts and Creative Aging] is to alleviate some of that social isolation. … [and another goal is to dispel ageism. Ageism] can also have a proven outcome on our health.
There’s research to back this up. In her book Breaking the Age Code, psychologist Dr Becca Levy (Breaking the Age Code: https://becca-levy.com/the-book/) demonstrated that older adults who were exposed to negative stereotypes about aging when they were younger have twice as high a risk of having a cardiovascular event, [and] that negative age beliefs also had more negative effects on their memory in the long term.
Now, on the other hand, older adults who’ve been exposed to positive age stereotypes weekly for a month scored better on tests of gait, strength, and balance than control groups did, and they were also more likely to recover from severe disabiity.
…It’s really vital that we stop imposing these negative stereotypes on ourselves and upon aging in general.
…[I]n our experience, creative aging programs can really shift how folks feel about aging, which can then lead to more positive health outcomes. … How do [participants] feel different from the moment they walk into that [classroom] from the moment they leave that room? And how does that play out in, not just from one class to another, but their lives in general?
(Gene D. Cohen, keynote speaker at the White House Conference on Aging, 2005.)
Lynda Monick-Isenberg, Lifetime Arts Teacher and retired Minneapolis College of Art and Design professor who also worked in creative aging for 15 years continues:
…Creative aging is more than just a fulfilling pastime or hobby… [i]t’s crucial element in a healthy, vibrant life as we age.
…[In a study] that was led by Dr Gene Cohn out of George Washington University, in partnership with the National Endowment on the Arts, [a group participating in] professionally conducted art and cultural programs, [versus a control group] … used less medication. They had fewer doctor’s visits. They were not as depressed. [There] were reduced factors for disease and disability, and overall, they became much more engaged in their own … and active in their own lives, [and] had fewer falls. (Cohen, Gene. (2006, April). The Creativity and Aging Study: The Inmpact of Professionally Conducted Cultural Programs on Older Adults, Final Report. Retrieved from https://creativeagingresource.org/resource/the-creativity-and-aging-study-the-impact-of-professionally-conducted-cultural-programs-final-report/
So this is pretty interesting stuff. The results prove powerful, positive intervention effects of community based art programs run by professional artists, and also that these … programs reduce risk factors that drive the need for long-term care. Creative aging programs are not technically art therapy, and we want to be very clear about that, but they do have therapeutic effects.
…Now, on top of all this good news, Dr Cohn identfied the two most important components of a creative aging program. One … is the sense of mastery and control. And the other is forming a community through the art-making experience.
Now, gerontologists agree that … an important part of healthy aging is experiencing a sense of mastery or control over our own lives. Basically a sense of personal choice in decision making.
Dr Jean Cohn discovered that each time an older adult attends an art class, they experience a renewed sense of control, an ongoing mastery as they continue to learn.
In the art education approach, we defiine that as skill building, learning an art form in depth, and having the opportunity to practice that art and become better at it over time.
Art and Aging Wrap-up
Older adults are a vibrant and growing demographic. They bring such a wealth of life-knowledge, and among the gifts they bring to the world are nurturance, thoughtfulness, expressiveness, and beauty. How better to meet their needs than by tapping into these gifts that they can then share with the world, and in the process, create better health outcomes for them?
I’m very much looking forward to providing opportunities for older adults in the community to take my series of to-be-determined (6-8 class length) classes to gather and form community with social engagement as participants learn and form mastery with my Woodblock Printmaking Classes or Carved Painting Classes.
Stay tuned for upcoming events for yourself or loved ones as I come up with creative opportunities for older folks in this wonderful part of their lives!
If you’re interested in learning more about Lifetime Arts and Creative Aging Programs, visit https://lifetimearts.org/.
Thank you for supporting the arts!
– Gretchen Weitemier
Bibliography:
Cohen, Gene. (2006, April). The Creativity and Aging Study: The Impact of Professionally Conducted Cultural Programs on Older Adults, Final Report. Retrieved from https://creativeagingresource.org/resource/the-creativity-and-aging-study-the-impact-of-professionally-conducted-cultural-programs-final-report/
Mraz, Vinnie, and Monick-Isenberg, Lynda, “Creative Aging Foundations (’25 October Tuesdays).” Creative Aging Foundations Training, presented by [Lifetime Arts], October 14, 2025, Zoom.
U.S. Census Bureau. (2017). 2017 National Population Projections Tables: Main Series. Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2017/demo/popproj/2017-summary-tables.html