Table Of ContentNAtIONAl GuIld Of COMMuNItY
SCHOOlS Of tHE ARtS CREATIVITY
NAtIONAl CENtER fOR CREAtIvE AGING
MATTERS
NEw JERSEY PERfORMING ARtS CENtER
THE ARTS
AND AGING
JOHANNA MISEY BOYER TOOLKIT
CREATIVITY
MATTERS
THE ARTS
AND AGING
TOOLKIT
Creativity Matters: The Arts and Aging Toolkit
© 2007 by the National Guild of Community Schools
of the Arts, 520 8th Avenue, Suite 302, New York, NY 10018
All rights reserved. Published 2007
Printed in the United States of America
Evaluation: Performance Results, Inc., Laytonsville, Maryland
Editing: Ellen Hirzy, Washington, DC
Design: fuszion, Alexandria, Virginia
Photo Credits: Cover (top) and 14: PARADIGM, Solomons
Company/Dance, Inc., New York, NY; cover (center): detail
of work by Hang Fong Zhang, Center for Elders and Youth
in the Arts, Institute on Aging, San Francisco, CA, Jeff Chapline,
artistic director; cover (bottom) and 184: Concord Community
Music School, Concord, NH, National Guild member since
1984; xxii, 32, 174, 178: Stagebridge Senior Theatre Company,
Oakland, CA; 44: Amatullah Saleem (storyteller), Pearls of
Wisdom program, Elders Share the Arts, Brooklyn, NY; 24:
Alzheimer’s Association Orange County, Irvine, CA; 70: detail
of work by Celia Sacks, Center for Elders and Youth in the Arts,
Institute on Aging, San Francisco, CA, Jeff Chapline, artistic
director; 122: The Golden Tones, Wayland, MA; 146: Irv Williams
and Carla Vogel (musician and dancer), Kairos Dance Theatre,
Minneapolis, MN; 164: Jesse Neuman-Peterson and Moses
Williams (dancers), Kairos Dance Theatre, Minneapolis, MN.
The author would like to acknowledge the support of Neil
A. Boyer and the inspiration of the ladies on the garden
level and her own well elder, Edward G. Misey. In memory
of Rachel L. Misey.
To order, contact:
National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts
Phone: 212–268–3337
E-mail:
CREATIVITY
MATTERS
THE ARTS
AND AGING
TOOLKIT
JOHANNA MISEY BOYER
Sponsors
The National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts, National Center
for Creative Aging, and New Jersey Performing Arts Center would like
to thank the following funders for their visionary support:
v CREATIVITY MATTERS | THE ARTS AND AGING TOOLKIT
The National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts, the National Center for Creative Aging,
and the New Jersey Performing Arts Center value lifelong learning in the arts. We believe that
individuals and communities reap profound benefts from participating in arts programs,
especially when those programs are led by professional teaching artists. In recognition
of these shared beliefs, we joined forces in 2006 to explore how best to serve our respective
members and audiences, particularly the growing population of older adults.
Thanks to the generous and enthusiastic support of our funders—MetLife Foundation,
NAMM: The International Music Products Association, the Healthcare Foundation of New
Jersey, and Roche—we are pleased to bring you Creativity Matters: The Arts and Aging Toolkit.
Designed for both the arts and aging services felds, this resource offers detailed advice on,
and examples for, designing, implementing, and evaluating professionally conducted com-
munity arts programs for older adults. The toolkit also is online at www.artsandaging.org.
We look forward to releasing a Spanish-language edition and Web site in 2008.
As leaders of organizations that support the intersection of arts, education, and community,
it is our hope that this toolkit will inspire readers to start or continue their work in the arts
and aging feld and to trumpet the importance of the arts to older adults’ mental and physical
health. We should encourage and support the continued creativity of older adults who have
much to contribute to the quality of life in our communities.
Jonathan Herman Susan Perlsten Lawrence P. Goldman
Executive Director Founder and Director President and CEO
National Guild of of Education New Jersey Performing
Community Schools National Center Arts Center
of the Arts for Creative Aging
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Contents
Introducton xv
Chapter 1 Understanding the Context for Arts and Aging Programs 1
Describing Normal Aging 3
The Language of Aging 4
Reality vs. Myth 4
Changes During Aging 4
Physical and Biological Changes 4
Social and Emotional Changes 6
The Demographics of Aging 7
Longevity 7
Diversity 7
Income 7
Education 8
Retirement 8
Productive Aging 8
Implications for Arts and Aging Programs 9
Big-Picture Challenges to Arts and Aging Programs 9
Fear of Aging 10
Isolation of Older Adults 11
Communicating Value 12
Change 12
Key Points about the Context for Arts and Aging Programs 13
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Chapter 2 How Arts Participation Benefts Older Adults 15
Enhancing Community Quality of Life 16
Arts and Aging in Community Cultural Development 16
Enhancing Individual Quality of Life 20
How Cognitively Fit Older Adults Beneft 21
How Older Adults with Dementia Beneft 22
Key Points about the Benefts of Arts
Participation to Older Adults 23
Chapter 3 The Aging Services Field 25
Understanding Key Issues 26
Increasing Costs 26
Emphasis on Home- and Community-Based Care 26
Consolidated Consumer Information 27
Reducing Residential Facility Staff Turnover
and Increasing Morale 27
Addressing Family Caregiver Burnout 27
Implications for the Arts 28
Exploring Infrastructure 28
Federal 28
State 29
Local 29
Foundations 29
Making Connections 29
Key Points about the Aging Services Field 31
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Chapter 4 The Arts Field 33
Understanding Key Issues 34
Expanded Defnition of Arts Education 34
Arts Participation 34
A Broader Defnition of the Arts 34
Community Engagement 34
Demonstrated Impact 34
Scarce Resources 35
Professional Development for Teaching Artists 35
Special Issues for Creative Arts Therapies 35
Exploring Infrastructure 36
Federal 36
Regional 37
State 37
Local 37
Arts Education 38
Creative Arts Therapies 38
Foundations 38
Making Connections 39
Key Points about the Arts Field 41
Chapter 5 Effective Practices 45
Defning Effective Practices 46
Identifying Outcome Goals 47
Mastery 47
Social Engagement 48
Infuencing Others 49
Understanding Adult Learning 50
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