Museums and Aging

Fighting ageism and promoting lifelong learning and creativity.

Reduce Uncertainty, Increase Confidence: How Internal Audit Supports Museums’ Success

By Laura Hopman, Christienne Johnson, Cynthia Liriano, and Roman Lindauer

We’ve all seen the dreaded headlines: “How many treasures have been stolen from the British Museum?” “Grief and Anger Mingle After Devastating Brazil Museum Fire” “How the Mona Lisa almost came to a watery end at the Metropolitan Museum of …
Join the Conversation: Creative Aging and the Future of Museums

By American Alliance of Museums

This is a recorded session from the 2020 AAM Virtual Annual Meeting and MuseumExpo. How can museums embrace the ‘Aging Revolution’ with purpose and intentionality? Learn from four museums that are developing programs for older adults with …
How Smithsonian Associates Reimagined Its Music Programs for Older Adults during the Pandemic

By Liz Paige

In 2019, Smithsonian Associates—the largest museum-based education program in the world—had the opportunity to launch a popular music program designed for those fifty-five and older thanks to a Seeding Vitality Arts in Museums grant from …
Creating Connections: Merging Lifelong Learning and Music Therapy

By Katherine Palmer and Christa Mannen

The Musical Instrument Museum (MIM) in Phoenix, Arizona, celebrates music and world cultures through a multisensory experience—where guests can “travel” the globe through the sights and sounds of MIM’s geographically organized exhibits. As …
Crowdsourced Resources on Museums & Creative Aging

By Elizabeth Merritt

IMHO, the best thing about webinars—a feature not replicated by live events—is the chat room. Chat offers the thrill of passing notes in class, but with the explicit validation of the teacher. Last month’s virtual Summit on Museums and …
Combat Ageism. Your Future Self Will Thank You.

By Elizabeth Merritt

Of the many -isms we are grappling with as individuals and as a society, one of the strangest is ageism. Strange because, in the best case, we will all reach old age. So we are effectively discriminating against our own future selves. …
What I Learned in a Year of Writing “Museums and Creative Aging: A Healthful Partnership”

By Marjorie Schwarzer

The creative aging movement is coming of age, and just in the nick of time. As of last year, 80 percent of state arts agencies across the United States reported a high or very high demand for creative aging programs in their state, which …
Museums and Creative Aging: A Healthful Partnership

By American Alliance of Museums

This landmark report commissioned by the American Alliance of Museums and written by Marjorie Schwarzer is a call to action for museums to change the narrative about what it means to grow old in America. Opening with an overview of aging …
Seasons of Growth: Creative Aging on Display at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center

By Claire Carlson

In October 2020, the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, opened the gallery exhibition Art Links Sheboygan: Seasons of Growth, the culmination of a new program to promote creative aging. The program, Art Links …
Viva La Vida: Creative Aging at the National Museum of Mexican Art

By Joseph O'Neill

Like many of the museums that have discussed their creative aging work for our “Museums and Aging” series, the National Museum of Mexican Art participates in Seeding Vitality Arts, an initiative to create sequential …