Museums and Aging

Fighting ageism and promoting lifelong learning and creativity.

The Benefits and Challenges of Producing Creative Aging Programs for the LGBTQIA+ Community

By Eli Burke

Since 2018, AAM has partnered with Aroha Philanthropies to highlight and support museums that are developing programs for older adults, and to encourage others to do the same. The aim has been to address the epidemic of ageism, both within …
Rebuilding Pathways: How DEAI and Creative Aging Intersect at the Speed Art Museum

By Toya Northington, in conversation with Marjorie Schwarzer

As museums work to become more diverse, equitable, accessible, and inclusive, one community is often left out of the discourse: people over the age of fifty-five. This may be because they already appear to be well-represented. After all, …
Giving Back: Three Model Practices for Sustaining Older Volunteers during COVID-19

By Marjorie Schwarzer

As cases of COVID-19 spike across the country, resulting in more museums suspending operations, what are the implications for older docents and volunteers, especially in regard to ageism and creative aging? In part one of this two-part …
Giving Back: Museums and Older Volunteers during COVID-19

By Marjorie Schwarzer

As cases of COVID-19 spike across the country, resulting in more museums suspending operations, what are the implications for older docents and volunteers, especially in regard to ageism and creative aging? In part one of this two-part …
Register now for Perspectives on Legacy Creative Aging Virtual Conference

By Elizabeth Merritt

The Alliance’s work on museums and creative aging, supported by Aroha Philanthropies, focuses on “healthy aging”—how museums can foster curiosity, growth, and social connections among people “fifty-five and better.” While outside the …
Bridging Isolation: The Anchorage Museum’s Virtual Movement Workshops for Older Adults during COVID-19

By Molissa Udevitz

On a Tuesday morning in July, older adults from across Southcentral Alaska danced to feel-good songs, including Bobby Darin’s “Splish Splash” and Carole King’s “I Feel the Earth Move,” from the comfort of their homes and …
From In-Person to Virtual Programs: A Case Study of Challenges & Successes

By Emily Sachar

No sooner had I learned that Zoom meant more than the loud whoosh of a sports car than I was engulfed in planning how to move a creative aging playwriting course to the platform. COVID had arrived in full force. Our state was quickly …
Digital Gold: Queering Flat Spaces

By Eli Burke

As museums address issues of access to collections, galleries, and education during COVID-19, many have chosen to shift to a digital space to connect with the public and continue their missions as community and cultural institutions. As a …
Social Distancing Doesn’t Need to Equal Social Isolation for Older Adults

By Shannon McDonough

As COVID-19 continues to present intense challenges, the world is laser-focused on what social distancing means in particular for older adults and those who serve them. The pandemic not only presents a heightened health risk to older …
Supporting Teaching Artists with Creative Aging Trainings

By Sarah Drebelbis

In 2019, one hundred Minnesota teaching artists participated in two teaching artist trainings in creative aging, co-presented by Aroha Philanthropies and the Minnesota State Arts Board, in partnership with Lifetime Arts. Today on the blog, …