Creative Aging – American Alliance of Museums

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 …
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 …
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, …
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 …