Fri, Dec 16, 2011

MetLife Foundation and the National Guild for Community Arts Education are pleased to announce the 2012 Creative Aging Program. The program was launched in 2009 in response to a major demographic shift underway in the United States---the number of adults age 65 and above will double by 2050---and recent research demonstrating that sustained participation in professionally-led arts programs can promote health and prevent disease in older adults.  
 
The goals of the National Guild for Community Arts Education / MetLife Foundation Creative Aging Program (CAP) are to:  
 

1. increase the capacity of nonprofit community arts education providers to serve older adults;
2. expand and/or deepen existing creative aging programs of high quality; and
3. identify exemplary creative aging programs as models for the field.

 
Grants of up to $10,000 are available to support creative aging programs in 2012. Following the announcement of grant awards, technical assistance will be available to applicants (whether or not awarded a grant) seeking to develop successful creative aging programs.
 
Because the guidelines have been substantially revised this year, we will host an informational conference call for organizations interested in applying:
 
Informational conference call for prospective applicants
The National Guild has scheduled a conference call for Friday, December 2, 2011 at 1:00 pm ET / 10:00 am PT to answer any questions about the Creative Aging Program. If you wish to participate, send an e-mail by November 29 to: CreativeAging@nationalguild.org with "Conference Call RSVP" in the subject line. We will distribute dial-in instructions on November 30.  
 
Creative Aging Resources: Toolkit and Training
This program is part of the National Guild's Creative Aging Initiative. Applicants are strongly encouraged to refer to Creativity Matters: The Arts and Aging Toolkit before submitting a proposal.