About this Session
A three-part series of “Real Talk Salons” regarding Creative Aging practices in community arts education took place throughout the three weeks of the Groundwork: Healing within Community Arts Education (“Groundwork”) program in the fall of 2021. In response to the pandemic, the overarching themes of Groundwork sessions touched on healing. This Real Talk Salon, entitled “Cross Movement Solidarity in Creative Aging: Anti-Ageism + Anti-Ableism + Anti-Racism”, brought together the following community practitioners in conversation with one another:
Moderator:
Speakers:
- Toya Northington (Community Engagement Strategist, Speed Art Museum)
- Cynthia Edmondson (Older Adult Artist/Student, Healing Art Program)
- Erin Perry (Executive Director, Legacy Arts Project)
Description: To restore a society where older adults are realized as essential culture bearers and creatives with full opportunities to thrive, the creative aging movement requires cross-movement solidarity. Join us as we talk honestly about the overlapping systemic issues of ageism, ableism, and racism and how these issues can show up in creative aging practice and movement building work. This session is a call for unlearning and collective activism to create language and models for creative aging that support elder's diverse experiences and creativity, build trust, and amplify the voices and stories of older adults, especially those who have been historically marginalized.
This session took part the first week of the program on November 2, 2021, with American Sign Language interpretation provided by Pro Bono ASL.
About the Groundwork Program
Groundwork was a 3-week virtual gathering that centered healing in the context of community arts education, as a pathway towards personal, interpersonal, and systemic change, informed by the idea that we must get right with ourselves before we can work with each other to reimagine and create a more just future. To that end, Groundwork’s themes unfolded each week as: Healing for Self (Week 1), Healing for Collective (Week 2), and Healing for Movement Building (Week 3).
For more information about the gathering, please visit the program details, here.
This program was made possible through generous support from Aroha Philanthropies, The Music Man Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.