A New Canvas: Partnering with the Arts for Stronger Aging Communities
Date: Wednesday, July 16, 2025
Start time: 9 AM Pacific | 12 PM Eastern
End time: 10 AM Pacific | 1 PM Eastern
Click here to register now.
Description:
The arts are a proven yet underused strategy for improving health, reducing social isolation, and enhancing well-being among older adults. This interactive session will inspire aging services professionals to rethink traditional approaches and explore how partnerships with the arts sector can expand and enrich their work. Participants will examine case studies of successful arts-aging collaborations, participate in a short creative engagement demo, and discuss opportunities for embedding creativity into older adult programming, services, and care in ways that will add life to years. Presenters also will share preliminary findings from Lifetime Arts’ policy landscape analysis, highlighting emerging opportunities to integrate the arts into broader aging initiatives and state plans. Whether you're a service provider, funder or community partner, this session will spark new ideas for leveraging the power of the arts to build healthier, more connected communities for older adults.
Presenters:
Liza Cucco, MFA
Driven by a lifelong belief in the power of art to connect people and inspire change, Liza Cucco is dedicated to reshaping narratives about aging and shifting our approach to later life. A dynamic leader in social impact and creative aging advocacy, she drives initiatives that elevate public awareness, expand partnerships, and amplify impact. With more than a decade’s experience in communications, media arts and organizational development, Cucco blends creativity with strategy to champion the creative rights of older adults.
Heather Ikemire, PhD
Heather Ikemire has been a champion of creative aging since 2007, the year she first read Dr. Gene Cohen’s “Creativity and Aging Study” and helped launch the National Guild for Community Arts Education’s seminal guide, “Creativity Matters: The Arts and Aging Toolkit.” Following the Toolkit’s launch, Ikemire spent more than a decade catalyzing creative aging nationally in her role as the Guild’s chief program officer. She now serves as executive director of Lifetime Arts, a leading creative aging training and advocacy organization.
Julie Kline
As director of program strategy, Julie Kline plays a central leadership role in driving the vision, strategy and execution of Lifetime Arts’ large-scale programmatic initiatives and offerings. Kline oversees Lifetime Arts’ program design, implementation, and evaluation while cultivating partnerships, developing strategic initiatives, and leading a team of creative aging experts, trainers and guest artists. Klein also presents nationally on creative aging and its impacts. Klein previously worked with Elders Share the Arts, the intergenerational ensemble Roots & Branches Theater, and was a multiple grantee of SPARC/SU-CASA, funded by NYC’s Department of Cultural Affairs and the Department of the Aging.