New CFCArts program brings creative arts to local seniors
Francy Butler and Marilyn Martin can’t wait to get dancing.
The Apopka friends were among the first to sign up for Arts in Action, a new Central Florida Community Arts program for those 60 and older. It starts today and the eight-week classes also will be used to research the effects creative endeavors have on aging.
Although arts initiatives often target youths, specific neighborhoods or those with special medical needs, Arts in Action is aimed at the growing demand for activities that boost the quality of life for active seniors.
“Once you get to our age or older, there aren’t many options out there to participate in. We’re always looking,” Butler said. “Sitting home on the couch and watching TV … that’s the most boring thing to do.”
Folks with that attitude are exactly who Arts in Action founders want to reach.
“Social engagement and creativity were the key drivers behind this program,” said Diana Silvey, program director at Winter Park Health Foundation, which approached Orlandobased CFCArts with the idea for Arts In Action.
Arts in Action is a natural fit for CFCArts, said executive director Joshua Vickery. The group already runs community choirs, an orchestra, a theater series, a per-
forming-arts school and specialty programs for those with dementia and autism. But to pull off something this wide-ranging required partnerships with a multitude of community organizations, including Crealdé School of Art and Rollins College’s Cornell Fine Arts Museum, both in Winter Park; and the Art & History Museums and Holocaust Center, both in Maitland. Partner organizations will host classes and spread the word to their members.
Winter Park Health Foundation also provided a $25,000 grant that in part allowed Vickery to attend a National Center for Creative Aging conference in Washington, D.C., and visit Stagebridge, a 39-year-old performing-arts organization geared toward older adults in Oakland, Calif.
José Rivera, Stagebridge’s executive director, said the effect creative arts can have on a senior’s mental and physical well-being can’t be overestimated.
“They come to a safe place, they let go of their inhibitions and suddenly they’re alive again,” he said. “It keeps them agile, it keeps them sharp, it becomes almost therapeutic.”
In a spring survey of 106 Stagebridge students ranging from about 50 to 90, 85 percent said joining an arts program made them feel less isolated; 76 percent said participation improved their physical health; 89 percent reported stronger cognitive skills; and 86 percent said their sense of community was enhanced.
Perhaps, most encouragingly, 90 percent said being part of Stagebridge’s arts courses made “aging seem easier.”
“It really adds a lot to the quality of life in the latter years,” Rivera said. “I think that’s priceless.”
In Central Florida, a researcher will monitor the classes and conduct interviews with participants to develop research on aging and the arts. Although rudimentary scholarship exists on the topic, “there aren’t many long-term studies,” Vickery said.
The first session includes introductory classes in singing and acting; the second eight-week session, which begins in October, offers courses in storytelling and dance. The plan is to boost the number and variety of classes offered as the program grows.
“We’re starting small to make it sustainable,” Vickery said.
The classes are designed with senior students in mind: They take place during the day, in deference to those who don’t like driving after dark. “Our teachers will be flexible, depending on the level of mobility in their classes and what their students can do,” said Erin Stillson, hired by CFCArts to coordinate Arts in Action.
Response so far has been good, Vickery said, though there is still room in the first round of classes (those interested should call 407-937-1800 or go to cfc arts.com/artsinaction). The cost is $30 for eight classes, and scholarships are available. The Winter Park Health Foundation has committed $130,000 during the next three years to make participation as inexpensive as possible.
“We want this to be accessible to everyone,” Vickery said.
Butler and Martin, both of whom have performed in community theater and danced with the Fab Follies adult troupe, said they are ready to lace up their dancing shoes once more.
They’ll admit they’re seniors but say that to them, age is just a number — and not one they’re sharing.
“We just want to keep active and keep going because if you don’t use it, you lose it,” Butler said.
“We can’t always keep up with younger people,” Martin added. “But we can still do it.”
The first session includes introductory classes in singing and acting; the second eight-week session offers courses in storytelling and dance.