Lifelong Arts: Community-Engaged Arts Through the Lens of Age

The following is a summary of key learnings and resources from a virtual conversation held as part of the ArtsEngage Learning Community on October 30th, 2020. The focus of this session was Lifelong Arts: Community-Engaged Arts Through the Lens of Age.

This video captures the dynamic conversation between our four panelists, who discussed the joys and challenges of their work creating arts-based programming for audiences of all ages and abilities.

The conversation led to several suggestions of key actions, relationships, and values needed to get started with community-engaged work:

• A great team with shared purpose & values - If we can “take care of ourselves and each other, then we’re going to have more joy in the work and we can include more people.”
   
• Going out and talking to people - “Get your shoes on and your coat and find people to talk to!", “Ask people, 'What do you want to feel? What do you want to experience?  What do you want to know?', rather than 'What do you want?'”
   
• Partnerships (with institutions) - “Maybe we don’t have to have everything figured out!”
   
• Relationships (with people) - “When you have a relationship, you can have trust. When you have trust, you can push people, take risks, experiment.”
   
• Honesty - “Be honest about what you can and can’t offer.”
   
• Experts - “We become stronger when we collaborate with other experts.”
   
• Communication - "We need a different language and approach to navigate the gatekeepers - people who control access." (for example to seniors in care, children at school…) 

This panel discussion was followed by four breakout nooks, each led by one panelist. You can read the notes from these Breakout Nooks below. Each led by one of our panelists, the four nooks focused on:

1. Creative Ageing: Programming With, By & For People aged over 55 (Elizabeth Lynch)
2. Co-Creating with Children & Communities (Lisa Marie DiLiberto)
3. Relaxing Your Performance to Create Welcoming Spaces for All Ages & All Abilities (Rachel Marks)
4. Through the Gatekeepers (Tom Carson)

Common threads throughout the conversations included clear communication, relationship-building, and willingness to share power.

Read the Breakout Nook Notes

Panelists

Full bios available here

• Elizabeth Lynch MBE, Creative Producer / Researcher-Evaluator (London, UK) 
• Tom Carson, Executive Director, Smile Theatre (Mississauga, ON)
• Lisa Marie DiLiberto, Artistic Director, Theatre Direct & Balancing Act Canada (Toronto, ON)
• Rachel Marks, ArtsEngage participating artist, theatre educator and Relaxed Performance specialist (Delta, ON)

Resources

A collection of resources shared by panelists and participants during the event!

• Through the Wall - Theatre Direct’s nation-wide audio pen pal project - This cross-country project paired up young people (ages 8-16) to exchange audio letters, offering them a glimpse into life in a different place, from a different perspective. This podcast was shared at the top of our virtual conversation
• Balancing Act Canada - Initiative from Theatre Direct to support greater equality, accessibility, and inclusion for caregivers working in the performing arts
• Mundane Mysteries - remote, phone-based theatrical experience from Outside the March
• Mundane Mysteries: Playdate -  a remote experience for two households with young people, in partnership with Theatre Direct
• Happy Calls - remote programming from The Smile Company. Happy Call participants receive a free personal video or phone call from two Smile Serenaders to chat, sing and dance
• Building Bridges for Older Adults to Arts and Culture During COVID-19 and Beyond - Virtual Event on Dec 10th, 2020 
• Age Against the Machine Festival of Creative Aging - 3-week festival by Entelechy Arts in Lewisham, London - report by Elizabeth Lynch
• Creative Age Network - London, ON
• Concerts in Care - concert programming in care communities across Ontario 
• The Posh Club - fun, glamorous experience for seniors in London and Southern England
• Halloween Hullaballoo - a Haunted Castle Community Art Project - for kids, by kids! - from Theatre Direct
• TSO Visual Guide - created by Rachel Marks

Our thanks to the Department of Canadian Heritage for their support of the ArtsEngage Learning Community!