Senior centers are great places to exercise creativity. In this first session of this summit. Susan Oetgen, Arts Learning Projects Director of the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies (NASAA) will share information about creative aging, including research demonstrating impact and resources that are available to you through NASAA and in your own state. This summit focuses on incorporating arts to advance age positively, improve health outcomes, extend life, and change perceptions about older adults and aging. We will provide examples of successful arts programs, so you can incorporate at your senior center.
In this webinar, participants will be able to:
- Identify the impact of the arts and its benefits and how to gain access to state resources.
- Explain how positive age beliefs can be beneficial to health outcomes.
- Discuss possible themes and how to frame programs to be attractive, fun and meaningful to the variety of older adults that participate or attend.
Susan Oetgen
Arts Learning Projects Director
National Assembly of State Arts Agencies (NASAA)
Susan brings over 20 years of experience as an independent arts consultant to her work developing and directing NASAA’s portfolio of arts learning projects. She currently directs NASAA’s States Leading Creative Aging initiative, and has stewarded NASAA’s groundbreaking multimillion-dollar public-private partnership with E.A. Michelson Philanthropies and state arts agencies to advance lifelong learning in the arts across the country, since its inception in 2019. From 2014-2023, Susan oversaw NASAA’s annual arts education Professional Development Institute, in collaboration with the state arts agency Arts Education Working Group and the National Endowment for the Arts. As principal and founder of ArtsAspire Consulting, Susan helps clients catalyze change for the common good through the power of the arts. She is currently pursuing a master of arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling: Expressive Arts Therapy from Lesley University.