Call for Participation: 2012 Creative Aging Festival

[Patsy Rahn]

Call for Participation: 2012 Creative Aging Festival

The month of May is Older Americans Month. The City of Bloomington
Commission on Aging and the Center on Aging and Community invite you
to participate in a city wide celebration honoring our elders and
their creative contributions to our community.

Bloomington is known for being both an arts destination as well as a
retirement destination. We seek to enhance these two positive
attributes by hosting the second annual Creative Aging Festival. We
encourage all arts organizations, faith based organizations, local
businesses, municipalities, neighborhoods, and families to participate
in this unique annual community celebration by organizing a community
activity of your choosing. Our primary objectives are to:
Showcase the talents and skills of both established and first-time
older artists, writers and performers;
Promote intergenerational understanding through dialogue, sharing
traditions, and storytelling.
Enhance awareness about the value of creative engagement to adult
health and well-being.
The easiest way for you to participate is to simply identify the
creative elders around you and then publicly recognize them in some
way anytime during the month of May. If you are a business you may
choose to apply the “creative aging” theme in some way, or better yet
you may choose to host some sort of creative aging event. Here are
some examples of activities you can conduct:
Open your public space for the exhibition of creative visual art done
by members of your organization.
Hold a storytelling circle which brings together youth and elders you
know.
Offer an open-house or reception to honor elders in your organization.
Host a creative hobby day, a show and tell event for creative
elders.
Creative Aging Program Guide

The Bloomington Commission on Aging will post an online program guide,
promoted on the City of Bloomington and partnering agencies web sites
which will feature creative aging events and exhibits. Additionally, a
printed guide will be distributed to arts and aging venues throughout
the county and state. The 2011 Creative Aging Festival program guide
is available for your review at our website:
www.bloomington.in.gov/coa.

If you would like to have your event promoted through the web site’s
online program guide, please fill out an event listing application
form Creative Aging Festival Online Event Submission Form and submit
it no later than March 1st, 2012. Early submissions will be given
priority consideration to be included in the printed program guide as
well. (Space is limited so inclusion in the printed program guide
cannot be guaranteed.) Events that do not meet the guidelines and
spirit of the Creative Aging Festival will not be included.