Spotlight on Innovations and Achievements: Weber Human Services AAA
Learn how this agency developed an art gallery program that connects older adult artists to their community, motivates participants and encourages even more older adults to join art classes as a tool for social engagement.
We're proud to highlight the award-winning work of the 2020 winners of USAging’s Aging Innovations and Achievement Awards in this monthly spotlight feature. This month, we are focusing on Weber Human Services Area Agency on Aging's Weber-Morgan Senior Art Gallery program. The agency was a 2020 Aging Innovations Award winner in the Social Engagement category. The 2020 AIA Awards were made possible thanks to the support of Centene.
Art can be the motivation for social engagement. When a senior center art instructor expressed a desire to find a place that could allow older adult art students to share their artwork with the community, the Weber Human Services Area Agency on Aging joined forces with six local senior centers and five senior center art instructors to create the Weber-Morgan Senior Art Gallery.
The online gallery showcases the incredible talent of older adults who produce artwork at senior center art classes in Weber and Morgan counties. It connects older adult artists to their community and world, motivates the participating artists to continue to produce artwork to be shared, and serves as a class promotion tool that inspires and encourages other older adults to join art classes and engage with participants as a tool for social engagement. Any older adult who participates in senior center art classes in Weber or Morgan counties can contribute artwork created in the classes to the gallery using their own name or a pseudonym.
Over a 13-month period, 75 older adult artists created approximately 400 works of art that appear on the Weber-Morgan Senior Art Gallery website. The gallery gets approximately 500 visitors per month, including families and friends of participating artists living in different states and countries. The gallery demonstrates the power of art as a tool to address social isolation. It helps make each older adult artist feel special by offering them an opportunity to share their art with others. The gallery also helps inspire other senior center participants to engage in the art classes.
Following the temporary closure of senior centers at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Weber-Morgan Senior Art Gallery began displaying artwork created at home by the participating older adult artists to ensure artwork continued to be shared during the pandemic. The Weber-Morgan Senior Art Gallery partners are also working to restart art classes on a limited basis with social distancing protocols and safety measures in place.
The Weber-Morgan Senior Art Gallery program is also highlighted in the engAGING Practices: Best Practices for Helping Older Adults Stay Socially Engaged publication from engAGED: The National Resource Center for Engaging Older Adults. This resource highlights best practices implemented by 11 programs to help others within the Aging Network enhance social engagement among older adults in their communities. Questions? Contact Nobu Iizuka, nobui@weberhs.org.
For other great program ideas, check out the new 2021 AIA-winning programs: see the press release and read this year's book of winners! To read about past winners and find other best practices for your agency to consider, visit our Best Practices Clearinghouse. The 2021 AIA Awards are made possible by the generous support of iN2L.
We're proud to highlight the award-winning work of the 2020 winners of USAging’s Aging Innovations and Achievement Awards in this monthly spotlight feature. This month, we are focusing on Weber Human Services Area Agency on Aging's Weber-Morgan Senior Art Gallery program. The agency was a 2020 Aging Innovations Award winner in the Social Engagement category. The 2020 AIA Awards were made possible thanks to the support of Centene.
Art can be the motivation for social engagement. When a senior center art instructor expressed a desire to find a place that could allow older adult art students to share their artwork with the community, the Weber Human Services Area Agency on Aging joined forces with six local senior centers and five senior center art instructors to create the Weber-Morgan Senior Art Gallery.
The online gallery showcases the incredible talent of older adults who produce artwork at senior center art classes in Weber and Morgan counties. It connects older adult artists to their community and world, motivates the participating artists to continue to produce artwork to be shared, and serves as a class promotion tool that inspires and encourages other older adults to join art classes and engage with participants as a tool for social engagement. Any older adult who participates in senior center art classes in Weber or Morgan counties can contribute artwork created in the classes to the gallery using their own name or a pseudonym.
Over a 13-month period, 75 older adult artists created approximately 400 works of art that appear on the Weber-Morgan Senior Art Gallery website. The gallery gets approximately 500 visitors per month, including families and friends of participating artists living in different states and countries. The gallery demonstrates the power of art as a tool to address social isolation. It helps make each older adult artist feel special by offering them an opportunity to share their art with others. The gallery also helps inspire other senior center participants to engage in the art classes.
Following the temporary closure of senior centers at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Weber-Morgan Senior Art Gallery began displaying artwork created at home by the participating older adult artists to ensure artwork continued to be shared during the pandemic. The Weber-Morgan Senior Art Gallery partners are also working to restart art classes on a limited basis with social distancing protocols and safety measures in place.
The Weber-Morgan Senior Art Gallery program is also highlighted in the engAGING Practices: Best Practices for Helping Older Adults Stay Socially Engaged publication from engAGED: The National Resource Center for Engaging Older Adults. This resource highlights best practices implemented by 11 programs to help others within the Aging Network enhance social engagement among older adults in their communities. Questions? Contact Nobu Iizuka, nobui@weberhs.org.
For other great program ideas, check out the new 2021 AIA-winning programs: see the press release and read this year's book of winners! To read about past winners and find other best practices for your agency to consider, visit our Best Practices Clearinghouse. The 2021 AIA Awards are made possible by the generous support of iN2L.