Creative Aging

Grant recipient

Figures of Speech Theatre was the recipient of a Creative Aging grant this year from the Maine Arts Commission. The project took place at The Park Danforth, an assisted senior living and retirement home located in Portland. Ian Bannon is the Director of Education for Figures of Speech Theatre. And he is a member of the two Maine Arts Commission teaching artist rosters – creative aging and PK-12.  Ian shared this video that was created during the project at The Park Danforth. The Maine Arts Commission provided the opportunity a workshop for the TimeSlips program. TimeSlips is a creative storytelling methodology that is addresses the needs of people with cognitive challenges. If you’re not familiar with TimeSlips please take 4 minutes and watch the video. It provides an overview of the program and the magic that Ian Bannon brings to the program.

Creative Aging Program

Teaching Artist Opportunity

The Maine Arts Commission is offering a Creative Aging Teaching Artist Training on January 30 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Theater at Monmouth. Come learn the components and intricacies of the Creative Aging philosophy, and apply to be listed on our agency’s Creative Aging Teaching Roster.

The training is free of charge and is open to all teaching artists.

This training is mandatory for applying to the Creative Aging Teaching Artist Roster, a prerequisite for applying to the Creative Aging Grant program.

REGISTER TODAY

Any organization who applies for the Commission’s Creative Aging grant must use an artist on our Roster — so this is the ideal time to learn about Creative Aging and be a part of this important program.

The training will be led by the Commission’s Executive Director, Julie Richard, who has a deep knowledge of the breadth of Creative Aging approaches. Julie has attended many Creative Aging training sessions herself led by artists such as Liz Lerman and Susan Perlstein with organizations including TimeSlips and Lifetime Arts.

Artists completing this training must apply to be on the Roster. That deadline is February 16, 2018.

Melledy Hall is wheelchair accessible and is the large white building with a green metal roof. If you need an additional accommodation to fully participate in this event please contact Kathy Ann Shaw at 207-287-2750 or kathy.shaw@maine.gov.

MacArthur Fellow

Anne Basting – TimeSlips

The Maine Arts Commission has offered training in TimeSlips as part of the Creative Aging program. Anne Basting, theater artist and educator created the program and has recently been named a MacArthur Fellow!

Anne Basting, 2016 MacArthur Fellow, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Anne Basting is a theater artist and educator demonstrating the potential of storytelling and creative expression to improve the lives of elders experiencing cognitive impairment. Across a variety of formats and platforms—theater, memoir, narrative, collaborative public performance, and academic research—Basting has developed an alternative concept of aging, one that focuses on its possibilities as well as its challenges and views sustained emotional connections as critical to our well-being as we age.

Her breakthrough project, TimeSlips, is an improvisational storytelling method in which older adults with cognitive impairment imagine stories and poems in response to inspiring cues. Basting used a collection of poems by the residents of Luther Manor Home in Wisconsin to create and stage a theater piece with the residents in 2000. She then refined and transformed TimeSlips into a formal therapy protocol guided by her fundamental insight that the creation of new stories can be an enriching substitute for lost memories. Basting has since created several theater pieces with elder collaborators around specific themes or community issues. The most ambitious of these, The Penelope Project (2010), grew out of a series of writing, visual arts, and music and movement exercises that imagines the life of Penelope as she awaits the return of Odysseus in Homer’s tale. Other projects, such as Islands of Milwaukee (2012) and The Crossings (2014), have encouraged community engagement, promoted intergenerational interactions, and raised awareness around elder safety.

Basting’s perspective on aging and the power of stories is changing the perceptions of caregivers, family members, and policy makers around the artistic and creative capabilities of older adults, regardless of age or cognitive status. Her nonprofit, TimeSlips Creative Storytelling, offers online and in-person training programs and has helped long-term care facilities and caregivers around the world implement TimeSlips. Through performances and scholarship about the development and efficacy of her approach and theater projects, Basting is widening the reach of her artistic advocacy and ensuring that all citizens age with vital human connection.

Anne Basting received a B.A. from Colorado College (1987), an M.A. (1990) from the University of Wisconsin, and a Ph.D. (1995) from the University of Minnesota. She is currently a professor of theater in the Peck School of the Arts at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee (UWM), founder (in 1998) and president of TimeSlips Creative Storytelling, and founder and coordinator of Creative Trust Milwaukee. She is the author of Forget Memory: Creating Better Lives for People with Dementia (2009), The Stages of Age: Performing Age in Contemporary American Culture (1998), and The Penelope Project: An Arts-Based Odyssey to Change Elder Care (2016) in addition to numerous articles, plays, and public performances.

Maine Arts Commission Job Opening

Arts ed, creative aging, % for art

Interested in working at the Maine Arts Commission? Below is an opportunity for that includes three program areas – arts education, creative aging and per cent for art. Please go to the Maine Arts Commission site and learn more about these programs.

Direct Hire Career Opportunity Bulletin

Maine Arts Commission Arts & Humanities Associate

Special Programs Director

CLASS CODE 0822           PAY GRADE 24 – $39,062.40- $ 52,936.00 Annually

OPEN FOR RECRUITMENT: September 9, 2016 to October 7, 2016

JOB DESCRIPTION

The Special Programs Director will work in a team setting with other program directors and under the supervision of the agency’s Executive Director. The Special Programs Director will provide leadership and oversight in the planning, development, coordination, administration and evaluation of some of the Maine Arts Commission’s programs, such as Percent for Art, Creative Aging, and Arts Education. The position works at the state level to design and implement arts programs and projects; and to provide professional development opportunities and technical assistance to artists, teaching artists, arts organizations and others. Statewide travel is required.

DESCRIPTION OF JOB RESPONSIBILITIES

• Direct Special Programs as defined and directed.
• Take on special projects as assigned.
• Develop programs and initiate new projects in field relating to areas such as Creative Aging.
• Communicate with the field, provide technical support for, and manage the Percent for Art and Creative Aging Programs, and assist with or manage Arts Education initiatives and other special programs as directed.
• Oversee, manage, and direct the distribution of funding to special programs.
• In coordination with other staff, provide program information for distribution, and create print and publication material related to program as needed.
• Manage the process-tracking of each program’s activities.
• Manage the archiving of completed and ongoing projects in a way that is accessible to entire organization.
• Manage program budgets effectively.
• Build collaborative relationships inter-agency, within the state system, and in the field.
• Work with individuals and organizations (in both for-profit and nonprofit sectors) in a positive way for the betterment of the agency’s goals.
• Curate, organize and direct ongoing agency programs.

REPRESENTATIVE TASKS (A position may not be assigned all the duties listed, nor do the listed examples include all the duties that may be assigned).

• Curate, organize and direct ongoing agency programs, such as the Creative Aging and Percent for Art programs.
• Assist in the interpretation and implementation of the Percent for Art law and legislated rules.
• Provide leadership and oversight in the planning, development and implementation of the Percent for Art and Creative Aging programs, as well as other projects in the arts.
• Collaborate and consult with state and national arts organizations and institutions to promote best practices, exemplary arts programming, and to implement professional development opportunities.
• Manage agency funding programs that relate to all identified Special Programs.
• Secure panelists, select or coordinate committees, structure grant and program reviews, and create minutes of grant review processes as needed.
• Cultivate, support, and work with constituents.
• Represent the Maine Arts Commission at public and formal events.
• Research grant and funding opportunities and prepare applications for state or federal funds as appropriate opportunities are available.
• Develop and maintain national contacts and be current in research and exemplary practice in arts field.
• Provide reportage to the Executive Director and members of the Maine Arts Commission when required.

KNOWLEDGES, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES REQUIRED (These are required to successfully perform the work assigned).

The ideal candidate will have:

• Knowledge of the trends and history of the Public Art and Creative Aging fields.
• Knowledge of the current art world, including exhibitions, artists and current practices.
• Ability to interface with arts practitioners as a responsive mentor and advocate.
• Ability to organize work assignments in a timely and professional manner, including but not limited to the ability to delegate duties and tasks when optimal.
• Ability to assemble grant materials, take minutes and provide transparent and valuable reportage on program activities.

• Ability to apply and facilitate group dynamics and use exemplary interpersonal skills.

• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships and provide quality service.

• Ability to communicate effectively orally and in writing.
• Ability to evaluate programs and to generate clear and comprehensive reports for projects.

• Awareness of, and ability to use, current communications methods and technology, such as cloud-based. applications, laptop and desktop computer systems, word processing and data applications.
• Ability to work independently with minimal supervision, as well as collaboratively in a team environment, and with other organizations and institutions.
• Ability to organize multiple projects effectively in a flexible environment.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

To qualify, candidates must have a Bachelor’s Degree in an Arts or Humanities related field and two (2) years’ experience working with artists, arts groups, and/or humanities organizations. Directly-related experience may be substituted for education on a year-for-year basis.

Preference will be given to applicants with a Master’s Degree or commensurate work experience preferably in the fields of Public Art or Creative Aging. Knowledge of Maine artists, galleries and museums is a benefit. Knowledge of and passion for the aging population is also a benefit.

BENEFITS

The value of State’s share of Employee’s Retirement: 15.85% of salary for BU positions. The value of State-paid Dental Insurance: $13.13 biweekly. The value* of State-paid Health Insurance:

• Level 1: 100% State Contribution (employee pays nothing): $415.11 biweekly
• Level 2:   95% State Contribution (employee pays 5%): $394.35 biweekly
• Level 3:   90% State Contribution (employee pays 10%): $373.60 biweekly
• Level 4:     85% State Contribution (employee pays 15%): $352.84 biweekly

*The level of the actual value of state paid Health Insurance will be based on the employee’s wage rate and status with regard to the health credit premium program.

HOW TO APPLY

Please submit a cover letter, resume’ and Direct Hire Application. This job posting and a Direct Hire application can be found on our website: http://www.maine.gov/fps/opportunities/

APPLICATIONS MUST BE SUBMITTED BY

Friday, October 7, 2016

MAIL APPLICATIONS TO

Tammy Sturtevant, HR Generalist

General Gov. Service Center

74 State House Station

Augusta, Maine 04333-0074

207-624-7418 (T)

207-287-4032 (F)

OR EMAIL TO

dafsdirecthire@maine.gov

The information online is located at http://www.maine.gov/fps/opportunities/

Arts Education Conference

Pre-MICA

TEACHING ARTFUL PRACTICE/PRACTICE ARTFUL TEACHING

Pre-MICA (Maine International Conference on the Arts) – 6 October 2016

MICA – 6 and 7 October

THURSDAY DESCRIPTION – This ones just for you PK-12 arts educators, teaching artists, others interested in arts education!

The Maine Arts Leadership Initiative celebrates teaching and learning through “Teaching Artful Practice/Practice Artful Teaching” featuring Cheryl Hulteen, author of YES YES GOOD: The heART of teaching. Arts teaching professionals have much to share in their partnership to create personal artful pathways for students to express and explore creative voice through the arts. Using the Multiple Intelligences Theory, join us in a collaboration – defining, exploring, celebrating and understanding different practices of artful teaching. We will build a learning community that reflects the role the arts play in everything we do, teach and learn by strengthening the creative exchanges of artful process and practice. Come and celebrate the heART of teaching.

DETAILS

Thursday, 6 October 2016, 11:30am – 4:00pm

Franco American Heritage Center

46 Cedar St, Lewiston, ME

4 contact hours provided

$40 includes lunch (no cost for full time students)

Registration located at http://mica.bpt.me/ (Scroll down on the page)

PRESENTER

Author of “YES YES GOOD, The HeART of Teaching”, Master Teaching Artist Cheryl Hulteen has spent over 20 years providing consulting services for school districts, teachers, administrators, parents and students to foster greater learning and insight through building Creative Classroom Cultures. “YES YES GOOD” works with stakeholders across the educational landscape to build exciting, innovative and positive environments for teaching, learning, and arts integrated curriculum development through motivational workshops, professional development and one-on-one coaching. In addition to founding YES YES GOOD, Cheryl also serves as teaching faculty for Connecticut Higher Order Thinking Schools, an initiative of the Connecticut Office of the Arts, managed in partnership with Wesleyan University’s Green Street Arts Center.  “However we may speak, it is through the voices of our children we will most clearly be heard.”

MICA – Thursday night and all day Friday

ARTS EDUCATION TRACK for FRIDAY MICA plus other great sessions being offered Lewiston Bates Mill

Registration located at http://mica.bpt.me/

Stories and Images of Malawi No one can show you the sun – Dzuwa Salodzelano with Lindsay Pinchbeck and Argy Nestor

An 18-day journey to Malawi in July led to the most amazing teachers doing incredible work with very little resources (financial or tangible). The arts were the powerful tool that guided the daily workshops with 12 teachers and opened the hearts and minds of all involved. Join Lindsay and Argy on a visual journey and hear stories of songs and traditions gathered along the paths in Malawi.

STEAMing up in Maine with Kate Cook Whitt, Jonathan Graffius, Malley Weber, and Chuck Carter

What is all the buzz about STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Math) going on across the country? What are the benefits of STEAM in Maine education and beyond? This presentation, in panel format, will bring together four people who are focusing on the topic in their work and play. From PK to higher ed, from teaching artist to game creator. Your questions and ideas are welcome!

Creativity: A Group Inquiry with John Morris

What is creativity? How can it potentially impact our lives? And how do we talk about it with each other? This structured group dialogue will help artists, advocates and educators make connections between creativity research and creativity in practice, while promoting inquiry into the nature of creativity, as well as its role in art, education and community.

Creative Aging

Details being constructed.

If you have any questions please contact me at argy.nestor@maine.gov.

Dancing and Learning

Its never too old to learn something new

Let this be a good lesson for all of us. An 85 year old retired US Navy vet decides to take tap dancing lessons. His wife Carol said that he had tap dancing on his bucket list. The video below tells the powerful story about how dance is impacting not only Arne Mayala, but others in his community. He is an inspiration to dancers and non- dancers, of all ages.

The Maine Arts Commission has a Creative Aging program that is grounded in the belief that the arts play a powerful role in enhancing the quality of life of older adults. The program is designed to generate opportunities for lifelong learning, social engagement and mastery of skills, the program provides new creative possibilities for adults over 55.

Report on Creativity and Aging

NEA webinar showcases report

Sent: Wednesday, January 20, 2016 2:24 PM
Subject: Advisory: Feb. 3 NEA webinar on creativity and aging

For immediate release                                            Contact: Sally Gifford, NEA Public Affairs
January 20, 2016                                                      202-682-5606 | giffords@arts.gov

Live, public webinar on Wednesday, February 3, 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. EST

More than 10,000 baby boomers are turning 65 every day, and the fastest growing demographic in the U.S. is women over age 85. What role can the arts play in ensuring healthy aging for this growing population?  Learn more at the February 3 webinar, which introduces a white paper of recommendations from the May 2015 Summit on Creativity and Aging in America, a convening of more than 70 experts hosted by the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Center for Creative Aging.  An archived version will be available at arts.gov.

The paper highlights recommendations on healthy aging, lifelong learning in the arts, and age-friendly community design.  The summit was a precursor to the 2015 White House Conference on Aging, which addressed four major issues: retirement security, long-term services and supports, healthy aging, and elder abuse. The webinar will cover the main findings from the summit, including opportunities to use the arts to help develop vibrant, healthy communities and services for older adults.

Speakers
·         Beth Bienvenu, Accessibility Director, National Endowment for the Arts, will moderate the webinar
·         Gay Hanna, Executive Director, National Center for Creative Aging
·         Nora Super, Director, 2015 White House Conference on Aging

To join the webinar
The webinar takes place on Wednesday, February 3, 2016, 3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. EST. It is free and open to the public. Please register in advance. Media may RSVP to Sally Gifford, NEA Public Affairs Specialist at giffords@arts.gov. You may listen using your computer’s speakers or dial-in to 1-877-685-5350 and use participant code: 739587. Attendees will be muted but able to type in questions and comments through a text Q&A box. An archive of the webinar will be available at http://arts.gov/videos/webinars.

Follow the conversation @NEAarts and @CreativityAging with the hashtag #CreativeAgeSummit.

Check out the Maine Arts Commission webpage on Creative Aging at https://mainearts.maine.gov/Pages/Traditional/CreativeAging#.

TimeSlips

Creative Aging

Ian Bannon, Teaching Artist, from Figures of Speech and Celebration Barn, trying out the TimeSlips techniques

One week ago the Maine Arts Commission (MAC) provided a fabulous professional development opportunity through TimeSlips. You might be wondering, what the heck is TimeSlips?!

Taken from their website: TimeSlips is an open, poetic language of improvisational storytelling which invites people with memory loss to express themselves and connect with others.  TimeSlips brings meaning to long term care.

Before the workshop the 20 participants, which was a combination of  artists, professionals from the health care field, MAC staff, and caregivers prepared themselves by accessing online training modules. I was fortunate to participate and found myself very ready and excited to attend the all day workshop after doing my online homework. And, I am very impressed with the program. Joan Williamson from TimeSlips traveled from Milwaukee, WI the home of TimeSlips, to provide the training at UNE in Portland.

After we participated in some exercises we traveled to The Park Danforth, a nearby elder living facility, to try out the TimeSlips process. It was wonderful to see TimeSlips in action and Ian Bannon from Figures of Speech Theatre and Celebration Barn volunteered to try it out. He was awesome! Often the participants break into song when something in the story leads to that and we saw two examples of that during the process.

This opportunity is part of the MAC Creative Aging program which is administered by Kathleen Mundell. You can learn more at https://mainearts.maine.gov/Pages/Traditional/CreativeAging#. Included in the program is a Teaching Artist Roster for those interested in working with older adults. Don’t hesitate to contact Kathleen at kathleen.mundell@maine.gov about the Creative Aging program or TimeSlips, if you have questions.

Ian in action

More Info on TimeSlips

TimeSlips is a non-profit that aims to:

• Improve the lives of people with memory loss through creative engagement
• Reach a day when creative engagement is standard practice for all levels of care

TimeSlips offers:

• Certification to Individuals and Organizations in creative engagement with people with memory loss
• Consulting on creating sustainable partnerships and structures to support creative engagement
• Resources for those dedicated to transforming dementia care through creative engagement

If you’d like to learn more about TimeSlips please click HERE.

Creative Aging

Maine Arts Commission program

Late in 2014 the Maine Arts Commission (MAC) established a Creative Aging Teaching Artist roster located at https://mainearts.maine.gov/Pages/Traditional/Teaching-Artist-Roster. The artists on the roster have demonstrated mastery of an artistic discipline, knowledge and expertise in sequential arts instruction, good communication skills, planning and organizational ability, and an understanding of their target learners. Each artist was selected after careful consideration of their application.

You might be wondering what “creative aging” is all about. It might be a term that you’ve never heard before. The information below was provided by Kathleen Mundell, Special Programs Director for MAC. One of Kathleen’s responsibilities is for the Creative Aging program. If you have specific questions please feel free to contact Kathleen at Kathleen.Mundell@maine.gov.

Many people working in Creative Aging cite Dr. Gene Cohen as one of  pioneers  in this emerging field.
He spent the majority of his career at the National Institutes of Health acting as Director of the Institute of Mental Health and the Institute on Aging. There he pioneered several research studies on
the positive benefits of creativity on the aging process. In a 2006 study, co-funded by the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Institute of Mental Health, Cohen measured the impact of cultural programs on the physical and mental health and social functioning of older adults.  The results showed positive findings, helping  make the case for the importance of creative engagement in healthy aging.

Other evidence based studies are summarized in the National Endowment for the Arts’ “The Arts and Human Development: Framing a National Research Agenda for the Arts, Lifelong Learning, and Individual Well-Being” (2011).

A renowned  geriatric psychiatrist, Cohen was  author of many foundational books on Creative Aging including “The Creative Age: Exploring Potential in the Second Half of Life” and founded, in partnership with Susan Perlstein, the National Center for Creative Aging, a national organization dedicated to fostering an understanding of the vital relationship between creative expression and healthy aging www.creativeaging.org. This organization has been invaluable in helping jump start the Maine Arts Commission’s new Creative Aging Program.

Wondering about the impact of music on the Alzheimer’s patients? Please go to this link, http://www.wwltv.com/story/news/nation-now/2014/12/08/inspiration-nation-alzheimer-choir/19964747/, read the information that provides an understanding and watch the video.

I will provide more information in future blog posts. Please do share any information that you might have on related topics.

MAC Teaching Artist Roster

Unveiled today on the MAC site

Martin Swinger

The Maine Arts Commission is excited to announce that the new PK-12 Teaching Artist roster has been created and has gone live today!! The roster has 27 teaching artist profiles and is located at this link https://mainearts.maine.gov/Pages/Education/Teaching-Artist-Roster. It has been a number of years since the Maine Arts Commission (MAC) has had a Teaching Artist Roster. The last one was a (paper) booklet that was very useful to school districts who were seeking additional arts education instruction, specifically from artists. We hope that the new roster becomes a valuable resource.

In addition, MAC has a roster for artists interested in working with older adults. The Creative Aging program at MAC is directed by Kathleen Mundell. The roster is located at this link https://mainearts.maine.gov/Pages/Traditional/Teaching-Artist-Directory. If you have questions about this program please contact Kathleen at kathleen.mundell@maine.gov.

Some of you might be wondering what a Teaching Artist is or what do they do?! MACs definition for a Teaching Artist is below.

Teaching Artists are professional artists who are dedicated to lifelong learning and arts education, have made it an integral part of their professional practice, and who have cultivated skills as educators in concert with their skills as artists.

Malley Weber

The artists included in the roster were selected after reviewing their applications which reflected their expertise and commitment to providing learning opportunities for students and/or teachers in the PK-12 education setting. We expect that the roster will be used by PK-12 schools as well as community organizations that provide learning opportunities for young people.

A more comprehensive program for Teaching Artists is being created and efforts to address the needs are underway and will grow over time. The next call for Teaching Artist applications will be announced in the Spring 2015.