2nd Aging Festival to take place in May

The City of Bloomington Commission on Aging will sponsor the second annual Creative Aging Festival during May to celebrate Older Americans Month. The event begins May 1. The festival will include a series of different events aimed at highlighting artistic talents of older adults, said Julie Hill, chair of the creative aging festival committee.

“Probably this year’s highlight events are that there’s a creative aging symposium, which is an all-day workshop for professionals, and also a really cool presentation from the Museum of Modern Art in New York City,” Hill said. “The last session is the future of community-based programs for older adults. It’s kind of a panel discussion.”

Hill said these events will be ongoing throughout May and that people of any age are invited and encouraged to participate.

Several of the objectives are aimed at enhancing understanding and respect between different generations, Hill said.

“The first objective is to showcase the talents and skills of both first-time older artists and performers. And you don’t have to be a seasoned, lifetime artist. You can be a first-time artist in order to be showcased,” Hill said.

“And then the second objective is to promote intergenerational understanding through dialogue, sharing traditions, storytelling, that sort of thing. The third objective is to enhance awareness about the value of creative engagement to adult health and well-being.”

Hill said the festival is also in response to a wider global trend of viewing aging in a more positive light.

“One of the most profound changes is the way of seeing older adults, and it’s moving from kind of the concept of deficit and need-based to stressing the assets approach,” Hill said.

“That’s one of the things we’re really trying to promote, is to get people to see aging as not a disease process, but there’s a whole host of positive potential aspects that come with the aging process.”

Hill said the local shops or businesses are encouraged to participate by sponsoring their own events related to the creative aging theme. A full list of events can be found at bloomington.in.gov/coa.

Hill stressed that students are welcome to participate in the event because of the need for people to foster creativity in the older community.

“I think that overall society doesn’t really value that, so we’re really trying to paint a new, more positive aspect and celebrate the success of aging,” Hill said.