SAXTONS RIVER, Vt. – Drawing out the wisdom of the past is among the goals of a series of free workshops being offered in Saxtons River for seniors, through collaboration between Main Street Arts, 24 Main, and the Saxtons River Historical Society.
The program is funded by a Creative Aging grant from the Vermont Arts Council through its Creative Aging program and is open to 15 participants ages 55 and older.
A kickoff luncheon to introduce the program and sign up participants will be held Friday, March 10 from noon to 1:30 p.m. in the dining room at 24 Main (the former Christ’s Church).
Workshops will take place on Fridays, March 17, 24, and 31, and April 7, 14, and 21 at Main Street Arts from 10 a.m. to noon.
The seniors will be encouraged to turn their memories into collage, watercolor painting, poetry, and story, and the resulting work will be presented at a month-long interactive exhibit in the MSA gallery, with an opening Friday, Apr. 28. The public will be invited to respond with their own insights into how to bring the wisdom of the past into today.
Project leader will be creative aging expert Susan Rosano, a mosaic and mural artist from Guilford. She has been a Master Teaching Artist and a Registered Expressive Arts Consultant and Educator for more than 20 years, bringing visual and expressive arts projects to senior citizens, hospice patients and their families, and in schools, libraries, hospitals, and museums. In 2021, she trained to be a Vermont Lifetime Arts Teaching Artist and was awarded a National Arts Strategies Creative Community Fellowship. She is on the teaching roster for the VAC’s Creative Aging program.
“One of our goals is to increase awareness of creative and positive aging among both our participants and the public who see and hear the products of their work,” said Susan Still, MSA board chair.
“We also want to create a space for creativity and encourage socializing among the seniors, who are often isolated,” she added.
Creativity will be nurtured through accessible techniques and the use of story prompts and collage. Fellowship will be encouraged through free refreshments and social time at each meeting.
Further information and registration for the lunch on March 10 and workshops can be found at www.mainstreetarts.org/drawing-out-the-wisdom-of-the-past.html.
Attendance at the informational lunch does not guarantee or commit to participation in the workshops.