Art and Wellness: Creative Aging Exhibition 2015

This year’s Art and Wellness: Creative Aging exhibition, which showcases the work created by participants in our ongoing collaboration with Iona, is on view October 30 through December 27, 2015. Like last year, our friends at Iona made a video highlighting the gallery talks, workshops, and creativity that led to the exhibition’s opening. Some participants shared their thoughts:

“Art is my guide; a path that allows me to reflect, question, and let go.”

“Art is teaching me…it is always teaching me.”

“Art offers me the freedom of knowing that I can do what I like and go where I want.”

Arts & Healing: Speaking with NEA Chairman Dr. Jane Chu

Phillips Head of Public Engagement Brooke Rosenblatt speaks with Iona Art Therapist Jackie Sargent and Dr Jane Chu, Chairman of the NEA. Photo: Gerlach Graphic

Phillips Head of Public Engagement Brooke Rosenblatt (left) speaks with Iona Art Therapist Jackie Sargent (center) and Dr. Jane Chu, Chairman of the NEA (right). Photo: Gerlach Graphic

I recently had the honor to sit down with Dr. Jane Chu, the new Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. Dr. Chu was invited by the National Center for Creative Aging to visit the Phillips’s partner Iona Senior Services. She wanted to witness creative aging programs in action! During her site visit, we discussed the Phillips’s ongoing museum-education and art therapy partnership with Iona and the program’s positive impact on participants and their families. Her visit to Iona was timely–the NEA Arts Magazine‘s most recent issue highlights the innovative ways that organizations are using art as an instrument of healing.

Nordic Wonderland Family Program

Photos: Andrea Kim Taylor and Brooke Rosenblatt

Photos: Andrea Kim Taylor and Brooke Rosenblatt

As a part of our Nordic Cultural Initiative, the Phillips recently hosted our first Nordic Wonderland family program in collaboration with the embassies of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. Over 120 guests created art activities from Denmark and Norway, experienced storytelling from Iceland, viewed a Moomin cartoon from Finland, and watched a St. Lucia parade from Sweden.

During the program, we debuted our new Winter Warm Up “Art-Venture.” The digital scavenger hunt is a fun way to navigate the Phillips. You can play with your family, friends, or even by yourself! The Winter Warm Up “Art-Venture” is available to visitors all season long and can be accessed using your mobile device, or you can access it here: http://edventurebuilder.com/phillips/winter.

One family described the “art-venture,” saying “The questions were good ones and a great way to learn about art and the museum.” Another said, “The event was wonderful… For the older kids, the scavenger hunt was really fun!”