Creative Aging Workshops for Veterans

ID: WMA2026_611

Track:

As part of the UMFA Creative Aging Program we have run two successful 8 week art making programs for Veterans at a Salt Lake City Veterans residence. The first workshop taught by artist educator Matthew Brasher is called “Watercolor Memories”, the second “Fearless Abstraction” was taught by artist/educator Samantha da Silva. Most of the workshop attendees have memory loss, both educators structured their workshops in a way that made art making very accessible for this group. The projects in “Watercolor Memories” were specifically designed with military themes that the Veterans responded to very strongly. In “Fearless Abstraction” veterans created bold abstract paintings inspired by images of nature found in Utah, slot canyons, waterfalls, cactus blossoms, the Great Salt Lake etc. The enjoyment participants felt working on canvas with rollers, brushes, acrylic paint, sand and salt was visible. It would be valuable to share the template these artist/educators created with others interested in working with Veterans.

Session Information

Format: Regular session/panel (roundtable, single speaker, etc.)

Uniqueness: This session will offer a unique, manageable method to bring art making to senior Veterans.

Objectives: *What is Creative Aging? *Working with participants who have memory loss. *How Creative Aging programming can be customized for Veterans.

Engagement: In this session the audience will be presented with a collection of images to illustrate both the “Watercolor Memories” and “Fearless Abstraction” workshops which the UMFA has run at a nearby Veterans residence. The various projects will be presented along with the approach and materials used in each session. A QR code as well as handouts will be made available so attendees can easily replicate these workshops.

Relationship to Theme:

Audience

Audiences: Development and Membership Officers Events Planning Marketing & Communications (Including Social Media) Other 

Professional Level: All levels 

Scalability: This session will be helpful to any museum, large or small interested in Creative Aging and how it can be customized to a specific cohort.

Participants