ENGAGE: State Communities of Practice in Arts, Health, and Aging

Tuesday, October 14, 11:10am – 12:40pm

Organized and moderated by Gay Hanna, Executive Director, National Center for Creative Aging.

Presented by Arlynn Fishbaugh, Executive Director, Montana Arts Council; Sue Gens, Executive Director, Minnesota State Arts Board; and Chuck Winkler, Program Administrator, Texas Commission on the Arts.

ENGAGE is a first-of-its-kind initiative to support state arts agencies in developing infrastructure and programming in arts, health, and aging in their individual state and as regional and national collaborators. In partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies (NASAA) and with matching funds provided by Aroha Philanthropies, the National Center for Creative Aging (NCCA) has been working with 13 states in 2013/14 in year one of this national initiative. Funding has now been additionally awarded to invite 10 to 12 new state collaborators through 2015. We will describe the process of developing this collaborative both within their agencies and with each other as state entities and will share the challenges, opportunities, and next steps for forming new business models, policy development, and cultural resources through this method of learning collaboratives.