The Mesa Arts Center now offers free creative arts classes for seniors. As part of Horizon’s AARP-sponsored monthly segment, we look at how programs like these can improve the lives of seniors.
To talk more about the classes, Mesa Arts Center art studio manager Laura Wilde joined the show.
These classes are offered to adults over the age of 55. They are part of a national movement called creative aging that promotes professional artistic programming with a multitude of benefits, according to Wilde.
Mesa Arts Center offers a variety of classes, both online and face-to-face. They include:
They also have classes aimed at seniors with specific needs. Like Dance for PD, which helps improve the balance and mobility of people with Parkinson’s disease, or a class that welcomes people with mild to moderate dementia and their fellow caregivers, according to Wilde.
All of these classes have benefits that include lower risk of falling and not having to rely on walking sticks, according to Wilde.
“We know that when older adults isolate themselves, all of their health goes down and there’s a lot of risk. So these programs really allow them to be creative, to use their minds in different ways,” Wilde said. “It allows them to feel brave and confident in their creative choices and the works of art they make and all these other great health benefits.”
Blue Cross Blue Shield and the Gila River Indian community are two of the sponsors of these classes making them free for seniors who chose to participate, according to Wilde.
Learn more about the opportunities available at Mesa Arts Center.
