How to maximize community engagement and collaboration around the issue of aging in American society through cultural and historical frameworks.

The development of an expansive project that created a symbolic conversation among teens, older community members, visual artists and poets and involved a sequence of activities undertaken by teams that explored the themes of aging through art, history and language and that maximized collaboration with community members by working with them as co-creators.

A program that was both a unique collaboration around historical issues and artifacts as well as a participatory community art project that had many ripple effects and involved diverse participants. Outcomes included: the creation of 12 original poems by noted area poets; a Main Street public art installation that spanned the walkway between collaborating partners; an in-house exhibition; a magazine issue dedicated to issues of age and aging; and, the production of a high quality brochure that reflected individual team participation.