WSP 284 — Artful Aging: Exploring Creative Paths to Vitality and Brain Health
Spring
Saturday
10:00 am—4:00 pm
Date(s)
May 14
1 day
Drop By
May 7
0 Units
Fees
$160
Format
On-campus course
Limit 40
Open
Whether you’d like to write, paint, act, play a
musical instrument, or don’t yet know what
new pursuit you want to take on, this participatory
workshop will demonstrate that everyone has creative
potential and that it’s never too late to find or rediscover
your creative self. The day will provide a solid framework
for beginning, or resuming, your creative journey.
Based on psychological and neuroscience research, this workshop will show you how creativity is well suited to your “vintage years” and can promote your emotional, cognitive, and physical well-being. We will share the stories of many late-blooming artists who didn’t take up creative pursuits until past age sixty. Students will learn why talent is unnecessary and how to recognize undeveloped potential. They will also discover how creative doubts and blocks, arising from both within and from without, can be turned into allies by using your imagination.
Through slide presentations, lecture, inner reflection, interactive exercises, and discussion, the workshop will give you a roadmap for embarking on your creative journey, which will, in turn, keep stimulating your brain and directing your energies in positive ways. Prior to the workshop you will receive an e-mail questionnaire that will help you maximize the value of the workshop. Students will also come away with a list of helpful readings, resources, and an action plan.
Based on psychological and neuroscience research, this workshop will show you how creativity is well suited to your “vintage years” and can promote your emotional, cognitive, and physical well-being. We will share the stories of many late-blooming artists who didn’t take up creative pursuits until past age sixty. Students will learn why talent is unnecessary and how to recognize undeveloped potential. They will also discover how creative doubts and blocks, arising from both within and from without, can be turned into allies by using your imagination.
Through slide presentations, lecture, inner reflection, interactive exercises, and discussion, the workshop will give you a roadmap for embarking on your creative journey, which will, in turn, keep stimulating your brain and directing your energies in positive ways. Prior to the workshop you will receive an e-mail questionnaire that will help you maximize the value of the workshop. Students will also come away with a list of helpful readings, resources, and an action plan.
Due to its short format, this workshop may not be taken for Credit or a Letter Grade.
Francine Toder, Psychologist; Executive Coach; Emeritus Faculty Member, California State University, Sacramento
Francine Toder is the author of three books, including The Vintage Years: Finding Your Inner Artist (Writer, Musician, Visual Artist) After Sixty. Her blogs on The Huffington Post focus on creative aging and the pursuit of an artistic life. Her creative journey began when she learned to play the cello after sixty.Robert Ressler, Principal, Inspired Elders
Robert Ressler is a creativity and life-purpose coach serving people in the second half of life. He is a former associate professor at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, where he specialized in evolutionary psychology. At the age of seventy-three, he wrote and produced a new musical theater piece and CD, Behind the Fig Leaf, which takes an irreverent lively look at hidden Darwinian meanings in the story of Adam and Eve.Dan Fourrier, Visual Artist
Dan Fourrier retired from a long career in medicine and decided to pursue a formal arts degree. He works in a variety of media—photography, sculpture, and mixed media—and he paints at Art Explosion Studios in San Francisco, where he is a member artist.Textbooks for this course:
(Recommended) Francine Toder, The Vintage Years: Finding Your Inner Artist (Writer, Musician, Visual Artist) After Sixty (ISBN 978-0-9882059-2-5)