Elders Share the Arts Information

Elders Share the Arts (ESTA) empowers older adults to find creative ways to share their life experience through a synthesis of reminiscence, oral history and the arts. ESTA works throughout New York City and the metropolitan area in senior centers, nursing homes, schools and libraries. We train professional artists -- in the visual, literary and performing arts-- in our methodology for transforming memory into art. The Pearls of Wisdom is our ensemble of elder storytellers who are tradition-bearers of the first order. Each one is a cultured pearl who shares a personal story from his or her tradition. One tells of growing up in an Italian immigrant neighborhood; another shares from her childhood in Savannah during the Civil Rights Era. Recent research by Dr. Gene Cohen demonstrated a direct correlation between creative expression and physical and mental heath. Participants in ESTA's programs experience a renewed appreciation of their life and the opportunity to give back. Students in ESTA's intergenerational programs feel more connected to the elders in their community. In May--"older adults awareness month"-- ESTA participants will share their stories, plays, poems and art in the Living History Arts Festival. Visit our website for details. Check out our elder-driven blog: "Get Your Wordsworth." Each month features a different writer from the Windsor Terrace Story Circle, a core group who have been meeting and writing for the last 16 years. (See the link below.)