News & Resources
Art and Healthy Aging: San Francisco Senior Center Partnership with Art with Elders
Art is an enriching and fulfilling activity for older adults, offering benefits beyond enhanced artistic skills. It fosters emotional well-being, boosts cognitive function, and strengthens social connections. By engaging in art, seniors improve their overall quality of life.
San Francisco Senior Center’s partnership with Art With Elders (AWE) is a collaboration that aims to enrich program participants’ lives with the power of art and its profound benefits for healthy aging.
Sequoia Living’s guiding philosophy is Never Stop Growing, which is evident at the San Francisco Senior Center. The partnership with AWE expands program offerings at the SF Senior Center by encouraging Bay Area seniors to participate in weekly in-person fine arts classes taught by professional artists. Participants learn new skills, explore new ideas, and build stronger bonds and friendships with peers.
Art With Elders drawing of two birds on a berry bush
Two Locations Serving San Francisco Seniors
Sequoia Living’s SF Senior Center, Downtown and Aquatic Park, offer outreach, activities and assistance to older adults (60+) and adults with disabilities (18+) in San Francisco. The Programs offer creative outlets such as art classes, creative writing, photography, and more than 30 other weekly activities. The centers are a place to socialize, exercise, and offer opportunities to continue learning. People come together to build lasting friendships, whether expressing their creativity, working out, honing a skill, or sharing a meal.
AWE participant artists report feeling happier and more confident after engaging in the program.
Founded in 1991, Art with Elder’s mission is to use the power of art, creativity, and community to enrich the journey of aging. Every spring, AWE artists are invited to submit their artwork for the opportunity to be featured in the annual exhibition. The top 100 pieces are displayed at the Fall Exhibit Opening and Artist Reception. Then, the incredible artwork of AWE artists is shared with the broader Bay Area community through the AWE Traveling Exhibit.
“If you do something creative, it will bring you joy,” Says Bonnie Fan, who has been attending AWE classes since 2017. She believes people will understand more about her by viewing her drawings.
Another AWE art student, Eddie Henderson, believes Art can’t be taught, but with help—such as the kind he gets from his AWE teacher—people can appreciate their natural talent. He says he is “Forever grateful. AWE is the best!”
For more information on Sequoia Living’s San Francisco Senior Center, click here.
