February 14, 2022

Dear Friends,

Happy Valentine’s Day! We love our artful community and want to express our appreciation for everyone who supports our cause and the incredible older adults and caregivers whom we are continuously privileged to work with. We hope you feel loved today and every day.

We’re also excited to celebrate Black History Month and thrilled to highlight the brilliant painter Alma Thomas, who was a beloved figure in the abstract expressionist movement and a trailblazer as a Black woman artist. Thomas created her most acclaimed work during the prolific years of her retirement after teaching art in the D.C. public school system for 38 years.

Left: Portrait of the artist, Alma Thomas. Right: Breeze Rustling Through Fall Flowers (1968) featured at The Phillips Collection exhibition, Everything Is Beautiful.

Our valued cultural partner, The Phillips Collection, recently held a stunning retrospective of Thomas’ work titled Everything Is Beautiful in Washington, D.C. Arts for the Aging teaching artists Chris Brown (music) and Annetta Dexter Sawyer (creative movement, theater, visual arts) used this exhibition for a collaborative workshop where participants at Iona Senior Services used Thomas' works as inspiration for their own lively paintings.

Iona Senior Services participant artwork inspired by Alma Thomas paintings (2022).

I’m endlessly amazed at the capacity we have for creativity and community throughout our lives, even during the challenges of the pandemic. Over the last two years, Arts for the Aging has undergone dramatic transformation and growth to create pandemic resilient programs in close collaboration with our clients and cultural partners, ensuring every corner of our community has access to vital creative aging and arts in health programs.

As we look forward with hope to the year ahead, we feel that the best theme to guide our work in 2022 is “Connection.” We will continue connecting with older adults and caregivers both virtually and in-person when it is safe to do so; we will continue strengthening and deepening our connections with clients and cultural partners; and we will continue broadening our connections to become a more diverse and inclusive organization with a steadfast commitment to equity.

I look forward to sharing more of our plans and progress with you in the months ahead and wish to express my sincere thanks for the incredible support you’ve shown Arts for the Aging over the last two pandemic years. We’re honored to do this work and proud to stand alongside such a vibrant and beautiful community of supporters.

With gratitude,

Janine Tursini

Director & CEO

Be Safe. Be Kind. Be Well.

Program photos at top: By Stephanie Williams Images taken during a 2019 Tango workshop at Downtown Clusters Geriatric Day Care Center in collaboration with ROMEZ3arts, Tango Brilliante, and Tango Mercurio.

Our Mission

Since 1988, Arts for the Aging has engaged older adults and caregivers in health improvement and life enhancement through regular participation in multi-disciplinary, therapeutic group-arts programs which take place in partnership with professional artists, community and residential care settings, and museums, cultural, and academic institutions.

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Arts for the Aging, Inc. | (301) 255-0103 | 15800 Crabbs Branch Way, Suite 300, Rockville, MD 20855



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