Columbia Art Association

The Columbia Museum of Art will partner with the South Carolina Lieutenant Governor’s Office on Aging, Capital Senior Center, and Agape Senior to provide new participatory arts activities for seniors aged 70+ in a four-county region. An array of new programs will be designed to engage the mind and enrich the spirit for older visitors. Art participation programs will focus on helping seniors hone cognitive abilities, and enhance their quality of life through social interaction, positive self-image, and increased connection to the world around them – encouraging sociability and lifelong learning. The museum will improve visitor accessibility through modest facility and visitor amenity upgrades, with a goal of increasing senior general admissions and group tours by 10 percent and attracting 1,200 Creative Age participants. The museum will also develop and electronically disseminate a scalable and replicable comprehensive program toolkit for small to mid-sized art institutions nationwide.