Free creative arts classes for seniors

The Mesa Arts Center is now offering seniors free creative arts classes. As part of Horizon’s monthly AARP sponsored segment, we look at how programs like these, can enhance the lives of seniors.

To talk more about the classes, Mesa Arts Center Art-Studio manager, Laura Wilde joined the show.

These classes are offered to adults ages 55 and over. They are a part of a national movement called creative aging that encourages professional arts programming with a multitude of benefits, according to Wilde.

Mesa Arts Center offers a variety of classes, both online and in-person. They include:

• Dance
• Chair Yoga
• Card Making
• Print Making
• Ceramics
• Multiple glass making options

They also have classes that target seniors with specific needs, like Dance for PD, which helps improve balance and mobility for people with Parkinson’s disease, or a class that accommodates people with mild or moderate dementia and their care partners.

All these classes have benefits that include decreasing the risk of falling and not having to rely on canes for mobility, according to Wilde.

“We know that when older adults isolate, that all their health really goes downhill and there’s a lot of risk. So these programs really allow them to be creative, use their minds in different ways,” Wilde said. “It allows them to feel brave and confident in their creative choices and the artwork that they make and all these other great health benefits.”

Blue Cross Blue Shield, and the Gila River Indian Community are two of the sponsors for these classes which make them free to the seniors who chose to participate, according to Wilde.

Learn more about the opportunities available at Mesa Arts Center.