Artful Aging: Re-Enchantment through Art/Play is more than an art program— it’s a creative pathway to aging with equanimity, vitality, and joy. At its heart lies a simple but profound idea: through art-making, we can cultivate and nurture the emotional, psychological, and spiritual strengths we need to thrive as we grow older.
Participants engage in hands-on creative practices—like painting, collage, and mixed-media exploration—to connect with and strengthen the qualities that support aging well:
I began developing this program as I approached my 70th birthday. At the time, I was still working as a psychotherapist. I had raised a son, built a studio, and was joyfully immersed in making art—exhibiting regularly at Ceres Gallery, a feminist, artist-run space in New York where I’d been a member for many years.
One important thing to know about me: I wasn’t formally trained as an artist. I took classes and workshops here and there, but mostly I taught myself—exploring different media, following my curiosity, and making things up as I went along. And I loved it.
Over time, I noticed something. When I was making art, I could shed the weight of the world, even briefly. I felt deeply present, recharged, and more at ease in my body. I could forget physical discomfort or daily worries. And I began to wonder: what makes that kind of freedom possible? Could others experience it too?
Aging is often framed as a story of loss—of energy, identity, purpose, creativity, relevance. But that’s not the whole story. What if aging could also be a time of growth, renewal, and self-discovery? And what if art-making—as process, as play, as meditation—could be the way in?
In my own studio, I found that the more I let go of expectations and the need for something to be “good” or “right,” the more something opened up. I felt alive, present, most myself.
I came to believe that creative expression—especially when approached with openness and playfulness—is one of the most powerful tools we have for aging well. It keeps us mentally and emotionally flexible. It sparks joy. It builds resilience. It reconnects us to our inner lives and to something larger than ourselves.
Artful Aging: Re-Enchantment through Art/Play grew out of these insights, experiences, and joyful experiments. It’s the culmination of my life’s work—as a therapist, social scientist, artist, and seeker—and a celebration of the transformative power of creativity.
Now, I offer it to you—with the hope that it might spark your own sense of curiosity, courage, and wonder. You don’t need to be an artist. You just need to show up, let go, and see what unfolds—at any age.
As a newcomer to the making of art, for me this class served many purposes, some of them initially surprising. I expected a relatively formal, quiet, cerebral setting in which I would struggle alone to make sense of unfamiliar concepts and materials. “This class would be good for you,” a neighbor who is an artist told me. “Yeah, like an elliptical machine is good
for me”, I thought to myself.
What a surprise! I have taken Artful Aging for almost a year, and it has been a transformative, joyful, and fun experience. I was initially hesitant about my abilities, but with the encouragement of the teacher and other students,
I gradually relaxed and began to feel more at home with the experience. I would identify this process of relaxing and opening myself up to something very new as one of the most important parts of this class. As a fairly driven
and experienced professional, I realized that my many years of work had made me defensive about attempting something new.
I think my brain has changed as a result of this class. The way I think doesn’t feel quite as linear. I have always been a museum-goer, but now I
experience art in a different way. I feel as if I can enter into it more, or let it enter me. And my interests in various kinds of art have broadened.
Judy Greenwald is a wonderful teacher. She doesn’t teach “top down”. Rather, she helps students learn by giving enough instruction to get one
started, and then encouraging and standing by to give suggestions. Most of all, she communicates a joy that is so motivating you can’t help but put aside your defenses and just dive in (ok, maybe not dive in, but at least put a toe in). She prepares each class carefully, and provides helpful demos and warm-up exercises. Her warmth, hospitality, and sense of humor create a community among the people in the class. She sees potential in everyone – genuine potential.