It’s never too late in life to develop a new artistic skill or find a new creative passion.
Research shows active participation in some form of the arts can improve quality of life and aging among older adults.
Below are a variety of organizations throughout Northeast Ohio that offer classes or other forms of participation in the arts for adults 50 and over.
Ashtabula County
The Ashtabula Arts Center is home to the Good Life Singers, a senior choral group that performs holiday and spring concerts for the community. The HeART Strings Orchestra is the center’s resident string orchestra open to adults of various ages with several senior musicians. All members took up learning an instrument a little later in life and perform together around Ashtabula County, including at local senior centers and care facilities.
Cuyahoga County
The Rocky River Senior Center offers a wealth of artistic options from ceramics classes to painting lessons in watercolor, acrylic and oil to portrait drawing and monthly art lectures. Get active with line, tap, ballet or jazz dance classes, or join the theater group, which performs two shows a year. There are also plenty of opportunities for writing, music and singing.
BAYarts, located within the Cleveland Metroparks in Bay Village, offers Artful Aging classes for adults 55 and up. On the schedule for spring are two multimedia courses: The Art of Collage and Abstract Mixed Media Techniques taught by Cleveland artist Sharon Dundee.
There are many ways to get creative in Strongsville with classes in digital photography and Zentangle drawing plus oil, acrylic and watercolor painting. There’s also beginner and intermediate classes in tap dancing and a woodshop on site to learn the basics of woodworking.
The Music Settlement, providing music education to the community for more than a century, launched the Creative Aging department in 2024 to expand learning opportunities for older adults. Several longstanding ensembles - an adult orchestra, choir, chamber music group and more - fall under these offerings. Though most are open to adults 18 and over, there are many senior members. The first class specifically for 55 and over is Steel Drums for Seniors, a week-long program this summer.
Huron County
Enrichment Centers for Huron County
A variety of creative activities are held every month at both locations of the Enrichment Centers of Huron County in Norwalk and Willard. Take a class in stained glass or acrylic painting, join others in making greeting cards or candles, or work on quilting projects in a group setting. Activities vary monthly, so be sure to check the latest newsletter for current offerings.
Medina County
Dancing can be good for the soul and the body. The Medina Centre for Dance Art has classes in tap and ballet specifically for adults 55 and older with a focus on increasing strength and stability while reducing joint stiffness and anxiety. Classes meet once a week for one hour.
Stark County
Senior Sing, a community within the Sing Stark organization, focuses on improving health and wellbeing for older adults through singing together. Fall and spring sessions are held every year, each culminating in a community concert. Weekly rehearsals take place at Aultman Hospital’s North Canton campus and the group performs a diverse repertoire of musical hits from pop to Broadway.
Summit County
Akron Art Museum Creative Aging Institute
Launched in 2023, the Creative Aging Institute at the Akron Art Museum offers artmaking workshops for adults 55 and over. Centered around different artistic mediums such as sculpture, printmaking, photography and textiles, the workshops focus on fostering creativity and connection while raising awareness around ageism. The institute is also launching a new outreach initiative, Studio 55+, that brings artmaking into the community for adults who may not easily be able to visit the museum.
Akron’s BOOM! Theater welcomes adults 50 and older to join in the fun of producing live theater. The group typically performs two shows per year at the Akron Civic Theatre with opportunities to act and sing on stage or make magic behind the curtain as part of the production crew.
