Intergenerational Arts
ESTA’s Intergenerational Arts programs focus on the transmission of story from one generation to the next. Fundamental to Intergenerational Arts is the partnership formed between an educational institution or a youth-service provider (including public and private schools, community centers, settlement houses) and an elder service provider (including senior centers, libraries, museums). Running for as short as one session to as long as 40 sessions, programs integrate life history with art making using the theater arts, visual arts, storytelling, and writing. Often ESTA’s Intergenerational Arts programs revolve around a theme or topic. Recent themes include, “What does it mean to be an American?” conducted between recently arrived immigrant youth to this country and elders who preceded them a generation or two earlier and “Speak to Us of Work” in which high school youth envisioning their future jobs and careers talked with elders retired from the work force. ESTA’s Intergenerational Arts programs include History Alive! and Generating Community. For further information on each program, click on the program’s name in the left navigation bar.