Bird-themed music filled the studio at the ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks on Feb. 18 as adults 50 and older gathered for the venue’s first Create & Connect program, a hands-on art workshop designed to foster creativity and connection.
The new creative aging program, facilitated by Chris Zweifel, a licensed professional counselor and board-certified art therapist, aims to ease stress and expand social circles among older adults through nature-themed art-making.
ArtsQuest education manager Joanne Garcia said the program responds to a growing need for connection among Bethlehem’s older population. It will continue this spring, with plans to expand when the ArtsQuest Creative Factory opens.
“We’re noticing that there’s more and more of that connection-need that people are looking for,” Garcia said. “Just to be around one another and talk, and in this case, make some art as well.”
She oversees offerings from early childhood through older adults. Create & Connect falls under ArtsQuest’s creative aging programming, which has historically operated as outreach. She said part of the programming is to facilitate art-based enrichment for the older population.
For Create & Connect, the organization partnered on-site with Zweifel to bring older adults to the SteelStacks campus while construction continues on the new Creative Factory. Garcia said ArtsQuest has also worked with groups such as the Hispanic Center, Casa Guadalupe in Allentown, Phoebe Ministries and Moravian Village on creative aging initiatives. In prior outreach programs, she estimated about 40 participants took part.
She said Create & Connect offers another opportunity for the community to connect through the arts.
Inside the classroom, participants worked with mixed media inspired by nature. The session opened with a simple craft: making bird feeders with pine cones, coconut oil and birdseed.
Zweifel said the first event’s theme centered on birds and natural imagery. Even looking at photographs of nature has documented benefits, she said, including lowering blood pressure, which is why she often incorporates natural elements into her work.
“In art therapy, we use the creative process to treat symptoms of depression, anxiety and other mental health disorders,” Zweifel said. “When we engage in the creative process, we often lower our cortisol levels. That’s our stress hormone, so it’s for stress management and self-care.”
Unlike one-on-one clinical sessions, the workshop emphasized shared experience over treatment. Zweifel said increasing social networks can help reduce anxiety and depression, and the event encouraged combatting to step out of their comfort zones to combat isolation.
For some, the comfort came quickly.
Sheryl Caliguire, who’s lived in the Lehigh Valley for 35 years after moving from California, said she attended because she was already familiar with ArtsQuest and SteelStacks. She said the organization offers numerous opportunities not only for artistic expression but also for people to gather and enjoy the area together.
She said she arrived curious and left surprised.
“I was really looking forward to coming here and seeing what this was about,” she said. “It ended up being much better and nicer than I expected.”
Zweifel provided cut-out photos of birds, colored paper, pencils, pens and markers. Caliguire said the room was calm, with music playing and materials spread across tables, ready for participants to create.
Her collage reflected a longing for warmer weather.
“It’s been a long winter here in the (Lehigh) Valley, and I was feeling a little tropical,” she said. “When I saw this cockatoo-like-bird photo, I thought he needed another feather or two and wanted him to sit out by a flower.”
By the end of the session, Caliguire said she felt rewarded simply for showing up. Though she didn’t know anyone else in the room, she said that didn’t feel like a barrier.
“I feel a personal fulfillment in getting out during this weather, but also (feel) like I met some very interesting people here today,” she said. “The strangers part didn’t bother me at all. It was really about the art, with the connections I made being a bonus.”
Zweifel said many participants initially hesitate to join programs like this because they believe they’re not artistic. She encouraged them to focus on the process rather than the product and to throw their “inner critics out the door.”
She said she felt the impact of the afternoon when participants stood to present their final bird-themed pieces during an informal gallery walk at the end of the event.
“It’s very energizing to come and see people make that extra effort to come out themselves and see people are good,” she said. “I’m walking away feeling uplifted and energized, and there’s nothing else I’d rather do with my time.”
Garcia said Create & Connect is still new, with additional sessions planned for March and April. When the ArtsQuest Creative Factory opens, replacing the former Banana Factory, she hopes to expand classroom offerings for all ages, including creative aging programs.
“From toddler story time (to) our creative aging programs, we’re always open to new ideas,” Garcia said. “I think there’s something for everyone here.”
1 Comment
I would love to participate in this program but the handicapped parking at Artsquest is too far away from the building. I walk with a cane and the distance is just too far.
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