• Year-round professional art instruction and projects at senior communities taught by skilled artists. Classes in poetry, dance/movement and visual art. Instructors are carefully selected and trained by geriatric professionals through CEYA's artist training program.
• Intergenerational projects wherever feasible, primarily targeting high school age youth in connection with our older adult services
• Integrated Learning and Community Service experiences for youth that satisfy many service learning requirements for the San Francisco school district
• Celebratory events and exhibitions at the conclusion of eligible projects

Eligibility

Any for-profit or non-profit senior facility is eligible to work with CEYA. We also collaborate with schools, colleges, and youth programs. Over a 12-month period, group elder sites receive 46, 1.5 hour units of service, usually once per week. Youth sites receive service based on a project design and collaborative agreement with CEYA.

Payment Options

The cost of CEYA projects range from $8,000 to $14,000 per year, depending on complexity. IOA raises funding independent of the sites to cover most supplemental costs. Project art supply expenses exceeding $280 for the year will be split evenly between the site and CEYA.

*Site contributions cover only part of the total project cost. The total cost of CEYA projects ranges from $8,000 to $14,000 per year, depending on complexity. As a service to the community, CEYA raises funding independent of the sites to cover the balance.

The Artworks program, the predecessor to CEYA, was established in 1978 with funding from the San Francisco Commission on Aging and the California Arts Council. It’s original mission was to pair professional artists with frail older adults in senior centers to help them develop and use their creative potential and provide additional opportunities for socialization. Since that time Artworks has worked with over 15,000 well, frail and disabled group-site and homebound elderly on in-depth projects in the visual and performing arts through it’s Artist-In-Residence program. Artworks developed techniques and processes for working with older adults with a range of disabilities and potentials.

In 1995 IOA recieved seed money from the Walter and Elise Haas fund to initiate Phase I of the Consortium for Elders and Youth in the Arts - now Center for Elders and Youth in the arts, or CEYA. The goal was to promote crossgenerational relationships in San Francisco and to further our already innovative community programming.