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Grandma's got some mean paint

Trying to find an artist-in-residence gig with a good stipend, free workspace, and unlimited use of materials? If you got your start at age 2 with a Crayola mural on grandma’s white walls, now’s the time give back those skills to an eager audience … at your local senior center. As part of an NYC initiative called Seniors Partnering with Artists Citywide, selected artists will get their sculpt on while engaging seniors in arts programming they develop themselves. Basically, if selected, you get free workspace, a $1,500 stipend and unlimited supplies in exchange for teaching some nice old folks a little bit about art. Find out how to apply below:

SPARC will place 50 artists in senior centers throughout the five boroughs and set them up with a $1,500 stipend and supplies from the “Materials for the Arts” warehouse. From January through July, program participants will work directly with seniors in a variety of ways ranging from art history classes to hands-on workshops for 40–60 hours per week total. If you’re concerned about being stuck eating senior center Jell-o all day long, fear not: you’ll just work there, not live there.

To apply, go to the Brooklyn Arts Council page and download the guidelines. Sixteen Brooklyn senior centers are participating, from Coney Island to Greenpoint.

The program is backed by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the Department for the Aging and the city’s five local arts councils. It developed as an initiative of Age-Friendly NYC, which seeks to make life in the city easier for the elderly, and is the part of a pilot called Space for Art. All artistic disciplines will be accepted, and applications are due Sept. 30. When you’re creating that sample curriculum, remember — you’re never too old to be a star.

Follow Kelly: @iamkellymurphy.

3 Comments

  1. Tellhernow

    So this is like a full time job that only pays $1500 for 7 months? How do the artists pay rent at their real home, it seems it would be better if they could live there for that time..

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