Our Art for Seniors program is created for individuals ages 55 and up who are seeking more than just a pastime, those looking for meaningful engagement, creative exploration, and activities that bring joy and connection into daily life.
We serve:
• Independent Seniors eager to stay active, curious, and socially connected.
• Seniors with Additional Needs who may be experiencing memory changes, physical challenges, or health conditions and benefit from adaptive, supportive activities.
• Family Members & Caregivers who want enriching, therapeutic experiences that support emotional well-being and reduce isolation.
• Healthcare Providers, Senior Living Communities, and Adult Day Programs looking to integrate arts-based wellness opportunities that promote mental stimulation and quality of life.
• Community Partners & Contractors committed to bringing inclusive, skill-building, and joyful programming into their facilities or organizations.
At Zola Monroe Art Group, we meet seniors exactly where they are, from highly independent to those needing extra support, while giving caregivers, healthcare providers, and partners confidence that these workshops are safe, engaging, and truly transformative.
WHO WE SERVE
ABOUT
Zola Monroe Art Group, LLC (ZMAG) delivers high-impact visual arts programming for older adults across Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia.
Through partnerships with senior living communities, adult day programs, affordable housing sites, and public institutions, we provide inclusive, community-based arts experiences that reach over 400 seniors annually.
Our programs are designed not only to engage, but to affirm the creativity, presence, and value of older adults as vital contributors to the cultural life of the region.
Founded in 2010, ZMAG began with a single arts program in a D.C. senior center. Over the past decade, we’ve grown into a multi-site initiative recognized for our commitment to creative aging, cultural equity, and intergenerational connection.
Our approach is rooted in community, built to empower older adults through meaningful creative engagement and lifelong learning.
Empowering Older Adults Through Structured Creative Engagement
A creative legacy built by the people who built our communities
To meet the growing demand for high-quality, structured arts programming in adult day centers, senior centers, affordable housing communities, and long-term care settings, ZMAG developed the Arts for Seniors program, a curriculum-based, therapeutic arts initiative designed to enrich the lives of older adults through purpose-driven creativity.
Our approach is intentional, accessible, and rooted in deep respect for the aging population. We honor every participant’s story and offer a welcoming space for connection, reflection, and continued creative discovery, because giving back to the people who built our communities is not just our mission, it’s our privilege.
Our Mission
To expand access to high-quality, community-anchored arts programming for older adults.
We are committed to centering the voices, contributions, and creative potential of seniors, ensuring they remain visible, respected, and fully included in the cultural and social fabric of the places they’ve helped build.
Our Goal
To strengthen community through inclusive, sustained engagement with older adults, using the visual arts as a tool for connection, confidence, and creative aging.
RESPECT
Any successful arts program for elderly people must incorporate respect. They should be treated as artists, not as "patients," "participants," "residents," "seniors," or even "older adults," in any program that is designed for them.
At ZMAG, we make care to use top-notch supplies; we title and frame the artists' work before showcasing it in a culminating gallery presentation. Throughout the creative process, we also impart artistic concepts so that participants can analyze the work of the artists with more nuance than just good and negative responses. The time, effort, and care that artists invest in their work are acknowledged and respected through each of these actions.
CREATIVITY
Based on the participants' talents, abilities, and degrees of cognition, ZMAG supports providing creative chances that appear complex but are straightforward to produce. We also urge programmers to think about the finished product and ask themselves if the artist would be truly proud with it. Will each artist be able to create something original? We provide participants very general guidelines that serve only as a means of making a blank page more approachable. We also supply a wide range of materials, allowing for depth, layering, and texture, which makes the project appear complex even when employing straightforward methods. These methods enable participants to produce art that is focused, usable by people of different abilities, and supportive of individuality.
AUTONOMY
An effective arts program will provide artists the freedom to make their own decisions. ZMAG encourages participants to deviate from the rules because there are no right or wrong ways to create art. In control of "what good looks like," artists are the guardians of their canvases.
OUR PRINCIPLES
ARTS FOR SENIORS PROGRAM
Empowering Older Adults Through Structured Creative Engagement
This is not your average “craft and noodle” senior workshop.
Zola Monroe Art Group’s Arts for Seniors program redefines creative aging through a curriculum-based, therapeutic arts initiative designed to support the mental, emotional, and social well-being of older adults. Developed to meet the growing demand for structured, high-quality creative engagement in senior centers, adult day programs, affordable housing communities, and long-term care settings, this program is a recognized model for inclusive, arts-based aging services.
At ZMAG, we believe older adults deserve more than passive activities. They deserve access to meaningful, skill-building experiences that affirm identity, challenge imagination, and celebrate legacy. Arts for Seniors creates space for connection, dignity, and lifelong learning through the visual arts.
Each session is led by a team of professional teaching artists, credentialed educators, and licensed art therapists, ensuring programming that is both clinically informed and artistically ambitious. Lessons are trauma-sensitive, culturally responsive, and designed to meet a broad range of cognitive, emotional, and physical needs.
Our approach is intentional, accessible, and rooted in deep respect for the aging population. We do more than teach art, we build community, inspire growth, and honor the lives and contributions of those we serve.
Because at ZMAG, giving back to the people who built our communities isn’t just our mission, it’s our privilege.
Exhibitions
Workshop Gallery
