September 24th, 2026
Volume 1: “It’s a Joy to Play With Colors”: Building Community and Rediscovering The Inner Artist – A Story of Pueblo’s Creative Aging Residency
Written by: Think 360 Arts Staff
Photos by: Hellen Eberhardie Dunn
“We haven’t painted for fun since grade school. It’s a joy to play with colors.”
Last spring, a group of older adults in Pueblo came together to do something many of them had not done in years: create simply for the joy of creating.
Over five weeks, Think 360 Arts teaching artist Hellen Eberhardie Dunn guided participants at the Senior Resource Development Agency (SRDA) through storytelling, clay work, sound healing, rhythm, and healing movement. Each session invited them to try something new while building trust and connection within the group.
For many participants, the residency offered something increasingly difficult to find across the state of Colorado today: a safe, welcoming place for older adults to create and come together. According to a 2022 survey from the Colorado Association of Area Agencies on Aging, only 17% of older adults say their communities offer excellent opportunities for education, culture, and the arts.
This impact hits especially hard in Pueblo County, where nearly 1 in 5 residents is over the age of 60, and many older adults live at or below the poverty line. While the county has a growing population of older residents, opportunities to participate in high-quality arts learning remain scarce, particularly for those who may be experiencing financial barriers, reduced mobility, or social isolation.
“This is exactly what made our partnership with SRDA so important,” said Bethany Laffan, Think 360’s Program and Marketing Manager. “By bringing the program into a familiar and trusted community space, participants could feel free to explore new forms of art alongside others who understand their lives and challenges.”
As the residency unfolded, so did the stories. Participants spoke openly about the ways aging had changed their bodies and their lives. These conversations allowed the group to reframe aging not just as a process of loss, but as a time for continued growth, helping normalize the challenges of aging while celebrating the resilience and wisdom of older generations.
“I felt safe to explore new ways of moving and using my voice,” one participant shared at the end of the program. For another participant, the experience offered a rare opportunity to focus inward: “Most of our lives, we do things for others. It feels good to have some fun and do something just for ourselves.”
This gets at the heart of Think 360 Arts’ Creative Aging program. These experiences are about more than making art. They create space for older adults to be seen, heard, and connected. They empower participants to tell their own stories and challenge the ageist narratives of decline and dependence that too often shape how we think about growing older.
By the end of the residency, participants were not ready for the experience to end. “Now we want to do it again,” another participant said, adding that they would “encourage others to share their stories and listen with an open heart.”
In the years ahead, the need for spaces and programs like this will only continue to grow. Colorado’s population over age 60 is expected to reach 1.5 million by 2030, yet meaningful opportunities to learn and create remain out of reach for many older adults, especially in rural and lower-income communities where limited funding, travel costs, supplies, and teaching artist fees can make them difficult to sustain.
In 2025, Think 360 offered 29 Creative Aging programs that reached nearly 1,000 older adults across Colorado. We are deeply proud of this work, but we also know this represents only a fraction of the older adults who could truly benefit from these experiences. Despite these challenges, we’re excited to continue building on partnerships like that of SRDA and ensure that more older adults can continue to learn, connect, share their stories, and discover new possibilities through art, regardless of their income or where they live.
