Tricia Vita

New Yorkers 60 and older are invited to join a free reminiscence and storytelling workshop I'm teaching at Greenwich House's Westbeth Older Adult Center in the West Village. My "Tell Us Your Stories!" workshop combines the oral traditions of reminiscence and storytelling in an interactive arts-based group activity. The program is part of the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council's 2026 SU-CASA Creative Aging Residency.

The workshop is on Thursdays from 10:15 AM – 11:45 AM from March 5 through mid-June. For more info or to sign up for "Tell Us Your Stories!" please phone Janet Cobeo of Westbeth OAC at 212-255-5191. If you have questions about the workshop, please email me at hello@triciavita.com. Here's a link to an article about my 2024 workshop at Goddard Riverside Older Adult Center on the Upper West Side.

LMCC's SU-CASA Creative Aging Residency is a community arts engagement program that matches artists with older adult centers in Manhattan. Through responsive collaborations, SU-CASA cultivates unique arts learning experiences and generative social exchange for participating older adults.

New Yorkers 60 and older are invited to join Create Your Own Diorama Art Box, a free class I'm co-teaching at Encore Aging for the Arts in the Theater District. The workshop is on Tuesdays at 2:30 PM through December 23rd and we'll have a culminating event, an exhibit and party, on December 30. Shoe boxes and all art materials are provided at each session.

If you have any interesting "found objects" that would fit into a diorama shoe box, please consider donating them. Email details or leave a comment about your "found objects," and I can arrange drop off, pick up, or reimbursed flat rate mailing.

Many thanks to the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and NY State Council on the Arts for supporting the workshop.

A photo of my Tell Us Your Stories workshop at Encore Aging for the Arts is in the New York Times! The older adult center is in the basement of St. Malachy's Church in the Theater District and I'm told the Actors' Chapel was originally located there. I'll never look at this space in the same away after learning the stage where we're meeting was the altar, the walkway was the aisle, and the dining area with tables were the pews. Valentino's funeral was held here in 1926. My class just happened to be scheduled that afternoon in September when photographer Katherine Marks was shooting for an article on aging in place. Published this week, "To Stay or to Go? For Older New Yorkers, Either Option Is Fraught" features Encore Community Services, which provides housing, meals and social support to older adults. Many thanks to Katherine Marks for the photograph and to the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and NY State Council on the Arts for supporting the workshop.