Cinema After Sixty: from Classroom to Case Study and Conference
- Jessie Renslow
- Mar 5
- 4 min read
In 2023, I took a leap of faith.
As a writer and filmmaker, storytelling has always been my creative home. But that year, I stepped into a new role (teaching artist) and conceived a course called Silver Screen Filmmakers Club. I didn’t just want to teach filmmaking techniques. I wanted to create a space where older adults could claim their stories, shape them, and see themselves reflected on screen.
What I couldn’t have imagined then was that this course would later be highlighted as one of four case studies in the Creative Aging Guidebook published by the Indiana Arts Commission (featured on pages 39 and 40) and showcased as part of their statewide Creative Aging Conference.
(ID: Indiana Arts Commission Creative Aging Guidebook cover page with blue, chartreuse and red geomatic patterns.)
Why Silver Screen Filmmakers Club?
When I first began dreaming up the course, I kept thinking about how rarely older adults are invited into creative spaces as makers. They are often audiences. Consumers. Supporters.
But what happens when they are the directors?
The Silver Screen Filmmakers Club was built around a simple but powerful idea: storytelling doesn’t expire. Over a multi-week, sequential program, participants learned core elements of cinematic storytelling (structure, visual language, editing choices, and voice). But more importantly, they explored memory, identity, humor, grief, love, and resilience.
They weren’t just learning about filmmaking. They were reclaiming authorship.
(ID: Gretchen Sipp and Jessica Renslow stand with their cohort of Silver Screens at IU's CURE center at the showcase.)
Training Through Lifelong Arts Indiana
My journey as a teaching artist was shaped by the Lifelong Arts Indiana initiative from the Indiana Arts Commission. The program followed a two-step model:
Participatory arts training for artists and service providers, grounded in a creative aging framework designed in consultation with national experts.
Funding for implementation, empowering trained participants to launch their own programming in their communities.
Over five years, the initiative provided training and funding to more than 165 sites across 44 Indiana counties (including libraries, churches, assisted living communities, adult day centers, and community arts organizations). A total of $514,600 was awarded to 107 artists and organizations, impacting more than 2,000 older adults.
(ID: Lifelong Arts Indiana State map highlighting regional hubs.)
To be part of that ecosystem, to both receive training and implement my own design, was transformative. It gave structure to my instincts and language to my values. It affirmed that creative aging isn’t charity work. It’s rigorous, intentional arts education rooted in respect.
The Research That Changes the Conversation
One of the most powerful aspects of the Lifelong Arts Indiana initiative is the research behind it.
In partnership with the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration and the University of Indianapolis Center for Aging and Community, the Indiana Arts Commission conducted a multi-year evaluation of the model from 2022–2024.
The findings were extraordinary.
(ID: Group of poeple ages 65+ discussing the film projects.)
Participants reported statistically significant improvements in both mental and physical well-being, measured using the nationally validated SF-12 health survey. The research confirmed that high-quality, sequential arts programming led by trained artists improves mental health outcomes for older adults. The impact was even more significant in rural communities.
As someone standing in the classroom week after week, I had seen the spark in participants’ eyes. I had felt the energy shift when someone shared a story they hadn’t told in years. But to see those transformations quantified, validated through rigorous evaluation, was deeply affirming.
Creative aging isn’t a “nice extra.” It’s a solution.
Seeing My Work in the Guidebook
When I learned that Silver Screen Filmmakers Club would be featured in the Creative Aging Guidebook, I felt an overwhelming mix of gratitude and responsibility.
The guidebook, Lifelong Arts Indiana: How To Implement a Successful Creative Aging Program, distills five years of programming into a practical toolkit. It walks artists and organizations through everything from building budgets to understanding the science behind the health benefits of creative engagement.
(ID: Jessica Renslow in a purple short, white cardigan and black pants teaching a group of seniors.)
To know that my course might serve as a blueprint for another artist somewhere in Indiana, someone considering launching their own creative aging program, is profoundly meaningful.
“Without these programs, exposure to the creative arts for older adults doesn’t exist for some areas,” one Lifelong Arts participant shared.
That sentence stays with me.
A Statewide Movement
On March 23, 2026, the Indiana Arts Commission will host the Lifelong Arts Indiana Creative Aging Summit in partnership with the University of Indianapolis Center for Aging and Community at the University of Indianapolis campus. This free, one-day event will bring together artists, aging service providers, libraries, and arts organizations to expand creative learning for older adults across the state. (Get more info & sign up for the conference here.)
I’m honored that Silver Screen Filmmakers Club will be part of the broader conversation at this summit.
What excites me most is not just the recognition, but the ripple effect. Creative aging creates meaningful employment for artists. It builds sustainable community partnerships. It improves well-being. And it opens doors for older adults to see themselves as creators, not just recipients of care.
What I’ve Learned
Teaching Silver Screen Filmmakers Club has changed me.
I’ve learned that older adults are some of the boldest storytellers I’ve ever met. That vulnerability deepens with age. That humor sharpens. That collaboration flourishes when competition disappears.
I’ve learned that when we invite someone to tell their story through film, we’re not just teaching technical skills. We’re saying: Your voice matters. Your experiences matter. Your creativity is still alive.
Creative aging is not about filling time. It’s about expanding possibility.
As I look ahead to the Summit and to future iterations of Silver Screen Filmmakers Club, I feel both humbled and energized. What began as an idea in 2023 has become part of a statewide movement, one backed by research, fueled by artists, and centered on dignity.
And I’m just getting started.
(You can access the Indiana Arts Commission's Creative Aging Toolkit here.)
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