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Perspectives on Legacy: Making a Positive Difference in an Imperfect World

six photos of speakers at the Perspectives on Legacy conference

This year, the Frye Art Museum celebrates ten years of Creative Aging Programs. Part of the ever-evolving offering of programs is an annual Creative Aging Conference. This one-day conference, in its seventh year, is designed for social services and healthcare professionals, artists, educators, and lifelong learners, though it’s open to anyone with an interest in “Perspectives on Legacy.”

“Perspectives on Legacy” will be held at the Frye Art Museum on Friday, March 6, and the following day at Fort Worden State Park in Port Townsend through Centrum.

This year’s Creative Aging Conference invites participants to explore the topic of legacy from the perspective of “making a positive difference in an imperfect world.” The conference will bring together speakers from multiple disciplines and life experiences, “inspiring participants to consider what legacy means to them and how they can meaningfully shape the world left to future generations.”

Conference faculty and topics include:

  • Legacy and the Art of Remembering Forward with Eddie Gonzalez, Associate Director, Civil Conversations & Social Healing, On Being Project 
  • An Imagination Fully Inhabited: The Living Legacy of W.S. Merwin with Sonnet Kekilia Coggins, Executive Director, The Merwin Conservancy
  • Keeping Alive the Stories of a Community presented by Tom Ikeda, Founding Executive Director, Densho
  • Leaving a Trace: Our Legacy Stories with Carol Kummet, LICSW, MTS, and Dr. Katie Schlenker DO, Palliative Care, UW Medical Center
  • Imagine NUTOPIA facilitated by Pam McClusky, Curator of African and Oceanic Art, Seattle Art Museum

Conference registration at Frye Art Museum is $75 for Frye members and $100 for non-members (non-refundable). To register, click here. Continuing education clock hours will be available. A limited number of scholarships are available at a reduced rate of $50—contact Caroline Byrd, Education Coordinator, at cbyrd@fryemuseum.org for a scholarship application.

Frye CA screenshot

Click on the image above to see the full slate of Creative Aging Programs offered at Frye Art Museum and in the community.

Since 2010, the Frye has been at the forefront of museum programming for people living with dementia and their care partners, developing participatory arts experiences, offering professional development to individuals in the field, and publishing research that affirms arts engagement as a vital component of happy and healthy aging.


Keri Pollock directs marketing and communications for Aging Wisdom, an Aging Life Care practice based in Seattle, serving King and Snohomish Counties. She serves on the Frye Art Museum’s Creative Aging Programs Advisory Committee and helps co-facilitate the Frye’s quarterly Meet Me at the Movies program, which kicks off its 6th season on Saturday, February 1, 2020.

This article originally appeared in the February 2020 issue of AgeWise King County.