CFEVA’s award winning Senior Partnership Initiative is an innovative program where visiting artists collaborate with senior artists at community centers and nursing homes to create artworks that remain on view at the locations where they are made. CFEVA’s participant-focused recruitment and selection process for visiting artists prioritizes artists who reflect the communities served by the senior program—artists of color, elder artists, and artists who live in neighborhoods where the nursing homes and senior centers are located. Now in its 23rd year, the program is a partnership with NewCourtland, a non-profit provider of community services, affordable housing, and nursing homes for low-income seniors in Philadelphia. NewCourtland Artist Fellows engage the senior artists as equal collaborators who help guide the direction of the project and execute the artwork with the fellow during an 8-week residency. Artworks have included murals, textiles, and sculptures.

The Senior Partnership provides opportunities for artists to meaningfully engage with Philadelphia communities and build social practice experience while earning a stipend for their work. Artists are paid $2,500 for 8 sessions, with all supplies covered by the partner organization. This helps artists build skills they need to sustain their careers while facilitating meaningful and relevant art making experiences for seniors.