The Scottish Arts Council is looking for senior citizens with attitude to attend their forthcoming conference titled: The Age of Creativity - a conference on the arts, lifelong learning and older people.

The conference, at the Byre Theatre, St Andrews on 18 March 2004, will open with a group of Taiko Drummers aged fifty-plus.  That performance will be followed later in the day by Gener8, the Scottish Ballet dance company with a starting age of 60 years.

The one-day conference will celebrate the creativity, talents and positive attitudes of older people in the arts, as well as showcasing the benefits that participation brings to older people.  The event aims to challenge and change stereotypical attitudes towards older people and explore how the arts
and lifelong learning can play a part in this. The programme will
include presentations, personal testimonies, performances, discussions and practical workshops.

Frank McAveety, Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport will give a brief presentation as will Susan Perlstein from the National Center for Creative Aging in New York who will talk about her experience from an international viewpoint.  Writer, Maime Lang will tell us her own story of how she came to
write in later life.  The Scottish Arts Council will outline recent
research that has been undertaken into the arts and older people.

Sylvia Dow, Head of Education for the Scottish Arts Council commented, "This event is one of a kind.  Throughout Scotland there is a vibrant and dynamic arts scene for the over 55s. We thought the conference was an opportunity to tap into this and show the world how wrong the stereotypes of 'old people'
are.  In fact there were so many fantastic examples to illustrate this, we had trouble fitting them all into one day."

The fee for attending the conference is £25 for individuals and
voluntary organisations and £75 for commercial organisations.  Further information and bookings can be made by contacting Event Mechanics on tel: 0131 337 2609 or email: Karen@eventmechanics.co.uk