SU-CASA

2026 SU-CASA Artists

Angela Garcia and Allison Cox
Annysa Ng
Aurelio del Muro
Bulla En El Barrio
Carmen Community Artist
Clark Jackson
Jerise
Justin Wong
Leonardo Sardella
Threshold Collective
Catalina Beltrán
Marta Blair
Maya de Silva Chafe
MEI-BE WHATever/Mei-Yin Ng
Nami Kagami
Natacha Voliakovsky
Nicole Kontolefa
the after-image
Tricia Vita
Patricia Cazorla
Paul Ferrara
Paul Deo
Richard Grunn
Robert Galinsky
Rosario Moore
Sandra Antognazzi
Vladimir Cybil Charlier
Walter Perez
WENGOZ
Xianix Barrera

2026 SU-CASA Classes

2026 SU-CASA Programs run from March through June. Click through the tabs below to review our 2026 class list, or click here to download the class list as a pdf.

Dance

Flamenco for Fun & Fitness 
Maya de Silva Chafe
| Stein Older Adult Center
204 East 23rd Street, New York, NY 10010
Wednesdays 1:30 - 2:30pm, March 11 - June 11
Thursdays 1:30 - 2:30pm, April 30 - June 11

Express yourself with the fun elements of flamenco! We will learn steps, rhythmic hand-clapping, and a Spanish song. We welcome everyone! Anyone can participate, even from a seated position by doing arm movements, beautiful hand ornamentation and gentle stamping. Get some exercise while learning about a different culture. No previous experience or speaking Spanish is needed! Costumes will be provided!

Culminating event: Thursday, June 11 at 1:30pm

Tango for Wellness
Leonardo Sardella
| Woodstock Older Adult Center
127 West 43rd Street, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10036
Wednesdays 1:00 - 2:30pm, March 4 - May 27

Tango for Wellness is a program specially designed for seniors. This style is based on walking gracefully. Through the experience of tango, older adults will improve their balance, posture, and body awareness. Tango will encourage seniors with moderate exercise, (which will increase strength, flexibility and coordination).

Mindful Movement: Dancing Our Stories
Nami Kagami | Carter Burden Luncheon Club & Social Service Unit

351 East 74th Street, New York, NY 10021
Wednesdays and Thursdays 1:00 - 2:00pm, February 5 - May 1

Mindful Movement: Dancing Our Stories, a project of Collective Dance Journey, is a welcoming creative dance program that brings participants together through guided movement, music, and reflection. Through this shared creative exploration, participants transform personal stories into movement and writing, fostering creative expression, physical wellness, and connection, culminating in a joyful public sharing celebrating community and resilience.

Latin Social Dance & Exercise 
Walter Perez
| Isabella Geriatric Ft George Vistas NORC
17 Fort George Hill, New York, NY 10040
Tuesdays and Thursdays 11:00 am - 12:00pm, March 19 - May 28

Feel great while dancing the most popular Latin Social Dances (Salsa, Merengue, Chachacha, Cumbia, Bachata, Tango). The program is specially designed for seniors of all physical abilities; 20 classes of 60 minutes each, starting with sitting warm up & stretching, then dancing and cooling down, culminating with a fun dancing Fiesta Latina with food, drinks special performances and a lot of dancing. 

Culminating Event: May 28

Oro Flamenco: Flamenco Movement for Seniors in their Golden Era
Xianix Barrera
| Stanley M. Isaacs Neighborhood Center, Inc.
415 East 93rd Street, New York, NY 10128
Thursdays 9:45 - 10:45am, March 5 - June 25

Oro Flamenco is a dance program designed for seniors to explore the art of flamenco. Participants will engage in rhythmic footwork, expressive arm movements, and choreography with traditional costumes and live musicians. Through movement, music, and storytelling, they will enhance coordination, cultural appreciation, and joy in self-expression. No experience necessary, just a passion and desire to learn and express!

Culminating Event: June 18 and June 20 at JFK High School

La Ronda: Tango in Community
Sandra Antognazzi
| RAIN Inwood Older Adult Center
84 Vermilyea Avenue, New York, NY 10034
Fridays 9:30am - 11:00am, March 6 - June 5

La Ronda: Tango in Community is a dance residency for older adults that explores Argentine tango as creative expression and social connection. Through accessible movement and musical exploration, participants build confidence, creativity, and community. A celebratory milonga concludes the program, honoring their shared experience and lifelong capacity for expression.

Design

Print! ¡Grabado!
Jerise Fogel | Gaylord White Older Adult Center

237 East 104th Street, New York, NY 10029
Tuesdays & Fridays 1:00 - 2:00pm, March 10- June 23

Print! is a workshop series in stamping, silkscreen, stenciling, and more for older adults. We'll try out creative techniques on paper, fabric, etc., and express our own stories and truths.

Culminating event: June 23rd or June 26th, TBD

Performance

Memories from Golden Song 金曲回憶
MEI-BE WHATever/Mei-Yin Ng
| Hamilton Madison Knickerbocker Village NORC

36 Monroe Street, DG1, New York, NY 10002
Mondays 12:30 - 2:30pm, Fridays 11:00am - 1:00pm, February 13 - May 29 (some exceptions)

This workshop consists of movement classes and dance improvisation classes. In the movement classes, we will practice gentle stretching and core training using chi-gong self-massage, chair yoga, and core training. In the dance improvisation classes, we will have fun and learn to create short improvised and choreographed dances for a dance video.

 

Social Practice

THE ART OF EXPRESSING
Natacha Voliakovsky
| FIND Aid Hamilton OAC

593 Columbus Ave, New York, NY 10024
Thursdays 12:30pm - 2:30pm, March 19 - June 11

The Art of Expressing is a community-based workshop that uses performance, writing, and gentle somatic exercises to work with what has been silenced in our stories. Participants name experiences denied to them—around identity, love, respect, belonging—and turn them into hand-made posters. Together, these become a collective visual chorus, echoing Latin American street demonstrations and demanding dignity, visibility, and reparation.

Theater

Audio Theater
Richard Gruun
| John Paul II Friendship Center
103 East 7th Street, New York, NY 10009
Fridays 10:00am - 12:00pm, February 27 - May 22

This program will introduce seniors to the basics of radio theater. They will write an original play or a series of short plays and perform before a live audience. The program will be divided into three parts: Basics of Radio Theater, Writing the Radio Play, and Performing/Production.

Culminating Event: May 22, 10:00am

Do I Have A Story To Tell!
Clark Jackson
| Encore Community Services Aging Through Arts Center
239 West 49th Street, New York, NY 10019
Wednesdays 1:30 - 3:00pm, March 25 - May 20
Fridays 3:00 - 4:30pm, April 10 - May 22.

Do I Have A Story To Tell! brings significant moments in the life journey alive through creative storytelling. Participants explore articulating their life experiences in written, physical, and spoken form, expanding their imaginative resources to bring their memories alive. In performance, they take on leadership roles by sharing stories that enhance connectedness and vitality thru both speaking and bearing witness.

Culminating Event: Friday, May 29

Improvisational Performance for Beginners and Advanced
Robert Galinsky
| Educational Alliance Sirovich Older Adult Center 
331 East 12th Street, New York, NY 10003
Mondays 11am - 12:30pm, March 30 - May 18; 11am - 1:30pm, May 25 - 28

Curious adults of all experience levels explore storytelling and performance through improvisation, character creation, movement, and personal narrative. Participants bond and build dynamic performance pieces while building confidence, presence, and ensemble connection. Sessions culminate in an optional celebratory public presentation. Top Learning Goal: Strengthen creative voice and stage confidence through collaborative theatre-making.

Theater For Change
Nicole Kontolefa | FIND Aid Clinton OAC
530 West 55th Street, New York, NY 10019
Tuesdays 1:00 - 2:30pm, March - June 16

Theater For Change is an acting and improv class where you will learn how to make scenes and performances based on stories and ideas that are important to YOU! Express yourself through performance, learn about your fellow classmates - and make a unique theatre piece for your community!

 ¡Objetos a la Obra! Un Proyecto de Teatro Colectivo // Object Play: A Collaborative Theater Project
the after-image | Washington Heights Neighborhood Senior Center

650 West 187th Street, New York, NY 10033
Tuesdays & Thursdays 8:45 - 10:15am, April 14 - May 26

¡Objetos a la Obra! Un Proyecto de Teatro Colectivo // Object Play: A Collaborative Theater Project is a collaborative theater project for older adults of any experience level interested in creating and performing ensemble-based theater. Participants generate, rehearse and perform original plays inspired by objects that spark memories and inspiration. The workshop incorporates collaborative playwriting, movement-work, prop-making, and puppetry.

Visual Art

Beyond Blots: Mixed Media and Inkblot Art
Annysa Ng | Educational Alliance Weinberg OAC (Weinberg Center for Balanced Living)

197 East Broadway, New York, NY 10002
Fridays 10:00am - 12:00pm, March 20 - June 5

Beyond Blots: Mixed Media and Inkblot Art is an inclusive program where participants transform inkblots into personal narratives using collage and AI-generated poetry. Through collaborative brainstorming and hands-on demonstrations, simple blots become layered masterpieces. Our top goal is to celebrate individual stories while fostering a sense of community interconnectedness through shared artistic discovery.

A Table of Forever Memories
Patricia Cazorla | Independence Plaza Older Adult Center

310 Greenwich Street, New York, NY 10013
Fridays 10:30am - 12:00pm, March 6 - May 15

We will create table runners that weave art and cultural heritage. Exploring diverse traditions, from the red runners of Chinese New Year to Latin American designs, African Kente cloth, and European folk. Using stencils, fabric paint, and creativity, we will transform textiles into personal and functional artworks. Come join me!

The Art of Craft: Clay, Yarn and Thread
Justin Wong | The Center at Lenox Hill Neighborhood House

331 East 70th Street, New York, NY 10021
Mondays 1:00PM–2:30PM, March 9th–May 11th. 30 minutes of open studio time before and after sessions.

Students will explore their creativity through different craft techniques, including ceramics, embroidery, weaving and crochet. We will take inspiration from traditional techniques from around the world to make our own unique artworks. All artmaking levels welcome. Mandarin speakers welcome.

Culminating Event: Week of May (details TBD)

Crochet & Knit / Fiber Arts Classes
Carmen Community Artist | Stanley M. Isaacs Neighborhood Center, Inc.

415 East 93rd Street, New York, NY 10128
Tuesdays 1:00 - 3:00pm, March 10 - June 29

Join Carmen Community Artist for weekly community crochet and knit workshops.

MIXED MEDIA TAPESTRIES / Painting & Textiles
Marta Blair
| Goddard Riverside OAC at West 88th Street

141 West 73rd Street. New York, NY 10023
Mondays 10:00am - 12:00pm, March 16 - May 25

MIXED MEDIA TAPESTRIES / is a series of mixed media workshops designed to guide participants in creating double-sided tapestry panels, using fabric, paper, collage, and painting to express personal narratives and concepts of duality, identity, and culture.

Culminating event: June 1

Life Maps: Personal Geographies
Paul Ferrara
| Morningside Retirement and Health Services

100 LaSalle Street, MC New York, NY 10027
Fridays 3:00PM–5:00PM, March 6th–May 22nd

This art-making program explores "personal geographies" through collage-based storytelling. Participants will create symbolic maps of their life journeys and memories by cutting and layering found images and textures. The goal is to construct a tangible, multi-layered representation of their unique personal histories, transforming individual experiences into a visual narrative that captures the essence of their life's journey.

Alegori/Allegories
Vladimir Cybil Charlier
| Central Harlem SC Center Beatrice Lewis

2322 3rd Avenue, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10035
Mondays and Wednesdays 10:00am - 12:00pm, March 2 - April 29

"Alegories" is a whimsical clay relief portrait that honors the life journeys of each participant. These expressive profiles will come to life with detailed high-relief symbols that capture and express significant milestones in the lives of participants as they explore basic hand-building techniques and explore the diverse possibilities of clay.

Culminating event: May (details TBD)

Harlem Soul Art
Paul Deo | Central Harlem Senior Citizens Centers, Inc.

34 West 124th Street, New York, NY 10037
Thursdays 10:00am - 12:00pm, March 5 - May 21

In this mixed-media painting program, older adults transform imagination intoSelf-Actualization Portraits—images of the self becoming. Through step-by-step technique, open discussion, and supportive reflection, participants work with acrylic, ink, pencil, collage, and textured materials. Sessions emphasize self-acceptance, rhythm, and authentic expression, culminating in a community exhibition.Goal:build confidence through creative practice.

Poetry, Music and Art
Aurelio del Muro | Central Harlem St Nick

210 West 131st Street, New York, NY 10027
Wednesdays 1:30 - 3:00pm, March 11 - June 10

While singing and learning songs from Mexico, we will read the poetry of African American poets, Langston Hughes, Nicky Giovanni, Maya Angelou, and Tupac Shakur, and create drawings, watercolors, and paper murals inspired by their poems.

Culminating event: June 17, 12:30pm

Multidisciplinary

Telefonía - Telephony
Catalina Beltrán
| UJCES Lillian Wald OAC Center

12 Avenue D, New York, NY 10009
Tuesdays 1:00 - 2:30pm, Thursdays 10:00 - 11:30am, April 28 - June 18

Telefonía is a multidisciplinary project featuring storytelling, collage and documentary theatre to collect and share personal stories around telephony, and how telecommunications and its vertiginous evolution during the last 6 decades has shaped the way we live and the way we love. Participants will record their stories in a podcast format and create a collage timeline for a closing exhibition.

Rueda De Bullerengue
Bulla En El Barrio
| Hudson Guild Older Adult Center
119 9th Avenue, New York, NY 10011
Mondays and Thursdays 2:00 - 4:00pm, March 12 - April 13 & April 2, 9:00 - 11:00am

This project offers a series of participatory bullerengue workshops for seniors in New York City, led by Bulla en el Barrio. Trough rhythm, songs, and dance, participants will explore Afro Colombian traditions, engage in storytelling and experience Bullerengue as a space for cultural exchange, community connection, and joyful celebration

Culminating Event: Thursday, April 16, 1:30 - 2:30pm

Tell Us Your Stories!
Tricia Vita
| Greenwich House Westbeth Older Adult Center
155 Bank Street, New York, NY 10014
Thursdays 10:15 - 11:45am, March 5 - mid-June
(Additional dates TBD)

Enjoy the oral traditions of reminiscence and storytelling in an interactive workshop. Participants share their memories in group sessions, conduct oral history interviews with each other, and curate the recordings and transcripts into a collection of audio stories and a printed keepsake book. Led by memoirist and oral historian Tricia Vita.

Creative Expressions. The Artist Book | Expresiones Creativas. Libro-Arte
Angela Garcia and Allison Cox | Riverstone Senior Life Services OAC

99 Fort Washington Ave. Bst., New York, NY 10032
Wednesdays 1:00 - 2:00pm, March 4 - May 29
Fridays 10:00 - 11:00am, April 8 - May 29

Creative Expressions: The Artist Book Project, a welcoming bilingual (English and Spanish) art workshop series for older adults. In weekly sessions, explore watercolor, collage, neurographic art, and other visual art techniques to create a one-of-a-kind artist book filled with personal stories, memories, and imagination. Build community, spark creativity, and share your work in a final public exhibition celebrating your journey.

A Creative Collage and Music Workshop Series
Threshold Collective | East Side House Borinquen Court Mitchel OAC

295 East 138th Street, New York, NY 10454
Tuesdays 10:00am - 12:00pm, March 3 - May 3

An interdisciplinary arts workshop series (sound, writing, and visual art) for older adults at East Side House Settlement’s Borinquen Court Mitchel Center in the Bronx. Participants create journals and collages using guided prompts, curated music listening, and projected artworks. Materials include paper, magazines, pens, glue, and gouache. Goal: build creative confidence by translating memory into art.

The Heirloom Room
Rosario Moore | ARC XVI Fort Washington OAC

5166 West 181st Street New York, NY 10033
Tuesdays 10:30am - 12:00pm, March 24 - June 23

The Heirloom Room explores themes of cultural legacy and inheritance through collecting and discussing forms of popular knowledge such as proverbs, song verse and poetry. These forms are then translated to images onto personal cotton handkerchiefs using fabric markers. The second half of the program further translates meaningful ideas and shared knowledge into a finished heirloom jewel in sterling silver.

About SU-CASA

LMCC’s SU-CASA Creative Aging Residency is a community arts engagement program that matches artists and artist duos with older adult centers in Manhattan. Apply with a project in mind, and we’ll do the matching. Selected artists receive a stipend in exchange for the creation and delivery of arts programming for older adults.

Programming supported through SU-CASA engages older adults in participatory arts projects with an emphasis on hands-on learning and adaptive teaching. The residency culminates in a public program component showcasing the participants’ progress and creative expression that is open to the center’s surrounding community.

SU-CASA aims to positively impact the well-being of older adults through arts-based, process-oriented activities. The program supports artists who are sensitive to the needs of older adults and are interested in building relationships with older adults at their local older adult center. Through responsive collaborations, SU-CASA cultivates unique arts learning experiences and generative social exchange for participating older adults.

SU-CASA is administered by LMCC and supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. Additional support is provided by the Tiger Baron Foundation.