Final Oral Dissertation Defense: PhD Candidate, Sydney Streightiff

 

This dissertation examines how experiences of awe, cultivated through creative practices, can support healthy aging initiatives in community settings. Developed over six years of community-engaged work, this research explores how participatory arts practices foster emotional well-being, social connection, and meaningful engagement among older adults. Across an evolving series of projects, my work investigates awe as a relational and communicative practice that can be intentionally cultivated through play, reflection, and co-creation.

The first article explores awe as a community-based practice, introducing older adults to emerging neuroscience research on the well-being benefits of awe through accessible arts-based activities. Built in collaboration with the University of Arizona Health Sciences Strategic Initiative, Innovations in Healthy Aging, and partnerships with seventeen local organizations and teaching artists, this phase produced drop-in programming that encouraged participants to notice moments of awe in everyday environments while forming a learning community around shared creative exploration.

The second article employs ethnographic and community-based participatory research methods with Hispanic older adults at the Armory Park Senior Center. Through a co-created eight-week workshop series with fifteen participants engaged in abstract art making, journaling, and group reflection, the study examines how participatory strategies guided by the Creative Health Quality Framework foster positive communication, relational connection, and creative confidence.

The final project translates insights from these articles into an applied workbook offering reflections, activities, and facilitation strategies for practitioners interested in integrating awe-based creative programming into community health interventions. Together, this dissertation demonstrates how arts-based practices can cultivate awe, strengthen social connection, and contribute to more equitable and participatory approaches to healthy aging.