Sarah Lane
2021 Community Building Award Recipient
Sarah may be known for her professional experience with Health Ministries Network or the Family Promise Program. However, this award honors her for spearheading the Art of Aging project, a collection of portrait paintings, done by Sara herself, and audiotaped storytelling through interviews of Whatcom County elders.
The Art of Aging project is connected to the Aging Well Whatcom Initiative, which aims “to make Whatcom County a place with the culture, physical infrastructure, social supports and services for all of us to age well.”
Each portrait and story help viewers and listeners see the “finer lines” and unique features that are often missing from our broader social understanding of aging.
Sarah’s role went beyond that of painter. She planned exhibits of these portraits at senior centers across Whatcom County and fostered conversations about what it means to ‘age well.’ These connected local folks in critical and vulnerable conversations that help knit community more tightly together. One goal of this initiative is that our community will have a full and honest understanding of the entire range of the realities of aging.
Thank you, Sarah for being an active planner and participant in this project, and for your remarkable portraits that bring a warmth to the interviewees who participated.
To watch the 24th Annual Ken Gass Community Building Awards in which Sarah is recognized, click here.
