Performance Art Group Takes Silly Seriously to Bring Joy to Older Adults

The 40 West Arts District in Colorado received a $9,000 grant from the AARP to help connect multigenerational communities through art, reports NBC 9 Colorado . One application of that grant was a socially distanced and masked performance at the Residences at Creekside senior community in Lakewood, staged on Wednesday by the Handsome Little Devils company. The performance included a giant blow-up squid. "This is very silly and it's very frivolous, but it's done with a much higher intention and that intention I think is what resonates," said artistic director Cole Huling. "And there's an authenticity to that." Creekside resident Helen Mossman called the performance "awesome, very awesome. We needed this uplifting with all of this stuff with the virus going on and everything. And a lot of my friends here have been real depressed."