People

Vice President, Member Excellence
mstedjan@leadingagepa.org
717-790-3946

Member at Large
President & Chief Executive Officer
Phoebe Ministries

Susan Shifrin is the founder and director of ARTZ Philadelphia. She is an art historian, curator, educator and arts accessibility advocate. She received her PhD from Bryn Mawr College and has worked on the staffs of a number of large and small museums up and down the East coast. Susan was inspired to start ARTZ Philadelphia after having hosted a series of workshops and programs for visitors with dementia at the Berman Museum of Art at Ursinus College, where she was the Museum’s educator for a number of years. She was profoundly affected as she watched visitors, many in the later stages of dementia, come to life in the Museum as they looked at and talked about art with each other, with her, their caregivers, and the college students who worked at the Museum. Art was their vehicle for expression, interaction, creativity, and mutual respect. And for laughter – plenty of laughter. Susan's recent publications include “The Museum as a Site of Caring and Regeneration for People Living with Dementia” in The Caring Museum, editor Hamish Robertson (MuseumsEtc, October 2015) and a forthcoming edited volume titled The Museum As Experience, including essays from contributors around the world (Arc Humanities Press, 2023).

Director, Regulatory Affairs
awarheit@leadingagepa.org
717-790-3948