The Folklife and Creative Aging Learning Cohort program will create a foundational infrastructure connecting Folklife and community-centered arts organizations with statewide creative aging resources and professionals. By promoting active partnerships between the fields of creative aging and Folklife, the NC Arts Council aims to seed more meaningful arts education experiences for seniors in rural communities and create dynamic relationships between elder artists, their local organizations and their broader communities, all of whom will benefit from a population of actively creative and engaged elders. A creative aging resources guide compiled after completion of the professional development workshops will provide a lasting resource for arts partners in a wide range of organizational settings to take on this work themselves, according to best practices of both creative aging and community-oriented program design.