In conjunction with its Annual Meetings, LeadingAge creates public, outdoor art exhibits in the host cities as a way to call attention to ageism, celebrate the lives of older adults, and encourage younger people to consider how their own lives will change as they age.

In San Diego, the LeadingAge Annual Meeting’s public art exhibit was the Celebrate Age wall, sponsored by MatrixCare, in a plaza alongside the convention center. Visitors were asked to make their own Ageism Promise—to help create a society unbiased about growing older and to see aging as simply a part of life’s journey—and to share it with the world.

Dozens of visitors took advantage of the tools provided: They took selfies on their phones and shared them on Instagram or Twitter using the hashtag #CELEBRATEAGE, with their own “I Celebrate Age By …” statements. With supplied printers, they could also print their photos and pin them to the Celebrate Age wall. Many other visitors simply wrote their own Ageism Promises on the wall.