Member Events   

The OLLI Celebration of Excellence celebrates our members, and their commitment to learn, grow and explore. We will reflect on the wonderful connections, events and classes that we have had this year. We thank our sponsors, community partners and our OLLI instructors for the special classes and programs they provide us. We recognize the university and Watts College for all their support. We honor our OLLI at ASU donors for their financial support. This combined support ensures the long-term sustainability of our enriching educational and social programming that touches so many lives.

This special event will also feature a presentation by Tina Miller, 'Catalysts of Creativity: ASU’s Human + AI Collaboration' exploring the intersection of technology, imagination, and human connection.

Event Schedule

12:30 p.m.         OLLI Showcase 2026

1:00 - 2:00 p.m. Catalysts of Creativity: ASU’s Human + AI Collaboration |

Panel:

• Tina Miller, Executive Director - Creative x Communications, Enterprise Technology

• Lindsay Kinkade, Managing Director, Creative Strategy, Enterprise Brand Strategy and Management

• Kelly DeVos, Communications Specialist, School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence

• Carrie Peterson, Associate Director, EdPlus Voice Strategist, EDPLUS Strategic Communications

Artificial intelligence is redefining what’s possible. Rather than viewing AI as a challenge to education or creativity, ASU embraces it as a catalyst for innovation. This panel explores how university teams are using AI to expand imagination, design, and storytelling. Through collaboration, storytelling, and experimentation, these teams are redefining creation in the age of intelligent technology—where imagination and AI unite to shape the future of possibility.

2:00 - 2:30 p.m. OLLI at ASU Recognition & Year in Review Presentation

2:30 - 3:30 p.m. Reception

A space for undergraduate students to share their work. Whether it's your first time on stage or your fiftieth, we want to hear your voice! This event is FREE and open to the public. Light refreshments will be provided. No registration needed. 

Location: Piper Writers House (450 E Tyler Mall, Tempe, AZ 852810

What if Bach was composing today? Experience extraordinary cellist, Peter Eom, bring to life Giovanni Sollima's energetic and explosive L.B. Files this February 7th, 2026! Sollima composed this piece as an homage to the Italian composer Luigi Boccherini. Join us as we go Bach to the Future on this exciting concert! Note that OLLI members can recieve the discounted student pricing for the show. 

Get your tickets: musicanovaaz.org

Unlock the frozen rivers of the imagination! Release fresh insights and sparkling metaphors using a proven method for tapping into creative powers through art. In this series of workshops you will learn a wondrous and simple technique for generating new poems as you learn to sketch and draw from life. This course will help you establish a practice of using a sketchbook to focus the mind and observe the natural world.
All skill levels are welcome and no artistic skill or previous art experience is required! The aim is to learn a method for making important, surprising connections.

What to expect at a glance:

• Techniques for observation in your writing
• Several poem "seeds" to get new projects started
• At least one new finished poem per week

OLLI Members receive a 25% off discount on summer classes at the Piper Writers Studio. Click here for more information on summer classes and workshops. Simply select 'OLLI Member' when registering. 

In this exploratory 4-week generative workshop series, we will use music, art, visual objects, and environments to generate poetry. Each week will take a different approach to engaging the senses and prompting the imagination. Writers of all skill levels and genres are invited to participate!

What to expect at a glance:

• Gain new inspiration and insight for your writing
• Learn techniques for incorporating auditory and visual media in written works
• Find your authorial voice by exploring your relationship with the physical and metaphysical world

OLLI Members receive a 25% off discount on summer classes at the Piper Writers Studio. Click here for more information on summer classes and workshops. Simply select 'OLLI Member' when registering. 

Join us for a FREE screening on Feb. 3rd of this powerful documentary as 250 cyclists from 12 countries retrace Holocaust survivor Marcel Zielinski's 60-mile journey from Auschwitz to Krakow while reflecting on the human capacity for dehumanization and empathy. After the film concludes, we will be joined for a talkback with co-writer and co-director Tim Roper and co-producer Lisa Effress.

Film Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bpf8iyTXwLA

Register Here: https://phxha.com/events/for-the-living/

In an encouraging and insightful presentation, Patricia L. Brooks will help you capture the essence of your untold story. She will share with you how to produce a memoir to your own satisfaction, face your fears, and conquer your story's emotional beats. With techniques and tips from her three daring memoirs, and her new release on writing memoir, she will help you to understand the journey to writing yours.

What to expect at a glance:

• How to outline, 'mind map', research, and plan a writing project
• Writing activities to illustrate class concepts
• Insight on what it takes to write a successful memoir

OLLI Members receive a 25% off discount on summer classes at the Piper Writers Studio. Click here for more information on summer classes and workshops. Simply select 'OLLI Member' when registering. 

The Writer’s Wellness Workshop offers 3 mini two-hour retreats with different topics. Each illustrates using mindfulness to affirm creativity and provides tools to support increased joy and ease in writing, even on difficult days.

All writers at any experience level and of all genres are welcome. Both poets and prose authors will benefit from the mindfulness exercises and generative writing during each session. Sharing with a small group of peers will enhance the individual experience as well as empathy for each other’s similar challenges.

Sessions include introductions, short grounding, guided meditations and movement for all abilities, lessons on the topic, prompts to discover personal relationship to the subjects, short generative exercises, optional small support circles, group discoveries, new tools to facilitate the week’s writing, and a closing guided meditation.

What to expect at a glance:

• Learn to address hindrances to writing and creativity without judgement
• Each session will offer a simple mindfulness tool to support increased joy and ease in writing, even on difficult days
• Learn how to use mindfulness to rediscover and support your unique voice

OLLI Members receive a 25% off discount on summer classes at the Piper Writers Studio. Click here for more information on summer classes and workshops. Simply select 'OLLI Member' when registering.