2Life Communities

Volunteering as an art teacher is Kelley Pope’s “retirement career.”

Kelley’s first career was in music. She had fallen in love with stage lighting design, and a chance meeting with Dolly Parton kickstarted her career. The music industry is also where she began her volunteerism. In 1985, Kelley organized a star-studded benefit concert called “Trouble in Paradise,” raising money for the Inner City Law Center in Los Angeles to support people who are homeless in the city.

Kelley had given up a college scholarship in the arts to pursue her career, but she had always been a visual artist. When her mom was dying, she made Kelley promise that she would return to her art. Kelley kept that promise when she retired, and she also discovered that leading art workshops with older adults was very rewarding.

Kelley always brings new projects to her workshops, such as diamond painting, jewelry making, and flower pressing. Above all, making spaces where people can avoid loneliness, create connection, and build community is important to her. Although she teaches art for several organizations, 2Life’s Brown Family House in Brookline is particularly close to her heart.

“It’s like a sisterhood. I am part of the community there,” says Kelley. “I feel like I belong.”

In her spare time, Kelley also serves on the Brookline Council on Aging.