If it is believed by many to be true that being creative comes with significant benefits to one's mental, emotional and physical health, there is certainly plenty of evidence to back it up. And while athletes often are forced to retire in their late thirties or forties, and actors of a certain age regularly remark on the difficulty of finding meaningful work, visual artists can simply show up at their studio every day and keep on producing masterpieces into their 80s, 90s and in some cases beyond - provided the inspiration is still there.

Some notable examples are Pop Art icon Wayne Thiebaud, who worked up until his passing at 101 years old in 2021; Françoise Gilot, muse to Pablo Picasso for more than a decade during the 1940's and 50's, who passed away in 2023 also at 101 years old - and was creatively vital until the end; and the beloved Faith Ringgold, revered for her poignant storytelling quilts. She began her artistic career in the 1950s and was at last honored with an appropriate retrospective exhibition in 2022 at New York's forward-thinking New Museum, when she was 91 years old. She passed away just two years later.

Currently, two truly iconic women artists continue to defy the expectations of age, while making headlines with their continually evolving work. There's Yayoi Kusama, of course, who experienced a breathtaking career resurgence in the early 21st Century, and at 97 years old is enjoying a truly monumental level of fame. But Yoko Ono, who just turned 93 in February, retains nothing less than superstar status, even as her recent art has explored more humble, contemplative and harmonious concepts.

Of course, her early days found her sharing conceptual space with the radical Fluxus group, which was infamous for more confrontational themes of anti-commercialism and anti-elitism. But much like the early 20th Century dada movement, from which it drew influence, it also was known for its incisive sense of humor, and for its encouragement of "audience" participation.

Born in Tokyo in 1933, Yoko would ultimately become inextricably linked with New York City, where she has lived for 71 years. Still, it seems almost impossible that it would have taken until now for her to be honored with her first Los Angeles solo exhibition. But with 'Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind' opening on May 23 at The Broad museum in Downtown LA, that has at last been corrected. The excitement leading up to it had been considerable, to say the least.

“For more than seven decades, Yoko Ono has expanded the possibilities of art as a force for connection and change,” enthuses Founding Director and President of The Broad Joanne Heyler. “Poetic and bold, her emphasis on community and activism is especially timely, reminding us that imagination binds us together and can be a powerful source of collective strength.”

Delightfully included in the exhibit is Yoko's 2004 conceptual masterpiece, 'My Mommy is Beautiful', which is literally a visceral collaboration between artist and viewer. The latter is invited to either jot down a special memory of their own mother, or bring a photo of her to attach to the wall - much like the lovelorn women leaving letters to Shakespeare's Juliet beneath her balcony in Verona.

To truly explicate its communal power, the Hirshhorn Museum in DC (the Smithsonian's venerable contemporary gallery), created a time lapse video which shows how the exhibit brought together visitors from all over the world, who came to view the work over a period of three months during the summer of 2017 when it was displayed there. It also reminds that if there has been a single most greatly defining quality of Yoko's artistic mission, it is that she has consistently sought interaction or "collaboration" from the viewer, in the most simple but profound ways.

Sarah Loyer, Curator and Exhibitions Manager at The Broad, raves that, "The exhibition brings together a series of experiences that invite everyone to share in the act of creation and imagine change toward peace and equality.”

The legend actually goes that John Lennon visited Yoko's show at London's Indica Gallery in November of 1966 - and upon climbing the ladder to glimpse the tiny printed word 'yes' on her 'Ceiling Painting/Yes Painting', was instantly taken with her ability to project such a straightforward but captivating message of positivity, one that very much involves the viewer. The rest, of course, is history - including the eventually married couple's now infamous 'Bed-In for Peace' at the Amsterdam Hilton hotel in 1969, an image of which is included in this exhibit.

Another notable participatory work included in the Broad exhibit is 'Helmets (Pieces of the Sky)', which invites visitors to pluck puzzle pieces from actual WWI helmets, to construct a shared vision of the blue sky above. And taking the name from her ongoing campaign concept, a massive 'Peace is Power' banner hangs outside the museum, boldly reminding all of what is her most persistent artistic message.

There will also be special programming throughout the summer, including an evening of music titled 'Yoko Only' on August 8, - curated by Cibo Matto's Yuka Honda and featuring luminaries like Sylvan Esso and Rufus Wainwright.

“Since the 1950s, Yoko Ono has worked across genres and mediums from music and performance to visual art, contending with a complex spectrum of human emotion,” offers Loyer. “Her foundational contributions to 1960s conceptualism and her lifelong commitment to participation have redefined what art can be and do. The throughline across her immense body of work, created across the United States, the UK, and Japan, is a sense of empowerment, both for herself and her audiences."

For what it's worth, we feel the empowerment.