This study primarily aimed to understand the motivations, adaptations and wellbeing experiences of older arts experts who had persisted in their engagements for 30 years or more. A secondary aim was to extract key elements of those experiences to develop a model to support the ongoing engagement and employment of artists into older age. This project, funded by the Australian Research Council, used a mixed methods design, including semi structured interviews (n=17) and an online survey (n=92) with expert older musicians and dancers (age range 60-88). Participants were drawn from multiple countries and had extensive professional or high level artistic experience across the lifespan. Findings revealed a consistent developmental trajectory across participants’ lives. Early and mid career phases were characterised by strong emphasis on technical mastery, competition, and public recognition. In later life, participants reported significant shifts in motivation toward self expression, personal fulfilment and social connection. Despite age related physical and cognitive changes, participants sustained high-level engagement by adapting their practice, drawing on accumulated expertise to practice more efficiently, and redefining success in personally meaningful ways. These adaptive processes were evident across cultural contexts. Next steps involve consolidating these motivational and adaptive practices into a list of rehearsal tools to support and promote ongoing engagement and expansion. The findings challenge dominant narratives of artistic ageing as a process of decline, instead demonstrating how motivational flexibility and adaptive expertise enable sustained engagement and support holistic wellbeing in later life. The findings offer next steps for achieving more positive, inclusive approaches to ageing within the creative industries.