Creative Expression
Places, Sounds, Portals, Worlds: A Soundscape Ecology Immersion
With Rebecca Bruton and Edzi’u
Open new portals to creativity and collaboration amidst the planetary spheres of sound, music, and landscape. In this interdisciplinary eco-arts residency, participants will be introduced to conceptual ideas about collaborating ethically with landscapes and soundscapes, and learn a variety of approaches for generating sound, music, text, and performance compositions with/in the local Cortes Island surroundings. […]
Dance of Connection
With Bettina Rothe
Come home to yourself, find connection and nourishment in community, and with the land. Together we take refuge in our primary language "rhythm", and find belonging in the dance. Expand your repertoire of how you can connect with others on the dance floor and in life. Release old patterns of relating that no longer serve […]
From Fear and Overwhelm to Power and Love
With Deepa Narayan, Eric Mulholland and Peggy Taylor
FROM FEAR AND OVERWHELM TO POWER AND LOVE Everyday as we are confronted with chaos and collapse, we can become paralyzed in fear and anxiety. And yet, this is the time we are called to be our most powerful selves to stand for a world in which our children, our communities, and all beings can […]
Contemplative Mind, Spontaneous Brush: Ink, Colour and Japanese Washi Papers
With Heather Midori Yamada
Relax body, breath and mind with short guided meditations and simple perceptual exercises. Follow brushwork demonstrations using Japanese sumi ink and watercolour on various Japanese washi papers (provided). Inspired by the natural beauty of Cortes Island, we will explore mixed media approaches of layering, tearing and collaging. Deep intuitive and directed studies lead to personal […]
Dancing from the Inside Out
With Margie Gillis
Move into your body’s experiential wisdom and reveal the soul in motion. Refine your sensitivity to the connection between thought, feeling, spirit and body as you listen in to your body’s inner wisdom, impulses, conversations and emotions. Becoming sensitive to and engaging with this inner life provides information both for expanding well-being, as well as […]
Singing in the Vocal River
With Rhiannon
Hear your own song and learn new ones as you find your place in the world of music and invention. Co-create vocal magic in a safe, dynamic circle of singers, delving into the possibilities of spontaneous composition and the language of storytelling. Working alone, in pairs, and in ensemble, meld intuition and invention with skill […]
Slow Art, Somatic Practice, and Creative Rest
With Shauna Kaendo, Registered Art Therapist | BFA, RCAT and Trudi Smith, Registered Clinical Counsellor | MC, MA, PhD
Being in conversation with art, process, and our bodies. In this therapeutic arts program, we offer a blend of creative care practices…getting curious about what that can look and feel like, both individually and in community. Through creative meanderings with solo and collective art-making processes like bilateral drawing, stick brush making, sculptural wrapping, watercolour and […]
Nature Paints Itself
With Jeremy Herndl
What if the world created us humans to speak its names, sing its rivers and winds? What if nature paints itself, using our deft human hands and the tactility of sight to emulate its textures, colours and spaces? In this workshop we shall enter the space of nature, the garden, forest and ocean and paint […]
Between the Human Animal & the Animate Earth
With David Abram
How can we open a fresh and unshakeable solidarity between ourselves and the other animals, plants, and elemental forces that compose this breathing biosphere? The deepening contortions of climate change – intensifying droughts, monster floods, flaring wildfires and heart-wrenching geopolitical cataclysms – all ensure that our species is tumbling toward a sea change of immense […]
Locus Amoenus: Exploring Organic and Artificial Systems in Art
With Rebecca Brewer and Veit Laurent Kurz
How can we, as physical beings in an increasingly digital world, reclaim the intimate, tactile gestures of our hands? Can we react to the vast, almost cosmic scale of artificial intelligence with grounded, human-centered creative acts? In this hands-on, visual arts workshop, participants explore the underlying connections between living systems and technological processes, uncovering innovative […]
Becoming One with the Spirit of the Drum
With Gordy Onayemi Ryan and Zoë Ryan
Activate the Fire in your hands, the Beat in your feet, and the Song in your Heart on this soulful journey in Rhythm in the iconic Olatunji Hall. Drum, dance and sing to increase the flow of vital energy in your body and open your ears to the beauty of rhythms and songs from many […]
Science, Art, Sound & the Sacred
With Merlin Sheldrake and Cosmo Sheldrake
Explore the entanglements between science, art, sound, and the sacred in a beautiful, wild setting. What we call art and science both arise from our faculties of imagination, wonder, and curiosity. We will spend part of our time outdoors – in gardens, on seashores and in forests – connecting with the more-than-human world and bringing […]
Harmony Within: A Journey of Songwriting and Reconnection
With Leah Abramson and Samantha Parton
Songwriting is a powerful tool for self-expression and connection with our deepest thoughts and feelings. The Harmony Within workshop explores songwriting as a medium, a practice, and a journey through which we can reconnect with our creative source, our vulnerability, and our inner wisdom, harnessing the healing power of music to illuminate, transform, and transcend […]
Kintsugi: Embracing Imperfection
With Yuka Morino
Kintsugi, 金継ぎ translated literally from Japanese means "golden joinery". This traditional Japanese art used to repair broken ceramics uses natural materials, like tree sap or urushi lacquer dusted with gold (or other precious metals) to make the cracks, or broken lines beautiful. The cracks are called Keshiki 景色 and in Japanese, mean scenery, landscape or view. […]
Fish as Storytellers: Intangible Knowledge and Lived Practices
With Zoe Todd and Courtney Chetwynd
Drawing inspiration from fish as storytellers in their own right, this workshop will explore storytelling, play, and artistic creation as tools for sense-making. Through interactive dialogue, collective visioning sessions, collaborative art-making, and land-based reflection, participants will explore how diverse relationships in their lives give rise to profound knowledge in storied and tacit ways. This workshop […]