Creative Expression

Nature Paints Itself

With Jeremy Herndl

July 25 - 30, 2025
Hollyhock Cortes Island

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

July 25 - 30, 2025
Hollyhock Cortes Island

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

July 25 - 30, 2025
Hollyhock Cortes Island

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

July 25 - 30, 2025
Hollyhock Cortes Island

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

July 30 - August 3, 2025
Hollyhock Cortes Island

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

August 22 - 27, 2025
Hollyhock Cortes Island

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 […]

SoulCollage®: An Enchanting Path to Inner Wisdom & Creativity

With Kimberly Lee, J.D.

August 22 - 27, 2025
Hollyhock Cortes Island

Embark on an enlightening journey of self-discovery, guided by the power of your own intuition and creativity. In this immersive workshop, you’ll discover your own inner wisdom through the unique, inspiring SoulCollage® method. This fun personal practice harnesses the magic of images, intuition, and imagination to create simple collages that represent facets of your unique […]

Kintsugi: Embracing Imperfection

With Yuka Morino

September 21 - 25, 2025
Hollyhock Cortes Island

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

October 2 - 6, 2025
Hollyhock Cortes Island

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 […]