Geopoetics Symposium
April 14 - 18, 2020
Cortes Island
Join artists, scholars, educators, and writers engaging with ecology, climate crisis, and resilience. Leaders in ecophilosophy, place-based education, and geopoetics—an emerging field of creative practice at the nexus of poetics and geography—will dialogue, lead seminars, create, present works, and cross-pollinate.
Geopoetics Artists’ Residency
April 18 - 22, 2020
Cortes Island
This self-directed residency offers uninterrupted time for artists, writers, and scholars to work in a community of creative practice, under the theme of geopoetics. Participants will gather for meals and optional workshops/showings/talks, and are also free to completely focus on their own work.
Watercolour as a Path to Awareness
With David McEown
May 6 - 10, 2020
Cortes Island
Explore watercolour’s magical, flowing, spontaneity and learn essential techniques, as you paint directly from nature. Enhance your perception and connection to the earth with this travel-friendly medium. All levels welcome. David McEown has been using watercolour paint to explore earthʼs disappearing wilderness areas for 25+ years.
Mother, Daughter & the Divine
With Patricia Höglund and Maeve Höglund
May 10 - 15, 2020
Cortes Island
Uncover the mystical magic that can arise in the bond of the mother-daughter relationship. Whether your connection needs healing, deepening, or celebrating, we will journey through rediscovering the divine feminine that is yearning to be unearthed and brought to the forefront of everyday life.
In Relation: Dancing as a Living System
With Laura June Albert and Loretta Laurin
May 10 - 15, 2020
Cortes Island
Experience your body as a living system in relation to nature and our wider social-political landscape. Explore embodiment practices, dance technique, and movement research to expand your range and capacity for interconnection. Elements include western contemporary dance, solo and contact improvisation, anatomy, and nature immersion.
Leading through the Body: Dancing Into Wholeness
With Bettina Rothe
May 15 - 20, 2020
Cortes Island
Lead your life with conscious embodiment. Become more resilient, present, and confident through body-based leadership principles, 5Rhythms® movement, and Japanese wooden sword practices.
Media That Matters: The Nature of Media
With Bill Weaver, Greg Coyes, Emilee Gilpin and Nettie Wild
May 20 - 24, 2020
Cortes Island
In an era of divisiveness and disconnection, our relationship to media and technology must evolve. Join a collaborative community of professional and non-professional artists and media makers who want to explore new world views and create flow states that support reflection, dialogue, and a deeper relationship with nature.
Luminous Threshold: The Art of the Personal Altar
With Lisa Gibbons
June 7 - 11, 2020
Cortes Island
What do you find sacred and how do you express it? Create a personal altar and learn techniques such as creating antiqued surfaces, acrylic painting, collage, assemblage, and using beeswax and gold leaf. Deepen your experience with meditation, journalling, and guided nature inquiry. Art materials provided.
Going Under the Words: Creating Fiction & Memoir
With Shaena Lambert
June 12 - 17, 2020
Cortes Island
Creating fiction and memoir is part craft, part mystery. Discover ways to shuck the skin of your words, to find the beating heart. Connect with your voice, and wind drama and action into your writing’s DNA. Experience the creative thrill of going deeper.
Write From Power: Accessing Your Stories
With Janelle Hanchett
June 29 - July 3, 2020
Cortes Island
What do I do with my fear surrounding writing? How do I manage criticism? What if I say something wrong? Develop a new relationship with your writing practice by exploring concrete ways to write honestly in spite of fear, show up authentically on the page, and define for yourself the power of your unique story, voice, and perspective.
Joy of Ukulele | Two Programs for Beginners and for Advancing Mastery
With Kimo Hussey
July 3 - 8, 2020
Cortes Island
Move beyond basic ukulele technique and establish effective practice strategies to master this joyful instrument. Explore fretboard geography, embellished chords, signature progressions, melodies, harmonies, and critical listening. Kanikapalu (jam sessions) and optional hula lessons culminate in a final performance.
Drawing Towards the Earth: Making Journals for Life
With S. Portico Bowman
July 12 - 16, 2020
Cortes Island
Learn how to draw with graphite, charcoal, red ocher, and other earth elements. Drawing from the life and works of Paulus Berensohn (1933-2017), you’ll also create a coptic stitch Arcadia Playshop journal and a bookmark in the Bargello tapestry technique. Berensohn’s healing arcadia frames the path to ecological recovery on a global scale.
The Mystery of the Soul
With Margie Gillis and Thomas Atum O'Kane, PhD
July 19 - 24, 2020
Cortes Island
The mystery of the soul can be embraced, experienced, danced, and explored, but never exhausted or diminished. Reclaim and celebrate the mystery of your soul with dance and spiritual teachings.
Healing Family & Ancestors: Ritual and Resonant Family Constellations
With Jill Purce
July 24 - 29, 2020
Cortes Island
Transform inherited patterns into magical blessings. Jill’s unique ceremonial, shamanic healing rites, using chant and family constellations, restore coherence within family fields in oracular ways, unavailable in normal therapy. Excluded relations are reintegrated as powerful allies. Relatives do not need to be living. Individuals and families welcome.
Dancing from the Inside Out
With Margie Gillis
July 24 - 29, 2020
Cortes Island
Move into your body’s experiential wisdom to reveal the soul in motion. Listen to your body’s inner impulses, conversations, and emotions to deepen your well-being along with your artistic and creative expression. An exceptional opportunity. All levels welcome. -- Margie Gillis is an internationally acclaimed dancer/choreographer, performing for 40+ years, and is an Officer of the Order of Canada.
Song of the Drum, Dance of Life
With Gordy Ryan and Zoë Ryan
July 24 - 29, 2020
Bumbamba! Join us in a celebration of the 30th Anniversary of the music and dance of the Olatunji Drums of Passion at Hollyhock. Activate the fire in your hands, the beat in your feet, and the song in your heart on a soulful journey to the well of inspiration in our reunion at the Olatunji Hall.
Singing in the Vocal River
With Rhiannon
July 28 - August 2, 2020
Rhiannon’s expertise lies with the connection between body and voice, teaching the invention of melody, harmony, rhythm, language, and story while guiding the singer towards the heart and soul of their musical self.
Building a Vocal Community™
With Ysaÿe Barnwell, PhD
July 30 - August 2, 2020
An awesome power emerges when uncommon voices are blended for the common good. Experience traditional African music, African American spirituals, and civil rights anthems while learning about their extraordinary historical, social, and political context. Everyone welcome.
Weaving Embodied Liberation
With Yvette Murrell, Jennifer Moore and Michelle Phillips
August 2 - 7, 2020
Cortes Island
Conjure a liberatory vibration that integrates ritual and play. Co-create movement, story, and sound for designing intuitive loveships with ourselves, each other, and the land. Let’s dream together with radical imagination toward Liberation!
Fearless Abstract Painting
With Samantha daSilva
August 7 - 12, 2020
Cortes Island
The process of creating evolves into ideas. Ditch the fear and approach your next blank canvas with excitement and creative energy! Using rollers, tables, acrylics, canvas manipulation, plaster, sand, and wood shavings, create ethereal textured abstracts and become the fearless artist of your dreams! No previous experience necessary.
Spoken Song: Discover Your Musical Mind
With Chloë Goodchild and Rebecca Nash
August 7 - 12, 2020
Cortes Island
Discover the art of spoken and sung voice as creative metaphors for everyday life. Experience the richness of your own authentic vocal expression; inspired by improvisation, world music, classical, jazz, folk, ecstatic poetry, devotional chant, breathwork, and a shared love of silence. For amateurs and professionals alike.
iPhone Photography for Everyone
With Dr. Charles Steinberg
August 17 - 22, 2020
Cortes Island
A high-quality camera is almost always in your bag or pocket! Learn how to use it to create artful images. Forget bulky gear and challenging editing. Go way beyond snapshots. Inspire your creativity, improve your skills, and learn the amazing functions of your phone camera with beautiful Cortes Island as your subject.
Improv Your Life – For Life
With Joshua Townshend-Zellner
August 17 - 22, 2020
Cortes Island
Through harnessing the power of the creative process and deepening our commitment to “sound and movement,” we access new worlds. Work with unique theatrical techniques, writing, breathing exercises, and more, in order to allow your true self to emerge with fuller expression.
Decolonization and Reconciliation: Teachings and Music from the Land
With Melina Laboucan-Massimo and Nick Demeris
August 22 - 27, 2020
Cortes Island
Move from an era of separateness (from nature and people) to a new paradigm of interconnectedness. Examine the extractive and exploitative practices of colonization, and begin a path of healing and genuine reconciliation between Indigenous peoples, settlers, and the Earth itself - through deep listening, song, story, and ceremony.
Writing as a Spiritual Practice: The Healing Power of Telling Your Story
With Mark Matousek
August 22 - 27, 2020
Cortes Island
Memoir is a path of self-knowledge. Learn to tell the whole truth and your essential stories will emerge, bringing insight and transpersonal wisdom. Writing exercises and group dialogue guide you toward creative discovery, increased mindfulness, and better composition. Everyone welcome.
Podcasting: The Story from Hear
With Jenni Schine, Jennifer Moss, Brady Marks and Jacqueline Mathieu
August 27 - September 1, 2020
Cortes Island
Tune into the power of sound, listening, and community storytelling. Attentive sound-walks, story creation guidance, and technical skills for podcast production advance your acoustic projects within a supportive, group environment.
Create to Liberate
With Khari Wendell McClelland and Rebekka Goldsmith
August 27 - September 1, 2020
Cortes Island
Explore nature, the arts, imaginative play, and personal/collective power for personal development, working with groups and developing facilitation skills. Expand your creativity to live a more meaningful, just, joyful, and connected life.
A Journey of Sound, Movement & Breath
With Michael Mayzel & Ayi Wong and Maria Filippone
September 1 - 6, 2020
Cortes Island
Connect to your inner process with therapeutic Sound Journeys, and learn about the foundations of sound healing. Enjoy grounding and dynamic yoga practices, and combine chanting with movement. Auditory vibration, movement, stillness, and breath provide the groundwork for healing and transformation.
Vibrant Pastel Landscapes
With David Shkolny
September 6 - 11, 2020
Cortes Island
Create vibrant landscapes in soft pastel, a versatile and expressive medium. Using photo references as well as plein air outings, experience the unique opportunities that pastel provides. No prior experience necessary, suitable for all skill levels. A supply list will be provided.
Flying SOULO: Your Story on Stage
With Tracey Erin Smith
September 6 - 11, 2020
Cortes Island
Transform your life’s stories into a Solo Theatre Show or Keynote. Through improvisation, writing exercises, and one-on-one coaching, uncover the stories that need to be told and reveal your truth in a powerful and entertaining show. Culminates in a short performance of the work created in class.
Writing the Other
With Nisi Shawl and K. Tempest Bradford
September 11 - 16, 2020
Cortes Island
Writers know it’s important to include characters from different identities in their work. Many are afraid to create characters whose identity differs from their own and worry about getting it offensively wrong. But representation is too important to ignore. Learn how to do it well