Nurture your Creative Spirit in this 3 day course with Author, Artist, and Musician, Callie Bates!

Thur/Fri/Sat     August 6 – 8

Postponed. Potential reschedule in 2021.

10 – 4 pm each day

Adults & Teens 16+     $325

Deadline for payment/registration:  July 30

An immersive workshop that plumbs our creative depths. Deepen your connection with your inner voice, creativity and self-expression, through sound therapy, journaling, and fun group activities. Emerge with the tools and confidence to help your creative projects and practices flourish.

This course is for any creative expression—writing, music, art, you name it, bring it!

This offering is a gentle invitation to open to your creativity. Through fun, engaging exercises and class discussion, we will explore what it means to bring creative ideas into manifestation, for each of us individually. There will be no critique of individual work; rather, we will focus on developing a safe space to free our inner voices and visions, using techniques from journaling to breathwork to art. From this consciously created inner space, we will open to creating action plans for bringing forth our creative expression. This class is open to everyone, from “beginner” to experienced creative, with a desire to explore what creativity means to them.

So often we launch into creative work without taking the time to set the most important foundation: a safe space in which to create. We also often do not even give ourselves the fundamental space we need—physically, emotionally, mentally and on the calendar. We will begin by softening into an exploration of how we each best create, and how to cultivate that space internally and externally, using free-writing exercises and group discussion. Students will be invited to set appropriate boundaries around their creative projects and working time. Once these foundations have been established, we’ll explore what action plans best serve us for bringing forth our creative expression, so that everyone emerges not just with a goal, but a way to get there.

Along the way, we will lighten ourselves up with various exercises, which are basically designed to loosen us up, reacquaint us with our inner voices, and have fun! We’ll journal, do gentle movement and creative visualization, write and read poetry, step outside and spend time in nature (weather permitting!), and listen to and respond to music. Hopefully each student will come away with tools that they can put in their creative toolkit, which will be a guidepost through the ups and downs of creative work.

Please note: This is NOT a traditional course in the sense that we will not “workshop” or critique each other’s work.   We spend enough time making things with the expectation of other people’s responses; this is an invitation to get really intimate with what you want to create, how you do it, and what it means to you.

Requirements:

Mostly: an open heart and willingness to participate in what brings you joy!

On a practical level:

• wear comfortable clothing as we’ll engage in gentle movement exercises each class
• bring a notebook/writing implement (laptop only if necessary—students are encouraged to avoid electronics during the class, if possible)
• bring art supplies if you anticipate wanting to draw/paint (some will be provided)

There will be optional reflections and/or action steps to complete between sessions.

About the facilitator  Callie Bates has been making creative expression her business pretty much since birth. She’s the author of the Waking Land trilogy of fantasy novels, and her essays and short stories have appeared in print and online. In addition to writing, she’s a musician and certified harp therapist, and an occasional artist.

LOLA will make every effort to keep students and teachers safe with social distancing and sanitizing procedures.  LOLA strongly recommends and encourages visitors to wear their own protective face mask and/or gloves. Class date and time subject to change. 

No refunds will be given after the deadline date.

Parking is available behind the LOLA Center for the Arts building.