OPEN WORKSHOPS
Creative Workshops for Curious Minds
OPEN WORKSHOPS is a seasonal hands-on interdisciplinary creative program led by established artists, makers, thinkers, and doers bringing people together to open to wonder, curiosity, and connection in inspiring places of natural beauty.
Bringing the curious together...
About the journey, not the outcome.
It's about what we experience and learn along the way. It's about planting seeds, exploring at the edges, and opening doors to new ways of engaging with life.
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Open Process
More than just learning to weave
or throw a pot.
OPEN WORKSHOP attendees actively participate in the creative process through multiple modalities, engaging with questions and ideas from different perspectives, participating in hands-on exploration and thoughtful investigation, learning new skills together through an open process.
Based on a collaborative, integrative, and inquiry-based approach influenced by Umberto Eco’s 1962 treatise The Open Work, where an artist leaves elements of a work open to interpretation or completion by the public, workshop outcomes are open-ended and dependent on the unique combination of skills, curiosity, and engagement of the small group. Projects may be collaborative or allow for solo practice.
While outcomes are fluid, maybe even curiously ambiguous, what you learn and experience along the way will resonate into the future.
Each workshop is uniquely tailored
and led by established artists, writers, musicians, thinkers, and doers
invited to propose workshop ideas inspired by the wonder of nature and the human experience.
Bringing the curious together to be open-hearted and open-minded
Open to the Curious
Not just for artists.
With a holistic view of the human experience, joy is cultivated and creativity, play, and curiosity are supported and celebrated in a safe, positive environment.
Each individual's unique talents, resources, experiences, and knowledge are valued without judgment, and ideas and information are exchanged with kindness and curiosity.
Aha! moments and failures are equally celebrated, each providing opportunities for growth and expansion.
We are all creators,
creating unique life experiences
every day.
We believe creatively engaging with wonder and curiosity elevates our connections to ourselves, to others, and to the greater good.
Bringing the curious together to be open to creativity & connection
Immersive
Enjoy a fully immersive sensory experience
and be well cared for, from sun up to sun down.
Each day includes group workshop sessions as well as opportunities to work independently and explore the beauty of the natural surroundings.
Days begin with quiet time for contemplation and/or movement and a healthy organic meal and end with a thoughtfully prepared communal dinner where lively conversation under the stars flows into the night.
Week-long programs may include evening gatherings where the local community has an open invitation to enjoy a communal meal, bonfire, or special guest performance or talk.
Workshops range from day-long to week-long
and are held in warm sunny locations
surrounded by inspiring natural beauty.
Bringing the curious together to be open to wonder + curiosity
Workshops
BEST COSTUME FOR THE DAY
With Cassie McGettigan
An all-inclusive creative textile weekend
workshop in the Mendocino coast redwoods
Postponed / Stay tuned!
Oz Farm, Point Arena, California
Let us hole up for four days to exchange skills and perspectives on clothes at Oz Farm, the legendary 240-acre commune turned organic farm nestled among the redwoods on the Mendocino coast. The daily chore of dressing can be an opportunity to embody your values. Textile artist and educator Cassie McGettigan will be your guide as you consider how you might dress for mobility, dress for the job you want, dress for pleasure, dress for a feminist revolution, dress to express your utopian ideals, dress for the planet, or dress like your life depends on it. Together, we will query the potential for clothes to accommodate our needs and telegraph our desires as we begin to shape them into being. Participants will learn techniques for preparing materials constructing garments, and repairing them. All will emerge with meaningful solutions for, as Little Edie of Gray Gardens famously put it, “the best costume for the day.”
INTERTIDAL GOES TO FRANCE:
Seaweed & Cyanotypes
With Josie Iselin
All-inclusive art & ecology workshop
Brittany, France
May/June 2025 Date TBD
Notify me!
With nearly 800 different species, Brittany is home to the richest diversity of seaweed in the world. During this four-day workshop in the beautiful coastal countryside of Brittany, France. San Francisco artist, book designer, and algae aficionado Josie Iselin will share her knowledge of the fascinating world of seaweed and teach hands-on cyanotype printing with specimens that we’ll collect along Brittany’s stunning coastline. We’ll also enjoy time with Marie Plan, the founder of Marinoë, one of Brittany’s prized edible seaweed brands, who will be our guide as we explore the local intertidal zone and learn to cook with edible seaweed during this immersive workshop.
Miwok & PoMO Basketry:
Ecology, Form, & Function
An art & ecology weekend workshop
Dates TBD
Fisherman’s Camp, Marshall, California
Details coming soon! Contact us to be notified as soon as they are released. Pomo baskets are recognized worldwide for their exquisite appearance, range of technique, fineness of weave, and diversity of form and use...and it all begins with plants. Learn about Coast Miwok and Pomo basketry history and design during a two-day workshop held on the ancestral, traditional lands of the Coast Miwok people along the beautiful shores of Tomales Bay. We’ll learn about Miwok and Pomo ecological knowledge, culture, utility, and materials, as well as efforts to keep these traditions alive today. Each day includes talks on particular topics and hands-on learning as we weave our own modern baskets from non-traditional materials. Space is limited and overnight lodging is available.
TURNING STORY INTO FORM
With Nicola Vruwink
A weekend of art and short-form writing
in the Mojave Desert
February 23 - 25, 2024
Jackrabbit Studios, Landers, California
This all-inclusive two and a half day creative workshop takes place in the beautiful Mojave Desert north of Joshua Tree National Park. Following in the footsteps of Larry Smith and his Six-Word Memoirs project, together we will explore language and material to bring words into form. Throughout this immersive weekend artist, educator, and designer Nicola Vruwink will share her knowledge of hand-building, craft, and design as you create multi-media sculpture and assemblages inspired by your six word stories. Special guest singer/songwriter Wildlife Freeway will join us to perform and share insights into her creative practice. In between creative projects, stimulating conversations, and healthy meals, enjoy time to just relax and soak in the natural desert beauty. Space is limited. Overnight lodging is available!
INTERTIDAL: Seaweed & Cyanotypes
All-inclusive art and ecology weekend workshop with Josie Iselin
September 15 - 17, 2023
Fisherman’s Camp, Marshall, California
SOLD OUT!
This two-day workshop will take place along the beautiful shores of Tomales Bay. San Francisco artist, book designer, and algae aficionado Josie Iselin will share her knowledge of the fascinating world of seaweed and teach hands-on cyanotype printing with her vast collection fo specimens and the power of the sun. We’ll also enjoy making sculpture with bull kelp, kayaking in the Bay, special guests, and culinary surprises during this immersive weekend!
Who We Are
Jennifer Gately lives to amplify the light of others. With over 30 years of experience in the visual arts in leadership roles that span the commercial to the institutional, Gately brings creative and intelligent voices to the table and directs forward-thinking action to realize once-unthinkable dreams.
As Director of Visual Arts at the Sun Valley Center for the Arts she engaged diverse audiences through a multidisciplinary approach to critical issues such as biodiversity, women’s rights, and land preservation. This drew the attention of the Portland Art Museum where she became the first Curator of Northwest Art, re-igniting the museum’s focus on contemporary art from the region with the development of new exhibition programs dedicated to creative innovation.
Upon returning to sunny California, Jennifer served as the Executive Director of the San Francisco Art Dealers Association while also consulting with Futures Without Violence on a new exhibition program at their Presidio headquarters. Drawn by the call of the ocean, she became the Executive Director of Bolinas Museum in Bolinas, California, a leadership role she held for nearly 10 years. Her past experiences, passionate commitment, and hard work contributed to the development of an increasingly vibrant museum widely recognized for its diverse, thought-provoking exhibitions and unique programming that led to greater community engagement. Under Jennifer’s leadership, the audience and donor base increased substantially and plans for critical facility upgrades to better serve the community were set in motion.
Jennifer A. Gately
Founder
OPEN WORKSHOPS
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Bolinas, California