June 19 – August 27
Holy Ground, Creation’s Prayer
The Guild welcomes you to this holy ground, and into creation’s prayer.
The Guild is a holy place, a place of deep grounding, where we are tethered in our creativity, where acts of creation speak to the sacred that lies within and all around us.
You are invited to sign up for one or more weeks as we gather in this holy place for summer programming.
To help make this holy place accessible to more people, the Guild is excited to offer flexible tuition pricing for this summer’s program.
Registration opens April 23.
Registration closes two weeks prior to the start of each class.
WEEK 1 June 19 – 25
Registration for WEEK 1 closes Sunday, June 5
Creative Image, Reflective Word
with Carla Erickson Orlando
This quiet, retreat-like class welcomes students at every artistic level. Guided by a humanistic approach that respects the unique experience, cultures, and beliefs of all, students will learn methods of creative expression and reflective writing, detach from performative motivations and interior critiques, live in relationship to the Spirit and become more themselves. A new retreat theme and art medium will be presented each day, including painting with color, drawing, collage, found objects, and mandala. Each morning closes with a facilitated time for sharing new discoveries and observations in the group. Click here for more info and to register for this class.
Squiggly Lines and Brilliant Color – Cloisonné!
with Jean Tudor
We will work with cloisonné, one of the historical techniques of vitreous enameling. From a basic drawing, preparing copper, wire bending, enamel washing, inlaying ground glass, firing (don’t forget firing–wild and exciting!) to the finished artwork–we’ll try it all. We work with a fixed glass palette–learn how to make it more flexible (bend or maybe break the rules. All’s fair in art! I think… Click here for more info and to register for this class.
Printmaking – Drypoint and Etching
with John Thompson
Printmaking Class will be mainly etching and drypoint in the same techniques that old masters have done. Why change a great tradition? It is messy, fun, some work and technique, messy and did I say messy? Old pros and newbies are encouraged to take the class. Click here for more info and to register for this class.
WEEK 2 June 26 – July 2
Registration for WEEK 2 closes Sunday, June 12
Huck Weaving
with Ann Hinz
Huck texture is a structure in which small float blocks alternate with small plain weave blocks. You will learn the basics of this structure and then have the option to weave a scarf, mug rugs, or a table runner. More experienced weavers can weave larger projects. Click here for more info and to register for this class.
Sculpture – Wood and Stone
with John Thompson
In this class we will be carving basswood (the same type of wood we used in the making of the Missoula Carousel). Stone will be local soapstone and possibly some limestone I will have with me. We will be using mainly hand tools (think Michelangelo) with a few power tools under close supervision. This class can be dirty and dusty but that is what makes it fun!. Click here for more info and to register for this class.
Grouted Stained Glass for Beginners
with Janet Gruman
In this ancient art form we’ll discuss and tinker with the relationship between glass and grout, which, in the art of stained glass is the “negative space”. We’ll also consider light, color, line and shape in the design process of abstract and representational stained glass projects. Click here for more info and to register for this class.
July 3 – 9: Stay tuned for upcoming events
WEEK 3 July 10 – 16
Registration for WEEK 3 closes Sunday, June 26
Drawing Close to Nature
with Adele Little Caemmerer
This course approaches drawing as a vehicle for witnessing, beholding, “drawing closer.” Using nature as both focus and guide, students/we will work with the fundamentals of drawing as a way of actively observing and documenting the infinite variety of natural forms. Through exercises and prompts students/we will develop their perceptive abilities, explore techniques with materials, and test strategies for composition. Click here for more info and to register for this class.
Mud and Sunlight: Mixing Clay and Photography
with Jessica Holleque
Using the mediums of ceramics and photography, we will explore ways to create from a deeply connected place, asking how we can form creative practices rooted in self-exploration and connection to the natural world. Let’s leave our fingerprints in homemade cups molded from mud and river water. Let’s open our gaze to the light dancing around us and photograph the things that stir our heart. Click here for more info and to register for this class.
Writing and Telling Your Cultural Story
with Tamisha Tyler
In this class we will explore, share, and celebrate our unique cultural stories: the particular blend of influences that have shaped us into the people we are today. Through guided writing exercises, meditation, and class discussion, we will explore the broad theme of “culture” and how our unique experiences have influenced our understanding of ourselves, our faith journeys, and our sense of belonging. Click here for more info and to register for this class.
WEEK 4 July 17 – 23
Registration for WEEK 4 closes Sunday, July 3
Songwriting: Songbird Lexicon
with Chloe Caemmerer
Songs are magic spells. They can start a revolution or lull a baby to sleep. They’ll whisk you through space and time much faster than your standard magic carpet. With a song, you can converse with the dead, pace the halls of Heaven and Hell, and bring those listening along for the ride.
In this course, we’ll examine the linguistic mechanisms that make this possible. After all, a consonant can be a mystical thing. A series of open vowels can take your breath away. Meter broken in a precise moment can break your heart, too. We’ll geek out over breathing, explore the human instrument, and journal and free write our pencils to nubs. And at the end, we’ll all walk away with a song or two to whistle on the road home. Click here for more info and to register for this class.
WEEK 5 July 24 – 30
Registration for WEEK 5 closes Sunday, July 10
Weaving: Overshot and Beyond
with Suzanne Halvorson & Nancy Marsh
Overshot and Summer and Winter are weave structures which have been popular in this country since the 1700’s. Most historic textiles are coverlets. The intricacies of both weave structures offer the contemporary weaver with a variety of design options. Click here for more info and to register for this class.
The (pottery!) Wheels Go Round and Round
with Jim Halvorson
This class will focus on developing students skills using the potter’s wheel. From centering and raising a cylinder to more complicated forms the students will explore the ceramic possibilities. Class demonstrations will also include trimming a foot, handles, lids, and multipart pieces. Click here for more info and to register for this class.
Leporello Book Making
with Mary McLeod
Students will create a Leporello Journal and fill the pages with surface techniques, watercolor color images, collage and hand drawn letters if they desire. Click here for more info and to register for this class.
July 31 – August 6: Stay tuned for upcoming events
WEEK 6 August 7 – 13
Registration for WEEK 6 closes Sunday, July 24
All Mixed Up: Weaving Wonders
with Sara Nordling
In this class you will create a weaving project using a variety of yarns weights and textures in your warp. Tips for combining different yarns will be discussed as well as various methods for designing a project and putting it on the loom. Students will create one project of their choice. Suggested projects include: scarf, shawl, Mobius shawl, table runner, wall hanging, cloth to make a tote bag, or other similar size project. Click here for more info and to register for this class.
Watercolor Cosmos
with Vonda Drees
“When we reach the end of what we know, that’s where we find God.” -The Cloud of Unknowing
The mysteries of the Cosmos and the magical medium of watercolor come together in this brand new offering! One of Vonda’s secret loves while serving at the Guild was the Perseid meteor shower every August. She describes the experience, “a sacred game of hide and seek with flashes of fire darting across the night sky.” Perhaps you have marveled over NASA’s images of outer space? Some are almost beyond imagination. In this class we will learn how to paint watercolor galaxies. Watercolors are the perfect medium for this luminous work because depth and vibrancy are created when the paint flows naturally into a dance of cosmic mystery. Click here for more info and to register for this class.
a Spire; a Light; a Door; a Line – Exploring Sacred Space
with Paul Barribeau
The places and spaces that inspire people of faith share commonalities with built form, have connections to the physical environment of creation, and engage the sensory experience of the arts. Focusing on sacred spaces and religious architecture, but applicable to any spiritual or artistic space, this class will explore 1) how “place” is marked and how symbol provides provide “presence,” “invitation,” and “witness;” 2) the ways in which light animates architecture and art; 3) the importance of threshold for providing transition between and journey through spaces – interior and exterior; and, 4) how spaces are ordered for meaning and aligned to support human communal experience.
This class is suitable for anyone of any skill-level interested in how people shape space that supports the celebration of their faith and spirituality. Click here for more info and to register for this class.
WEEK 7 August 14 – 20
Registration for WEEK 7 closes Sunday, July 31
Glorious Mud: A Pottery Studio Intensive
with Mike Caemmerer
This week is a chance for potters of all levels to challenge themselves with new forms, styles and sizes of wheel thrown work. There will be daily demos and lessons on a variety of topics including techniques for throwing, handle pulling, playing with form, trimming, altering wheel thrown work and a special session on throwing as meditation. The focus is on the creative process, and not the product. Click here for more info and to register for this class.
Connecting Hand, Eye, and Soul Through Observational Drawing
with Oriana Sage
Learn to unlock your unique drawing potential through observational hand-eye connection, as you create ink drawings with joy, personally, freedom, and flow. Let go of what you think you see and capture the true essence of what you draw. In this class, we will learn to embrace the beauty of imperfection, capture shape and detail with simplicity and ease, let go of drawing frustration, and transform a simple drawing into a whimsical and meaningful piece of art. We will learn fundamental drawing elements as we explore pattern, color, and design found in nature, and practice translating these into engaging pieces of art. Click here for more info and to register for this class.
Creative Journaling and Anti-Racism
with Vonda Drees
Vonda writes, “As an American of European descent, I have work to do in learning (and unlearning) the history of this country. These lessons become even more significant when I hold a mirror to myself, being honest in revealing my own biases, prejudice and racism.
While this inner work is vitally important, there is also an outward element. How am I being called to live differently so as to not perpetuate harm? This is where I turn to the faithful witness of present-day BIPOC theologians and authors like Barbara A. Holmes, Lisa Sharon Harper, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Cole Arthur Riley, Latasha Morrison and Bako Akomolafe, to name a few. Their voices are a balm and offer a deep well of wisdom.”
Journaling is a creative tool that gives way to the expression of this spiritual work being stirred in our lives. In this class, we will practice the discipline of deep listening as we process what we are experiencing, in heart, soul, mind and body. Reconciliation begins in us as we get honest with ourselves. Creative journaling is a way to mark this holy work of introspection, imagination, attentiveness and process, and may even become the inspiration for another to begin their own journey of anti-racism. Click here for more info and to register for this class.
WEEK 8 August 21 – 27
Registration for WEEK 8 closes Sunday, August 7
Imaging and Transforming: 2D Design
with Adele Little Caemmerer
Explore abstraction through the process of applying “creative triggers” to re-think, re-work, and re-present a subject in fresh and unexpected ways. We will use drawings as our springboard into abstracted compositions. In addition to setting up our projects, and exploring the process of abstraction, attention will be given to alternative ways to develop into a final form. Click here for more info and to register for this class.
Wounded Beauty: Acrylic Painting
with Trung Pham
Every one of us has been touched or deeply impacted by tragedy. Perhaps the appropriate response to those traumatic experiences is not focusing on the why or what behind the trauma, but the how. How do we transcend our adversity, tragedy and trauma? How do we push forward with our lives after a life-altering trauma? I believe art is a beautiful vehicle that allows healing and transformation to take place. This class will open a space for one to keep in touch deeply with oneself and find meaning through painting. Click here for more info and to register for this class.
Thin Places and Photo Creativity
with Chuck Kirchner
A Thin Place – a place where the veil between heaven and earth, between the sacred and profane, between our creator and ourselves, is lifted and we are at one with the universe. We have all, I hope, felt this once or several or many times in our lives. It could be alone at the ocean, or in the desert, the mountains, or even a cathedral. And, just perhaps, it could be while with another who is in a similar state of seeking – seeking what we may not know but with an openness and experience to seek and commune with our higher power. Click here for more info and to register for this class.
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