This class is currently full.

Learn the basics of handbuilding with clay and experiment using “nerikomi” techniques – the process of pressing or folding multiple colors of clay to achieve unique surface designs. This class is beginner friendly and includes all the tools you need, clay, glaze, and firing of one or two finished pieces.

Ally Bruser is a former elementary school art teacher, artist, and mother living in southwest Washington, on the unceded territory of the Chinook Nation. Most of her ceramics are handbuilt using nerikomi techniques — the process of pressing and folding multiple colors of clay together then rolling them into slabs. When not making pottery, Ally is working towards making the arts and arts learning experiences more accessible as the Program Manager for Sou’wester Arts. Visit albepottery.squarespace.com or follow @albepottery on instagram to learn more about Ally and her pottery process.

$70

We Hold the Light: Cyanotype Quilts with Cordy Joan

In this workshop we will use two practices that ask us to interact with natural light to create miniature “secret” quilts. First, participants will be guided in making cyanotypes out of gathered natural materials from the land. (That is, cyanotyping as a method of sun-printing that requires us to relate to the light). These will serve as their mini-quilt tops. Second, participants will be guided through a series of writing prompts to find words that they will cut into quilt batting to create the middle of the quilt. This interacts with light in that when your finished quilt is held up to a light source, your batting-cut words will be revealed like secret messages. Quilt backs will be provided and we will complete our pieces using a simple hand-tie method.

Cordy (they/them) is a white artist and educator living on Ohlone land (Oakland, CA). They wish to find where poems and quilts hold hands and they are interested in what we will leave behind. They think that making communal objects together can be an act of relearning how to be together. For more info visit corduroyjoan.com or @coanofsilence on instagram

$65

Register

Singing in the land:  earth magic, song, and the body 

Thursday, May 25 5-7 pm

 

Join bodyworker, musician, and animist priest ell rieke (they/them) in residency at the Sou’wester for a magical, musical exploration of connection with the earth, our ancestors, and the world of spirit.  Part workshop, part participatory sonic experience, we will spend the first part of our time in conversation, talking through questions like:  what is magic and why does it matter?  Where do songs come from?  Is the earth talking to us?  How can sound and rhythm help us navigate this complicated, painful, beautiful world?  

 

In the second half of our gathering, ell will guide participants in using voice and body to connect with spirit and the earth.  They will teach some songs of the season, from both folk and modern traditions, and then guide a gentle ritual of reverence and celebration for the coming of summer.  You will be invited to sing or hum and move your body, and are also welcome to just sit and experience.  All bodies, voices, and backgrounds are welcome, including kids! 

 

Please bring something to sit on, and cozy layers in case the evening is cool.  You may want to bring a journal and pen, if you like taking notes, and are also invited to bring a special object (that will return home with you) and/or flowers for the group altar. 

Intuitive Multimedia Embroidery with Chloe Jacobson

Learn 5 basic embroidery stitches while experimenting with expressive abstract multimedia techniques. We will play with stitching on top of watercolor washes on canvas fabric or fabric of choice.

I grew up in the dry, oaky lands of Southern Oregon and headed north to the lush forests of the Pacific Northwest to pursue a major in Visual Arts and Psychology from The Evergreen State College. I chose to pursue the healing power of the art process professionally through getting graduate degree in Transpersonal Art Therapy at Naropa University, and now practice as full time art therapist with the LGBTQIA population in Portland, Oregon. I am a multimedia artist specializing in embroidery, painting, and collage to express sensations, feeling spaces, and to tell stories of empowerment and liberation. I walk the edge of fine art and craft to explore the natural world through my lens as a queer art therapist. I blend media to reframe and re-contextualize, while offering simple messages. I especially seek narratives of natural perseverance, adaptation, justice, and resilience in the face of adversity or human constructs. My background in art therapy informs my process as being a platform for healing self-reflection, through making the latent, blatant. For more information visit chloekjacobson.wixsite.com/pdxemb

$60

Register

“Portraits, Men in Ballgowns, Sound, We Will Be Heard” by Scott Braucht

Sou’Wester Arts is thrilled to welcome filmmaker Scott Braucht whose program Portraits / Men in Ballgowns // Sound / We Will Be Heard will be featured in a special exhibition celebrating Pacific County Pride in our Red Bus Microcinema.

On view at The Sou’Wester’s Red Bus Theatre

May 29 – July 14, 2023.

Opening reception Monday, May 29 6-8p with a special acoustic performance from musician Khaelo Dé.

Clay Teacup Making Workshop with Midori Hirose

Explore clay and create a one-of-a-kind tea cup with Midori Hirose. All levels and fun clay making tools are welcome!

Midori Hirose is a Japanese American interdisciplinary artist. In Hirose’s work, physical objects and materials are interchangeable with community bonds, recognizing space as a necessary part of the generative process through collaborations, historical narrative, perception (physiological and psychological), and storytelling. 

Hirose’s work has been shown nationally and internationally, including solo exhibitions at the Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, and Disjecta Contemporary Art Center (now called Oregon Contemporary) for the Portland Biennial. Her work has been included in group exhibitions at The Lumber Room in Portland, OR; East/West Project, Berlin, Germany; Newberg Gallery, Glasgow, Scotland; and Fylkingen, Stockholm, Sweden. For more information visit midorihirose.info/ and instagram.com/midorihirose/

This workshop is full. 

Working with the beautiful dune grasses of Discovery Trail, we’ll discuss biodiversity, invasive species, and land protections. We’ll responsibly harvest dune grasses, then work together to shape the grasses into poetic sculptures.

Ana/Anu is a poet, multi-media artist, author and educator. Her work focuses on ecofeminism, collaborative art, and herbalism. Her two poetry books, “Noon” and “Mona Mona Mona”, explore intimacies of the PNW. Anu received an MFA in Poetics from Naropa University and is a postgraduate candidate at Tisch, NYU, focusing on Art and Public Policy.

$60

Register

Intro to Handbuilding with Clay III with Mariam Matheson

This workshop is full but Mariam is hosting another August 5th

Learn handbuilding techniques and create an object. This all day workshop includes all materials and tools needed to create a piece of handbuilt pottery. Pieces will be glazed fired and can be shipped to attendees. Can be taken as a series or independently of other Intro to Handbuilding classes.

Mariam Matheson has been a potter since 2018 and an artist her entire life. Mariam is the ceramics studio manager at Ilwaco Art Works. She lives in Seaview, WA with her husband and dog. 

DIY Screenprinting with Azenath Lizárraga and Ian Greer

This class is currently full.

Screenprinting is a hands-on medium that allows students to reproduce any artwork they want in multiple colours and on many mediums. Our workshop, aimed at beginner students, will show how to undergo the entire printing process using a combination of recycled, homemade and a few purchased tools.

Students will leave with the handmade screens and prints they made in the workshop, a booklet of historical art and propaganda prints from our collection, and inspiration and understanding to help them start screenprinting on their own.

Asenath Lizárraga is a multidisciplinary artist currently living in Olympia, Washington. Their colorful, emotional works draw from personal experience, dream worlds, and family history, expressed as drawings, paintings, prints, fiber arts, and music. Asenath is also a compassionate and experienced teacher who believes in the transformative power of community art-making, and who aspires to one day help create a community arts space of their own. Asenath is @asleepingmemory on instagram.

Ian Greer is a multidisciplinary artist currently living in Olympia, Washington. They are an experienced illustrator and tattoo artist, and have also worked as a journalist, poet and editor in the United States, Canada, and Ecuador. Their work is detailed and expressive, focusing on sociopolitical issues, nature, and magic. Visit iyanstattoo.com for more info.

$55

Blair Borax: Presented by Sou’wester Arts

Blair Borax is a singer-songwriter who writes tender folk-pop songs to make you feel less alone. 

With vocal stylings reminiscent of 1920s jazz, songwriting that is unafraid to tackle the taboo, and pop melodies that stay with you for days, Blair Borax has something special to offer. She conjures a vocal charm somewhere in between Regina Spektor and First Aid Kit, wordsmithing inspired by folk songwriting greats like John Prine, and moody vulnerability like Haley Heynderickx and Big Thief’s Adrienne Lenker.

After releasing her first EP ‘everything is light work’ in May of 2021, Blair released her debut album “Keep Walking” in June 2022.  “Keep Walking” will take you on an emotional rollercoaster, through the stages of anger, grief, and joy beyond trauma and heartache. It is the perfect companion to help you keep walking too.  She is working on her sophomore record, “Tender Lately” this year.