Women's Creative Retreat 2023
September 14-17 in Ely, Minnesota.
Join a small group of women to calm your mind, renew your spirit, and awaken your creativity.
Reserve your spot today! Registration form at bottom of page.
Take a break from the hustle and bustle of everyday life and treat yourself to a deeply enriching nature-based experience where you can:
- Nourish yourself through guided practices that calm the mind and open the heart
- Restore your inner being immersed in the presence of woods and water
- Explore and deepen your self-expression through writing and creativity at Listening Point
- Nurture yourself inside a growth-oriented community of women playfully exploring their creative voice
Your hosts, Annette and Kathryn, bring together a unique set of skills, writing prompts, and Earth-based practices that support you to deepen your connection to the natural world and tap into your creative spirit through playful exploration and collective inquiry. No previous experience is required.
Cost: $920 per person (single room/cabin) or $700 per person (shared studio cabin)
A deposit of $460 (single room/cabin) or $350 (shared studio cabin) is required to hold your reservation
Full payment is due by August 14th, 2023
Fees include:
- Rustic accommodations (3 nights total) at Camp Van Vac Resort, located in Burntside Lake area just west of Ely, Minnesota (http://www.campvanvac.com) – must bring blankets and pillows
- Two options: Single rooms or cabins (1 bedroom each), or a shared studio cabin
- Arrival: Thursday, September 14 by 6:00 p.m.
- Departure: Sunday, September 17 by 12:00 p.m.
- Group sessions and guided experiences as well as personal time
- Trips to Sigurd Olson’s Listening Point, the Olson home and Sigurd Olson’s iconic Writing Shack
- 8 simple, enriching and wholesome meals prepped on site
Space is limited to 8 women. Reserve your spot today!
(Reservations are complete when deposit is received)
Questions? Need more information? Looking for other options to pay? Please contact Annette at adraydrewes@gmail.com or call 218-368-5050 and leave a message. She will get back to you as soon as she can.
Registration and payment deadline: August 14th.
About Your Hosts
Annette Drewes, Ph.D. – Trained as an ecologist and educator, Annette was shaped by the lakes and streams of her youth in southern Minnesota. Caddisflies and mayflies make her squeal with excitement. Curiosity about the natural world, and a passion for sharing her experiences with others led her to work with the Department of Natural Resources, University of Minnesota Extension and most recently, The Nature Conservancy. At age forty Annette returned to school, curious about the relationships between wild rice (manoomin) and people. Since graduating from the University of Wisconsin – Madison, she has been active in educating and partnering with Indigenous and non-Indigenous voices to raise awareness of manoomin (wildricevoices.com). On her life journey Annette continues to explore by canoe and cross country skis the places where human impacts are less visible, including the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and the Headwaters of the Mississippi River. As a writer she brings the mystery and beauty of the natural world closer to her readers, expanding connection and building understanding of the natural world one story at a time (annettedrewes.com). Annette is a certified Gateless Writing Instructor and offers online and in-person workshops.
Kathryn Gonzalez, M.S. – Kathryn’s journey has been informed by a deep desire to understand and nurture the relationship between people and the land, and to inform the systems we create and the ways we walk on the Earth, individually and collectively. Like many, this journey has taken twists and turns that inform her current focus, which centers on the inner dimension of sustainability and is anchored in awareness-based social change practices. Kathryn completed her Masters’ degree in Forestry, where she studied the Human Dimension of Forest Resources. From there she began a career as a Kundalini yoga instructor, blending contemplative practices, energy work, and embodied awareness that informs change at the personal, collective and systemic levels. Transformation has been at the heart of her path of inquiry, and she currently serves as a transformational coach and facilitator to inform inner leadership practices that re-imagine our relationship with Self, others and the Earth.
