Freeman-Zachery Rice - Destination Creativity : the Life-Altering Journey of the Art Retreat

Most of the mixed-media artists Ive known talk at some point about how it felt before they found their people. For most of us, theres a vague sense of not fitting in, of being interested in ideas and materials that completely baffle our friends and families and co-workers. Its an odd feeling to be so out of step with almost everyone we know. What if, then, there were a community out thereone in which everyone were like you. Not like you in the sense that theyre scary clones, no. Like you in the sense that these are people who love nothing better than holing up in a room making something out of paper or metal or glasssomething that may or may not work out and that they may or may not ever even show anyonebut something they feel compelled to make. These are people who maybe dont care about clothes or cars or sports teams but canand dowax poetic about, well, wax. Acrylics. Paverpol. Rusty bits of iron.

It turns out that there is, in fact, just such a community. Its not a static one in a specific geographic area, with a mayor and a city council and garbage collectors. Nope. What it is is a community of mixed-media artiststhose who are just starting out and those making a living at it and all those who fall somewhere in between. It is a virtual and often far-flung community that, every now and then, comes together at a retreat. The more I heard people talk about how one of these art retreats had changed their life, the more certain I was that I needed to 1) find out more and 2) see if art retreats really are all that, and then spread the word.

So in January 2010, I hired my husband, The Ever-Gorgeous Earl, as my photographer and set out on a year-long journey to study art retreats. I bought the maps and did rather a lot of planning, and then we hit the road. Ten months and many thousands of miles later, I have my answer: art retreats do change lives. Sometimes the changes are small, and sometimes theyre huge. One woman told me the poignant story of how she registered for an art retreat intending it to be the last chapter of her life. Being there, though, surrounded by people who understood her and valued the same things she did, she realized that she wasnt ready to end it after all and that there was a huge, wide world shed only begun to discover. Art literally saved her life, and that art retreat was the lifeline.

Most of the stories I heard werent so huge; most were stories of small changes, of attendees finding their people, or of finally getting validation that the things they lovemetal and paper and fabricare, indeed, worthwhile; never mind what their friends and family think.