Earth & Self: Movement-Based Expressive Arts in Nature

with Ash Tree Crofoot
August 8, 3:00–6:00 p.m.
Tuition: $100
Materials Fee: $10

In this outdoor expressive arts workshop, participants will explore how movement, drawing, and writing can deepen their connection to the natural world. Through guided practices in contemplative movement, sensory awareness, and creative response, the class will investigate how the environment can serve as collaborator, mirror, and source of inspiration. We’ll begin with a brief orientation, followed by warm-up drawing and reflective writing. Participants will then move into guided mindful movement and sensory practices before engaging in solo explorations of the meadow and its more-than-human inhabitants. These experiences will be brought back into drawing and writing as tools for further discovery, play, and personal insight. The session will close with small-group reflection and a collective sharing circle. This session is accessible to all levels—no dance or artmaking experience required. It emphasizes process, welcoming all abilities and encouraging a playful, exploratory mindset. It takes place entirely outdoors, and participants will be invited to wander, sit, lie down, and move freely on the ground.

Plan to bring: anything you need for comfort outdoors, layered clothing, water bottle, snacks, personal writing tools, and drawing or simple painting supplies of your choice, including paper.

 Location: Main Campus - 3435 Rupprecht Way, Saugatuck, MI 49453

Photo courtesy of artist

Headshot by Clare Wildhack

Ash Tree Crofoot (she/her) is a Registered Somatic Movement Therapist and Expressive Arts Practitioner. She holds advanced degrees in Body-Based Expressive Arts Therapy, Transpersonal Psychology, and Ecopsychology. She is a graduate of the internationally renowned Tamalpa Institute for movement-based expressive arts and is trained in the Somatic Experiencing model of nervous system–informed trauma resolution. Since 2010, she has worked in group settings and private practice, offering a unique blend of somatic psychology and expressive arts approaches to growth, healing, and creative development. She is a native Midwesterner, and the shores of West Michigan have been a place of annual pilgrimage and restoration for generations of her family. This summer, she is thrilled to offer her work in collaboration with this spirited place and its people.