Welcome to Salon Sophia

A podcast brought to you by Sanctuary of the Arts. We’re having conversations about art, creativity, spirituality, faith, and religion. We’re interested in all the ways that creativity sparks soulful connections.

Your host for these conversations is Monique and she’s the community prioress with Sanctuary of the Arts or SotA as we’re fond of calling it. 

What’s SotA?

SotA is an emerging contemplative arts community seeking ways to provide a peaceful and gentle space to engage with art. Right now, we’re an online community and have big dreams for a physical space one day. There are three volunteers who are tending to SotA with this podcast and an online gallery as two of our initial projects. We also host weekly online creative co-working sessions called “Crafted Connections” and you’re welcome to join us. Registration is on the events page of this website.

While the vision of SotA predates 2020, our formation of an online contemplative arts community took root as the pandemic drastically altered our lives and how we gather together. We’re delighted to be exploring ways to build online communities and we’ve witnessed how Zoom sessions can be contemplative and foster relationships when done with that intention. And so, even as bricks-and-mortar venues start to open up again we’ll continue with an online presence because it brings geographical distances closer and supports accessibility. 

Space to Pause

As all the ways of gathering in community are being redefined and restructured, we’re curious about finding peace and rest, creativity and art, and how it all relates to sanctuary and spirituality. You may ask, does it relate? We think it does and hope that you’ll come along as we ask these questions and many more. 

This is your invitation to contemplate how creativity shows up in your own life and how it contributes to soulful connections. 

As well as this podcast, we invite you to linger for a while at SotA’s website. We have a gallery and scriptorium where many of our podcast guests will be sharing their artwork and writings. We’re dreaming of future offerings that may include poetry readings, bedtime stories – doesn’t that sound good? – and creative workshops. We have many ideas and are committed to keeping a gentle pace as we tend and grow.

Salon Sophia’s Rhythm

We’re bringing you new episodes on the first and third Monday of the month and most will be about forty minutes. There will be show notes as well as the transcript and a few questions for you to contemplate on your own or with friends and family. 

Thank You

It’s an honour to come into your space and introduce you to the guests that will be coming onto our show. We don’t take that for granted and very much look forward to these upcoming conversations about creativity and soulful connections.