Gathered Together
Cloister: Events and Workshops
We’re delighted to be exploring ways to build online communities and we’ve witnessed how digital spaces can be contemplative and foster relationships when the space is held with those intentions
Therefore, 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.
We’re excited to offer “SotA Supplies” for you to use with upcoming art workshops or in your own free exploration of creativity. Learn more about these free kits and request yours today.
Current and Upcoming
Coming soon – stay tuned!
Art Adventures
Online workshops hosted by diverse artists. Tentative upcoming offerings include: Journal Making, Prayer Tangles, Found Poetry, Intuitive Collage.
SotA Storytime
Audio episodes of classic stories. For bedtime – or anytime.
Creativity Cloister ON HIATUS
Space to gather online for creative contemplation with others.
SotA Studio
Communal Creative Contemplation Hybrid – Onsite and Online
Current Events
The House of Being
You are warmly invited to join in an exploration of your house of being. Using gentle creative contemplative practices, using the metaphor of a house, we will consider the care and keeping of our beloved selves. Time and space to reflect, accompanied by poetry and music.
NOTE: This is a free online offering. Zoom link will be sent to registrants day before event.
SotA Studio
This is an expansion of the Sanctuary of the Arts Creativity Cloister.
Gather with kindred souls in a gentle space of communal creative contemplation. The time will be accompanied by music and punctuated with poetry.
Come in person or join in via Zoom. (Link will be sent to registrants.)
Arts supplies will be available on site, or bring your own current projects. Art supply kits are also available for pick up or mail out. Request art kits here.
This is a recurring offering. Current session: February 7 – March 13.
NOTE: You do not need to be able to attend all sessions to participate. You are welcome to come as able.
We look forward to continuing the journey of shared creativity.
ON HIATUS - Creativity Cloister ~ Repeating Monthly Event
Second Tuesday of the month from 6:30pm-7:30pm PDT
Online via Zoom
Join us online for shared creative contemplation. Abbess Melanie, Priorix Cal, and Illuminator Christina will host with poetry and music, and space for your own makings and musing, in this gentle time and space.
Meeting ID: 882 2775 7276
Passcode: 768557
Past Events
Winter Evenings: Poetry and Practice
Join us in the online cloister for poetry and practice.
All are warmly welcome to gather with kindred spirits in creative contemplative space.
Wednesdays at 6PM Online: November 29, December 6, December 13
In an often hectic season, you are invited to come to the quiet. Make your favourite cup and tea and gather your art supplies. Bring whatever crafty endeavour you are currently working on – or simply take some rest. There will be seasonal poetry and our time will be graced by beautiful music.
Zoom link will be sent to registrants day before first session.
This is a Sanctuary of the Arts / St. Hildegard’s Sanctuary collaboration.
Cultivating Inner Calm: Introduction to Neurographic Art
Facilitated by Bettina Stumm* this workshop will gently move participants towards a calm and meditative state through visual self-expression. Beginning with cathartic lines to express our current inner state, we will circle, round, and soften these lines, integrating any areas that are sharp, disjointed, or cut off from the whole. Intuitively adding colour and pattern, we will create a graphic piece that nurtures and soothes inner tension and brings us into a calm state of flow.
Zoom link: Will be sent to registrants the day the before the workshop.
Needed Supplies: A Black Permanent Marker (Sharpie, Bic, Crayola, etc.), A Black Fineliner (Sakura, Faber-Castell), Pencil Crayons, Heavy Paper – mixed media or watercolour paper.
Supply packages: If you would like a supply package, they can be picked up at St. Faith’s Anglican Church. Supplies can also be mailed within the Greater Vancouver area, with registration by Sunday, October 15.
Felting Orange Heart Pins ~ Online Workshop
Tuesday, September 26th 2023 from 6:30-8:00pm PDT
You are warmly invited to join Sanctuary of the Arts online* for our next free Art Adventure.
Metis member Kerry Baisley** will guide us in creating felted orange heart pins to wear on Orange Shirt Day – and beyond.
We will talk about the Residential School experience of Phyllis Webstad and how Orange Shirt Day came into being.
This pin can be worn to remind yourself and others of the Children who attended Indian Residential Schools, their families and communities.
Scrappy Journals
Tuesday, 22nd November from 6:30pm-7:30pm PDT
online via Zoom
You are warmly invited to join us online for our next free online Art Adventure.This month, artist Helen Kwok* will guide us in making scrap journals. We will be making a 24-page journal (approximately size 4.5″x7″) from scratch – and scraps!
Materials provided will include a wide variety of papers:
- Printed ephemera (book pages, sheet music, maps, posters, phone book pages…
- Hand decorated repurposed papers (paper bags, day planner pages…)
- Utilitarian papers (ledger paper, graph paper, lined paper…)
Why make a journal when you can buy one?
- You will learn the basics of hand making a journal and be able to apply this in making your own unique journal of any size, with any type of paper.
- You will have the satisfaction of being creative, of hand making a beautiful object that is also useful, and can be given as a lovely gift.
- No more blank pages staring back at you.
- Eco friendly, using up papers you already have instead of buying something brand new
- It is not costly so you may feel more likely to experiment with collaging, doodling, jotting down quotes, stitching – anything your imagination can dream up.
- The possibilities are endless.
- It’s fun!
Particpants will need the following on hand: pencil, cup of water, ruler, styrofoam food tray or corrugated cardboard or folded towel, scissors, push pins. Also, 7″x 9″ blank paper, if plain pages are desired.
*Helen is a Vancouver-based artist who follows her fascination wherever it leads, exploring many avenues of creative expression: intuitive collage, quilt design, watercolour, urban sketching and mixed media in altered books. She is dedicated to the handcrafted art form.
Tangled in Her Curls: Prayer Tangles as Contemplative Practice
Tuesday, 25th October from 6:30pm-7:30pm PDT
Online via Zoom
Explore the contemplative practice of prayer tangles. Join in a time of contemplation and colouring as we offer prayers to the Holy One in whose bountiful curls we are all entangled.
One of the gifts of online worship the pandemic brought was the chance for those of us with “busy hands” to finally be given the chance to embrace them. A prayer tangle is made by tracing (seemingly) aimless straight or curving lines across paper in one or several colours, allowing them to cradle or offer shelter to our prayers.
Participants will need simple supplies: paper or canvas of any size, crayons, pencil crayons, felt markers, paints…
Facilitator: Cal (they/them) is a queer non-binary priest, musician, contemplative, and dervish. While Cal’s main loves are music and writing, they also enjoy crochet, wirework, chain maille, painting, and gardening. Cal is the Priorix for the Sanctuary of the Arts online community.
Cedar Weaving: Hearts to Remember
Tuesday, September 27th 2022 from 7pm-8:30pm PDT
Free community event
Weave a cedar heart in honour of Orange Shirt Day and in remembrance of the children of the Indian Residential School System, many of whom never returned home.
Learn the fundamentals of cedar weaving from Vancouver Haida artist Todd G̱íihlgiigaa (‘Heath-gee-ga’) DeVries. For the past ten years since his move to Vancouver, Todd has been sharing his skills, and teaching other weavers how to master materials of their own choosing as well as cedar bark, through demonstrations, workshops, weaving circles and informal mentorships. He has taught communities as diverse as elders and youth through community programs throughout BC. He currently is an artist in residence at Britannia Community Center in Vancouver, teaching basic weaving skills every week.
This interactive, online workshop will be held over Zoom and all participants will receive a kit to make their own cedar bark heart. Supplies can be picked up or mailed out. Zoom link will be sent to registrants two days prior to event.
Note: This is activity is suitable for elementary and middle school students, no experience needed. Younger participants should have an older helper on hand during the event.
This free event is sponsored by Christ Church Cathedral.
Crafted Connections: Community Creativity Practice
Mondays 1 – 2:30 PM PST
Live on Whereby (not recorded)
Free community event
Crafted Connections is an online studio for sharing space with other artists, makers, and creatives. Work on your project from the comfort of your own space.
This weekly gathering is a collaboration with Monique Francis of Fully Woven.
Becoming Rooted: One Hundred Days of Reconnecting with Sacred Earth
Saturday, June 4, 2022
10:30 AM – 12:00 PM PST
Live on Zoom
Free community event
We are honoured and delighted to have Rev. Dr. Randy Woodley join us via Zoom for an introduction to his new book “Becoming Rooted: One Hundred Days of Reconnecting with Sacred Earth.” You are then invited to journey with the book over the summer months.
What does it mean to become rooted in the land? How can we become better relatives to our greatest teacher, the Earth? Becoming Rooted invites us to live out a deeply spiritual relationship with the whole community of creation and with Creator. Through meditations and ideas for reflection and action, Randy guides us on a one-hundred-day journey to reconnect with the Earth.
Rev. Dr. Randy Woodley is an author, activist, farmer, scholar, speaker, and wisdom keeper. You can read more about Randy here: https://www.randywoodley.com
Participants can acquire a copy of the book through these outlets: Amazon, Hager Books, Massey Books. (Check for availability.)
NOTE: Zoom link will be emailed to registrants prior to event.
This is event is co-sponsored by St. Hildegard’s Sanctuary and Christ Church Cathedral.
Floriography: A Lenten Flower Study
This Lenten study, created by the Salt Project, is focused on “floriography,” the secret language of flowers, with beautifully illustrated prompts organized around a wonderful blend of art, science, and beauty.
Fun facts, engaging topics, and creative, accessible activities pollinate the the offerings including words from Scripture, simple reflections, and prayer.
The study will be companioned by a weekly online gathering centered around creative contemplation.
Five Wednesday evenings, March 9 – April 6 from 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM on Zoom.
Digital materials along with Zoom link will be sent via email to registrants.
Co-sponsored by St. Hildegard’s Sanctuary and Christ Church Cathedral.
Date and time
Wednesdays, March 9 – April 6
6:00 PM – 7:00 PM PDT
Location
Zoom online event.
Indigenous Plant Walk
Directed by Métis herbalist Lori Snyder who will guide an exploration of local plants, their meaning and uses.
This event is outdoors, dress accordingly.
All proceeds go to the facilitator.
Co-sponsored by St. Hildegard’s Sanctuary and Christ Church Cathedral.
Date and time
Saturday, March 26, 2022
11:00 AM – 12:30 PM PDT
Location
St. Hildegard’s Sanctuary at St. Faith’s Anglican Church
7284 Cypress Street
Vancouver, BC V6P 5M3
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Feather Dance "Sacred Covering: Bearing Witness" Unveiling
“Feather Dance” is an Indigenous-led, Indigenous, settler, and refugee collaboration in textile arts, with a focus on storytelling, wisdom sharing, relationship building, and community handwork.
You are warmly invited to share in the celebration of the unveiling of the latest project creation, “Sacred Covering: Bearing Witness.”
Spend the afternoon with Indigenous designer and community elder Rikki Kooy (Spirit Elk Woman). Enjoy light refreshments, view the covering, and engage conversation. There will be hands-on opportunity to add to the project through the creation of reconciliation prayer flags, as we continue the ongoing work toward reconciliation. (Photos are examples of completed flags.)
All are welcome. Masks and vaccine passports required.
Co-sponsored by St. Hildegard’s Sanctuary.
Date and time
Saturday March 26, 2022
1:00 PM – 4:00 PM PDT
Location
St. Hildegard’s Sanctuary at St. Faith’s Anglican Church
7284 Cypress Street
Vancouver, BC V6P 5M3
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