Calling all Creative Souls – June 30th to July 5th is Arts Week at Omega!

It’s that time of year at Omega, the not-to-be-missed Arts Week, an arts retreat like no other!  Gather with fellow participants for a creative immersion, the development of artistic vision, and collective healing through various mediums of art.  Take a peek below and register as soon as you can to secure a spot to any of nine workshops to choose from.

Arts Week | Jun 30 – Jul 5
OMEGA INSTITUTE
Register HERE

Fearless Watercolors With Artist Jan Guarino. | Jun 30 – Jul 5, 2024 | Register HERE
Explore what it takes to let the paint flow in your watercolors and embrace the unexpected,.
Tuition:  Member: $425.00 | Standard: $475.00

In this weeklong workshop with artist and educator Jan Guarino, explore one of the most important aspects of this medium—the element of surprise that happens when you get out of the way and allow the paint to move in water. Jan says that watercolor is all about how the paint flows and what happens in its wake. Deciding to control it or allow it takes time, patience, and practice.

Jan Guarino is an artist, educator, author, and graduate of the Fashion Institute of Technology. She designed marketing materials for businesses for 40 years as a graphic artist, and now focuses entirely on painting and teaching.

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A Contemplative Photography Journey | Jun 30 – Jul 5, 2024 | Register HERE
Explore How Meditation & Photography Intersect With Christopher Jordan
Tuition:  Member: $425.00 | Standard: $475.00

Explore the intersection between photography and meditation to bring a fuller awareness to the visual present moment. This 5-day retreat emphasizes hands-on experience in various settings, including field trips. Engage in visual exercises, gentle yoga, and meditations, fostering a transformative journey in both photography and self-awareness.

Participants are asked to bring a digital camera, along with comfortable clothing for light physical activity. Although no prior experience in yoga or meditation is required, an understanding of basic camera operations is helpful. Discover a deeper connection to the visual world, leading to a collection of photographs memorializing the experience.

Christopher Jordan is an artist, educator, and personal coach, guiding others through discoveries of creative expression

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Writing Life with Chris Wells | Jun 30 – Jul 5, 2024 | Register HERE
A Deep Dive Into Your Life & Writing
Tuition:  Member: $390.00 | Standard: $435.00

Join creative midwife Chris Wells and get to the core of your project and process in this intensive writing workshop for writers of all genres. Bring your best idea or writing project and dive deep into a joyful and moving exploration of yourself and your work. With dynamic writing prompts and creative exercises, his expertise helps you get at what you want to write and make decisions on how to move forward. You write as much as possible over the course of the week and leave with a ton of new writing and a greater sense of yourself as an artist. Chris Wells, creator of the Writing Life workshops, guides you through an evocative series of conversations, deep and reflective questions, and assignments that take you on a passionate journey of self-discovery. Writers of all genres are welcome—bloggers, memoirists, playwrights, academics, historians, performers, novelists, travel writers, you name it. No previous writing experience is required.

Chris Wells is an Obie award-winning writer, actor and community leader who creates live events, music, and stories. He is the founding artistic director of The Secret City, a nonprofit community arts organization in New York City founded on the principals of creative mindfulness.

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Free Your Voice With Amanda Kate Nisenson  | Jun 30 – Jul 5, 2024 | Register HERE
Free yourself through vocal expression & spiritual connection with award-winning opera singer, yogi, and music educator.
Tuition:  Member: $390.00 | Standard: $435.00

Find your voice and gain confidence in performing, teaching, and public speaking with opera singer and music educator Amanda Kate Nisenson. Amanda guides you to connect to your authentic voice through hands-on vocal lessons, group singing, master classes, yoga, drawing, meditation, and performance opportunities. You learn how to strengthen your speaking voice and sing through breath, meditation, classical vocal technique, and movement.

Amanda Kate Nisenson, a native New Yorker, is an award-winning opera singer, yogi, music educator, and interfaith pastor. She studied voice at The Juilliard School, The Manhattan School of Music, and The Academy of Vocal Arts.

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The Art of Breathing  | Jun 30 – Jul 5, 2024 | Register HERE
A Continuum Retreat With Elaine Colandrea, Megan Bathory-Peeler, and Continuum Retreat Presenters.
Tuition:  Member: $425.00 | Standard: $470.00

Elaine Colandrea leads a simple breath practice to release jaw tension, reduce discomfort in the head and neck, and unlock the diaphragm. Reclaim the pleasure of breathing. Breathing is central to being at ease in relationship with our bodies, ourselves, and the world around us. Continuum gives us elegantly simple and relevant tools that engage the transformative nature of breathing while exploring fluid movement.

All breath-stopping patterns—whether screen apnea, news apnea, or sleep apnea—are eventually paralyzing. Continuum dissolves internal restrictions, providing ease and comfort in our bodies with cleansing movement practices. Conscious breathing restores equilibrium, without having to understand or fix what is wrong. This retreat is for those who wish to sustain themselves in a fluid state of wholeness, well-being, spontaneity, and joy. Elaine Colandrea and Megan Bathory-Peeler are joined by additional Continuum teachers.

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The Improvisor’s Mindset  | Jun 30 – Jul 5, 2024 | Register HERE
The Art of Playful Connection With Melissa Delaney-Del Valle , Kathryn Dunn, and Brian Melito
Tuition:  Member: $435.00 | Standard: $485.00.
Would you like to improve your mental agility? Increase your awareness? Gain confidence? Learn to trust your creative self? Be more spontaneous? And have fun? Join performing arts experts and improvisors Melissa Delaney-Del Valle, Kathryn Dunn, and Brian Melito, as they guide you through the basic tools of theatrical improv. Improv is like Zen meets jazz meets comedy—and among the very best medicine for the soul.

Attend this 5-day retreat and expand your sense of connection to others in a safe and outrageously fun environment, while strengthening skills, such as confidence, presence, and self-expression. Return home with the basics of improvisation, which also happen to be the basics of human connection.

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Thinking Through Drawing | Jun 30 – Jul 5, 2024 | Register HERE
Observe, Discover & Invent Together With Andrea Kantrowitz
Tuition:  Member: $415.00 | Standard: $460.00.

Drawing can help us observe our external environment and also get in touch with internal ideas and perceptions that lie below the surface of our conscious minds. In this workshop led by Andrea Kantrowitz, we engage in individual and group drawing activities to unleash and expand our powers of observation, discovery, and invention. Andrea Kantrowitz, EdD, an artist and educator, has lectured and led workshops on art and cognition internationally. She is the author of Drawing Thought: How Drawing Helps Us Observe, Discover, and Invent.

Using a variety of materials, we explore several drawing techniques and develop and hone our skills. Through collaborative exercises and group sharing, we learn from each other and surprise ourselves. Andrea shares recent findings in cognitive psychology and neuroscience, as well as accounts of her own artistic and teaching practices. Throughout the week, we discover—and rediscover—universal human capacities to invent and imagine new objects, beings, and worlds. All levels, from novice to expert, are welcome. Materials will be provided by the instructor and you are also welcome to bring your favorites.

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Tibetan Art Retreat | Jun 30 – Jul 5, 2024 | Register HERE
Draw Green Tara or Her Mandala in Ancient Tradition With Carmen Mensink.
Tuition:  Member: $525.00 | Standard: $585.00.

Create meaningful Tibetan art in a meditative setting—and a joyful experience that lasts much longer than the course itself—in this weeklong retreat guided by Carmen Mensink, an internationally renowned painter of thangkas, traditional Tibetan scroll paintings of Buddhas and mandalas. Choose either Green Tara or the Green Tara mandala as your subject, and learn how to draw it by using the ancient grid proportions of Carmen’s lineage as a helpful tool. Her personal approach and guidance makes this retreat suitable for students of all levels. Green Tara is the most famous female Buddha in the Tibetan tradition and the manifestation of active compassion. She extends her hand—like a mother reaching out to her child—to help all beings where needed. Tara is one of the most revered Buddhas, and there are many stories of people who were saved from dire circumstances while chanting her mantra or invoking Tara’s name. She also is seen as one of the first emancipated women. To work out your drawing, you learn different colored pencil techniques and you are also welcome to work with other materials such as watercolor, pastels, or paints. In addition to the art sessions, you learn all about the background, symbolism, and mantra of Green Tara, and enjoy guided meditations.

Carmen Mensink is an internationally renowned painter of thangkas, the traditional Tibetan scroll paintings of Buddhas and mandalas. She is the founder of the School for Tibetan Buddhist Art.

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Ukulele Zen | Jun 30 – Jul 5, 2024 | Register HERE
Music, Mindfulness & Creative Play With Stuart Fuchs.
Tuition:  Member: $425.00 | Standard: $475.00.

Explore this playful approach to the music-making process with Grammy-nominated musician and teaching artist Stu Fuchs. Strum along with Stu Fuchs and learn an improvisation game that allows you to make music, stay present, and have fun. The ukulele offers an accessible way to bring music-making into your daily life. Whether you’re new to the ukulele or have been playing it for years, join teaching artist Stu Fuchs in this weeklong Ukulele Zen retreat. Gain knowledgeable class instruction and learn how to create a deeper music practice for cultivating joy and relieving stress. Ukulele Zen is a unique method that weaves music study with mindful movement and accessible mindfulness practices from the Plum Village tradition of the late Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh. Leave with new skills and inspiration to continue your music journey at home.

Stu Fuchs is an award-winning musician and teaching artist, empowering people of all backgrounds to express themselves through creative play. A classically trained guitarist, ukulele virtuoso, and multi-instrumentalist

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Arts & Creative Expression at Omega

Omega is an arts retreat and sanctuary where guests fully immerse in creative pursuits.  Whether it’s painting, writing, music, or any other form of artistic expression, Arts Week offers the freedom and space to unlock new levels of inspiration and innovation.

Arts Week at Omega: Explore unique arts classes and arts programs to build your own creative retreat. Energize your creative practice and gather with other creatives to exchange ideas and build community. Everyone has an opportunity to showcase the week’s creations.