Coming October 2026!
Dates, details, and registration, coming soon.
Ready to delve into your creative self?
In this retreat for artists, writers, and creatives of all mediums, you’ll uncover/rediscover your creative identity, explore the power of mindfulness and self-care, while also making a roadmap to sustain your practice beyond the retreat.
Retreat content:
Session 1: Immerse
Reflect on your current creative practice, discover hidden obstacles that hinder your progress, and participate in experiments using movement, visualization, sketching, and writing to push you outside your everyday habits.
Session 2: Play
This session includes movement drawings, comic sketches, the practice of a daily diary, and a photography challenge. We will try new things and push outside our comfort zones.
Session 3: Act
(Act)ion, (Act)ivity, Re(act), Imp(act). This session we will introduce you to the work of a diverse range of artists. You’ll also hone a one-page project plan.
Session 4: Plan
In the last session of the retreat, you will meet one-on-one with Dara, Creative Instigator. You’ll develop a driving question to keep your project on track as you work, identify the working habits you want to hone and the key moments for celebration and reflection.
What People Say
“We are in an ideas world now and this retreat is really for everyone. It gave me the workflow to navigate ideas, centralize them, act on them. That’s impactful, extremely impactful. I learned how to approach an idea that is strong and workable.
The mindfulness and meditative aspect I would never have even considered. I’ve never truly looked inward in that way with breathing and visualizing. That’s life changing! ”
Alex Agnant (he/him)
MFA School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Cinematographer with Imagine Motion Productions
Maplewood, NJ
What’s Included:
Classes
No pre-recorded canned videos for us! Each 90 minute session includes a lively discussion of an established artist’s work and practice, guided movement to get us grounded in the present moment, a creative activity or game to inspire future work, and time to share and connect with your cohort. We pack this time full, while leaving you energized!
Focused Instruction
We only host one retreat at a time. This means you get full attention and focus. Plus, you’ll get a chance to really connect with the other participants in your cohort. No need to scroll through pages of zoom cameras!
Private Text Group
We like WhatsApp because it’s simple. Having a private group means you message the instructors and/or your cohort, in the moment with images, video, or text. You can share your new project, get help for a creative crisis or mental block, and post a success. No need to wait a whole week to celebrate and/or get support!
Private project session with Dara Brady
In this 1-on-1, 60 minute session, you’ll hone your project plan into a fierce document of creative action! Oh yeah and we’ll discuss ways to get support going forward.
A downloadable workbook
You asked, and we delivered. Now all retreats come with a custom designed workbook for you to gather your thoughts, record notes from each live session, and complete challenges throughout the week. The workbook is sent to you in sections each week, allowing us to tailor it to the needs of the specific cohort. It’s packed full of more activities than most people can complete during the retreat, but hey, we like choices and thought you would too.
Exposure to a diverse group of artists and mediums
Sure, Picasso, Van Gogh, and Rembrant are great….but what about Takashi Murakami, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Alok Vaid-Menon, Georgie Nakima, Marie Shirine Yener, James Luna, Zanele Muholi, Vega Zaishi Wang, Catalina Cheng, Judith Scott, Seungyea Park…don’t get us started! We’re kinda art super fans who scan the latest catalogues, magazines, and galleries, to bring you different perspectives on being creative!
Affirming space for all, especially LGBTQ+, BIPOC, and AAPI people and families.
We’re not just like, “oh yeah we have a black/asian/indigenous/queer friend…” We are queer, nonbinary, trans, straight, cisgender…We are black and brown and white…We are actively engaged with the indigenous communities whose land we live and work on… We are incorporating diversity into each aspect of Scape School…and we are open to feedback because breaking down prejudice, discrimination, and stereotypes includes admitting we’re open to learning, to being humbled by our mistakes.
★★★★★
I’m on fire! I’m making art pieces and I literally can’t stop! In the retreat, I received a safe space, where I had permission to explore art and find clarity. I now understand how art fits into my life and I’m reclaiming my studio as a place for mistakes and inspiration.
Aylene Lambert, aka Stax (she/her)
Visual Artist and Writer
Marin, CA
★★★★★
Just go for it! This is fantastic! The prompts help me take fresh, unexpected turns in my own creative process. It’s inspiring and fun to see what other creative people are thinking and making. Each time I join, I come away feeling refreshed and inspired.
Betsy Lohrer Hall (she/her)
Visual Artist
Curator at Flux Art Space
Educator, CSUF
Long Beach, CA
★★★★★
The whole structure of Makerspace works for me! I love the artists we’re exposed to and the prompts we’re given. I love sharing and receiving feedback. I’m always inspired when I leave and excited for our next session!
Clover Morell (she/her)
Visual and Performing Artist
Residency Program Manager at the Grand Canyon Conservancy
Grand Canyon Village, AZ
Your Creative Instigator
Dara Brady (They/Them)
Scape School was founded by Dara Brady, a queer, nonbinary educator, artist, and writer, with an autoimmune disease, who is acutely aware of physical struggles, mental hardships, and the value of unique learning spaces. In addition to their degrees and credentials listed below, they have extensive training in social emotional learning, technology integration, and project based learning through IDEO U, the Krause Center for Innovation, Khan Academy, PBL Works, YouTube, The Zones of Regulation, Social Thinking and Computer Using Educators. Dara lives with their wife and child in a tiny house nestled in the redwood forest of Santa Cruz, CA
- Owner and Creative Director of Scape School
- MFA, Studio Art, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
- BFA, Sculpture, University of Kansas
- Single Subject Art Teaching Credential, CA
- Multiple Subject Teaching Credential, CA
Your Mindfulness Instructor
Rani Jayakumar (she/her)
Rani collaborates with Dara to create a retreat space that encourages awareness. Rani’s mindfulness and movement breaks create a sense of community and collective well-being. She is a Certified Mindfulness Instructor through Mindful Schools, a Certified Yoga Instructor for children with Little Flower Yoga, and is currently completing a 200 hour yoga teacher certification.
She is also music educator, specifically South Indian Classical vocal music (Carnatic music). Rani is passionate about the planet, is active with Transition Palo Alto, organizes Share Fares, and helps provide environmental sustainability information, activities, and guidance for families and children. Rani lives in Palo Alto, California, with her partner and two children. She is an avid reader and crafter.
