Queer Ecologies Community Art Classes
Queer Ecologies is a multidisciplinary exhibition and learning series exploring the relationships between land, identity, and liberation. Leading up to the show, we’re hosting a series of land-based art classes led by artists in our network that invite participants to engage these themes through hands-on practice, critical reflection, and collective creation.
Together, we’ll explore how queer and trans ways of relating to land can deepen our understanding of interdependence, resilience, and transformation. These classes are an entry point into the exhibition—a chance to build skills, share knowledge, and co-create a living ecosystem of art, culture, and connection.
Understories: Generative Writing + Outdoor Mindfulness
5/24 | 3-5 pm
Root & Whisper
What do we hear when we truly listen to the trees? Beyond the rustle of leaves lies a hidden language of intertwining roots and pulsing mycelium. In this workshop, we look to the forest as a blueprint for our own lives. By reimagining our relationships as an interconnected ecosystem, what new stories can we unearth?
In this session, Lexington will:
Share his journey as a multi-disciplinary writer.
Explore the art of writing with nature through poetry, creative non-fiction, and dramedy storytelling.
Lead a generative writing session using ecological and philosophical prompts to spark new work.
Requirements: none
What to bring: Comfortable close-toed walking shoes, pants, preferred writing materials, a camp chair, or a blanket. (Limited supply of these items will also be available).
Location: On private land, within a 10 min drive of downtown Ukiah. The exact location will be sent to the participants after registration.
Facilitator Bio:
Lexington L. Lawson (he/him) is a multi-disciplinary writer, artivist, and educator-scholar. With an MFA and published works across poetry, creative non-fiction, journalism, and screenwriting, he is currently awaiting the publication of his debut novel. His writing examines the complexities of gender, sexuality, and kinship through the shifting lenses of art, culture, and spirituality. He is also a founding organizing member of Trans Bloom.
Bone Assembly as Advocacy
5/31 | 3-6 pm
In an environment that is rapidly changing by the day, how often do we get a moment to reflect on the impacts that colonial life has had on our environment and our relation to animals? In this workshop, we will allow ourselves to resonate with the impact, viewing life through the lens of another being, and restoring kinship by connecting with and honoring the bones of animal relatives, transforming their deaths into beautiful arrangements and sculptures that give insight into our shared lived experiences. Together, we will explore how our stories intersect and remember ourselves as natural stewards who hold responsibility to advocate for our earth.
Requirements: none
What to bring (optional):
(We will be walking the property!) comfy closed-toe shoes, long pants, a camp chair, and a blanket. You will be provided with materials and be allowed to collect natural materials on the walk, but you are welcome to bring your own bones/shells, trinkets, and materials to add to your art. Some ideas include, but are not limited to, recycled materials, dried flowers, sentimental or symbolic items, paint, and hot glue (limited number of hot glue guns). This class is very imaginative and open to interpretation, so bring any materials you’d like and anything that will make your time comfortable, relaxing, and special.
Location: On private land, within a 10 min drive of downtown Ukiah. The exact location will be sent to the participants after registration.
Facilitator Bio:
Tatumn Starr (they/them) is a two-spirit indigenous rights advocate, land defender, water protector, and naturalist, who is an enrolled citizen of the Pomo Kashaya tribe of California. They are co-founders of Women with Bows ‘Just Soup’ project, an indigenous-founded business that was created to uphold indigenous sovereignty through food security, traditional ecological knowledge, and community engagement. Tatumn is developing an educational workshop series that aims to guide others towards reviving and maintaining relations with plant, animal, and microbial relatives. They hope that the return of ancient connections and foods will give the brain the clarity and spiritual strength it needs to achieve restorative justice and bring balance to our communities and ecosystems.
Solar Printmaking
6/7 | 3-6 pm
Come play with the literal forest magic of lichen! Wilder will guide participants through a rudimentary camera-less form of photography using nothing but the sun and a miraculous lichen pigment called parietin. What on earth does that mean, and what might my art look like? Imagine cyanotype-like prints made with an entirely different chemistry, resulting in spectacular colors.
When first processed, this pigment will dye our printed items a profoundly vivid pink. Next, we'll use our creativity and aesthetic sense to incorporate objects you bring from home or natural objects from the land, such as leaves, flowers, lichens, and more, into our art pieces. As the pigment cures and dries, any dyed parts exposed to UV radiation will turn a stark sky-blue.
If this experience has a whiff of the magical and fabulous and unbelievable and miraculous to you, as it certainly does to Wilder, join us.
Facilitator Bio:
Wilder Herbertson (They/them) is a fiber artist, ancestral skills practitioner, forager, and amateur naturalist who has been guiding forays, workshops, retreats, and more through their project Human Becoming since 2019. Their work is an effort to help heal contemporary cultural wounds of disconnection; they strive to co-create embodied spaces where folks can connect with themselves, each other, and the earth’s ecosystems. Learn more at www.humanbecoming.me, or email wilderherbertson@gmail.com.
Understories: Revision + Movement + Mindfulness
6/14 | 3-5 pm
Bark & Body
Revision is a natural process of shedding and becoming. How does it feel in our bodies to receive feedback, and what can the wild teach us about growth and resilience? This session moves beyond the red pen, using movement and mindfulness to explore how our creative work—like bark—protects, stretches, and evolves.
In this session, writers will:
Engage in movement practices to process the physical experience of creative feedback.
Refine existing drafts through a series of nature-inspired revision exercises.
Participate in a supportive "ecosystem" of peer workshopping.
(No prior attendance required; bring a draft in any stage!)
Requirements: none
What to bring: Comfortable close-toed walking shoes, pants, preferred writing materials, camp chair or a blanket. (limited supply of these items will be available).
Facilitator Bio:
Lexington L. Lawson (he/him) is a multi-disciplinary writer, artivist, and educator-scholar. With an MFA and published works across poetry, creative non-fiction, journalism, and screenwriting, he is currently awaiting the publication of his debut novel. His writing examines the complexities of gender, sexuality, and kinship through the shifting lenses of art, culture, and spirituality. He is also a founding organizing member of Trans Bloom.