I A.M. Arts presents its third retreat/residency for mid-career women creatives this year! Ìwúre: A reclamation of our post-imperial imagination. It will include 6 days and 5 nights, Tuesday, June 24 – Sunday, June 29, of professional development workshops and restorative practice led by renowned thought leaders. The retreat will take place at Frog Tree Farm, a multigenerational Black-owned farm in Wadena County.
Our retreat/residency program serves leaders and artists who have a socially-engaged practice, who create and manage systems of support for others, and who need to be poured into through the praxis of mutual aid. Visionary arts leader, Alanna Morris, is the Program Manager and Lead Curator (though, our program is developed with input from community members).
We will be ushered in by a keynote address from Dr. Alexis Pauline Gumbs (Survival is a Promise: The Eternal Life of Audre Lorde; Undrowned: Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals; Revolutionary Mothering: Love on the Front Lines), a public scholar, Queer Black Troublemaker and Feminist Love Evangelist. Our roster of workshop facilitators includes authors, anthropologists, body workers, scholars, community builders, dance artists, and co-operative land stewards who heal communities through activism.
Professional development workshops and restorative practice are led by renown thought leaders to center sovereignty for black and indigenous peoples, land stewardship, wellness, joy practices, and social entrepreneurship.
Our program is inclusive of trans women and gender-expansive identities. This is a queer-inclusive, body positive, liberatory space—you are welcome!
This year, to honour the socio-political and economic climate, the program donation-based. Accommodations on the farm are available until full and include single and shared cabins, bell tents, and a caravan.
Limited capacity! Application open through Friday, June 20.
2025 Facilitators:
Dr. Brendane Tynes: Unburdening Ourselves for Liberation: An Introduction to Black Feminist Resistance
Alanna Morris: Embodying Archive: Ritual performance and Ritualized Living
Rebecca Ndosi: DEEP Listening From Within: An Introduction to Soul Listening
Mama Kapacity: The Power of the Feminine Re:Membered
DejaJoelle: Body Reclamation and The Garden
Iya Mabolé: Of Spirit and Soil: liberation through gender fugitively
Mariana Castañeda Lopez: Movement as Medicine Lab
Kelly Shay: Dance Party – Your Movement of Joy
Kao Kalia Yang: Taking Your Time
Special guest to be announced!
In solidarity,
Alanna Morris, I A.M. Arts Artistic Director