Art & Spirit Retreat
A Personal Shrine Workshop
With Coeleen Kiebert
Begin the year with the Art & Spirit Retreat! Set your course for 2026 with meaning and intention while cultivating a sense of connection, purpose, and creative energy to carry you forward throughout the year.
Since its inception in 1972, the Art & Spirit workshop has offered a transformative experience, guiding individuals on a unique journey through the psychological stages of the creative process. The workshop fosters openness, letting go, developing ego strength, and more, introducing a new set of principles that shape our lives and creativity.
In this Art & Spirit workshop, each participant will create a Personal Shrine that conjures images that are a reflection of their own spiritual life. Each of our inherited religions (I.e., Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Muslim, etc.) represent a spiritual drive that has built-in icons and symbols. Given the challenges of today, these may no longer seem helpful or even relevant. However, a Personal Shrine of one’s present life, one that reflects symbols, can serve as a reminder of what our True Self has always longed for… What we most want to honor in this life.
With art materials, collage, drawing, clay, poetry and meditative exercises, we will tap into the greater Creative Unconscious where we may find symbols with surprising personal depth and meaning.
The timing of this retreat at the start of the new year is significant. It offers space to reflect on what you want to experience in 2026 through guided exercises that help you clarify your vision. If you’re an artist, this is a chance to jumpstart your work with fresh inspiration. If you don’t consider yourself an artist, this is an invitation to unlock creativity in new ways.
This retreat welcomes all individuals, friends, and families who want to come together and start the year by connecting through shared experiences.
Led by lifelong artist and teacher, Coeleen Kiebert, you will experience:
- Guided exploration of the creative process
- Principles and tools for engaging with the creative process
- Creative activities to inspire personal expression
- Visioning exercises focused on your goals and ambitions for 2026
- Techniques for using creativity as a tool of personal growth and self-discovery
- A supportive and inspirational setting
- Opportunities to connect with like-minded individuals
More than 50 years of Art & Spirit workshops at the University of California, Santa Cruz, as well as at the artist’s home studio, Mount Madonna, and other venues, have built a strong impetus for the continuation of the deeply personal art and psychology methodology that Coeleen Kiebert has envisioned and led for so many decades. Her book, A LOVE AFFAIR WITH ART AND SPIRIT, A MEMOIR, was published in Fall 2024 and it offers an ongoing structure, a Master Class Certificate Program, to make available the riches of the Art & Spirit process to everyone.
Rates & What's Included
Details & Useful Information
Group Retreats at Mount Madonna
Adults
Tuition $300 + accommodations & meals. Rates are per person, and are inclusive for all days of the retreat. Rates stated here apply to this retreat only; other retreat and program accommodations pricing may differ.
Rates: Retreat rates depend on your choice of accommodations and include meals, registration fees, and access to the Mount Madonna campus.
Arrival & Departure: Plan to arrive and check-in between 3:00 – 5:30 p.m. Check out is at 11:00 a.m.; however, you may stay for lunch following the program closing.
Reservations: Retreats must be booked a minimum of 48 hours in advance.
Meals: Two vegetarian meals are served during retreats, including brunch and dinner. Breads, spreads, and a tea bar are also available between meals.
Important Note About Accommodations:
Double and triple rates are available ONLY to groups of 2 or 3 people who are staying in the same room. Please list the names of the people with whom you are sharing the room on the registration form.
- If there is only 1 person staying in the room, it is considered a Single.
- If there are 2 people staying in the room, it is considered a Double.
- If there are 3 people staying in the room, it is considered a Triple.
- Please note that fees for accommodations will be based on actual room occupancy.
Accommodations & Meals
Make the Mountain Home
Rates are based on stated occupancy (i.e., double and triple rates are available only to groups of two or three people who are staying in the same room).
Guest Rooms
Single, Double, or Triple
These tasteful hotel style rooms, some with ensuite bathrooms, are located in our Conference Center, where there is wifi, two lovely courtyards with expansive views in which you may read and relax, and a full tea bar available at all times in the conference wing of the building. Rooms that don’t have en-suite bathrooms have access to nearby shared bathrooms and showers (private while in use). All beds are singles. There are no phones or TVs in any of our rooms. Prices are based on stated occupancy.
Rustic Cabins
Single or Double
Our simple rustic cabins are located in the Oaks Campground. They are a short 10-minute walk uphill from the Conference Center, but have a feeling of being more remote. Cabins sleep two and feature electricity and heat but no wifi or indoor plumbing. All beds are singles. A separate shower house is nearby, containing private showers and dressing rooms, and flush toilets. If this sounds a bit rustic, please consider booking a room in the Conference Center. Prices are based on stated occupancy.
Commuting
Drive yourself
Commuting to your program is a great option if you live locally, or are staying nearby! The commuter option includes meals and amenities (lodging is not included). Please note that the roads to Mount Madonna are curvy and may have fog coverage. EV chargers are currently not available.
Presenter
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Coeleen KiebertCoeleen Kiebert is a sculptor working in both ceramic and bronze. She exhibits her work nationwide in museums and galleries and is represented in numerous private collections. She has a B.S. in Art Education from the University of Minnesota and an M.S. in Psychology from the University of California, Santa Cruz. In addition to her major interest in the psychology of the creative process, Coeleen has pursued the effects of Asian philosophy on Western art. Her search for the “spiritual” in art has taken her to extensive study and travel in Japan and China and left a decided impression on her sculpture. These pursuits have become a powerful influence as she digs deeply for personal and spiritual meaning in her sculpting process.
Coeleen Kiebert has taught the Creative Process in her Art & Spirit workshops for decades. Author of All of a Sudden: The Creative Process and other related publications, Coeleen lives by the ocean in Santa Cruz, California where she leads Master Classes in ceramic sculpture.
