Esalen Institute is open! However, Highway 1 to the south is closed — please review the alternate route directions.
Please note: On Wednesday September 20, online registration may be unavailable for up to 15 minutes while system maintenance is performed. If the 'Register Now' page does not load, please wait about 15 minutes and try again.
Sitting in stillness to draw a flower, tracing the mountain’s slope with brushstrokes by eye, following the sound of waves down corridors of memory, and free association through writing – these are gestures of connection as much as they are creative acts. Join us for an intimate creative workshop on the enchanted grounds of Esalen Institute and along the trails of the Big Sur coast to explore art making as a relational practice with the wild.
Immersed in the outdoors during the first lovely days of summer, we will write, draw, and craft to nourish our innate creative capacities and cultivate kinship with the land. We will hike to set ourselves on the creative path, grounding our bodies and opening our senses as we move through the landscape. While emphasizing a spirit of play and practice over product and gathering inspiration and materials from the environment, we will engage with a variety of media as pathways of meaningful connection with the self and the natural world.
Acknowledging Big Sur to be a precious, biodiverse wilderness and the sacred ancestral land of the Esselen Tribe, our artistic gestures will be humble offerings of reverent attention to the living world. May we joyfully participate in a collective creativity – one we share with the trees, boulders, rivers, birds, and all beings – to honor the Earth and our interconnectedness.
Activities will include:
Please note that this workshop is for people with all levels of creative practice, including those with no previous experience. You do not need to identify as an “artist” to participate. Various hiking abilities can be accommodated, but bear in mind that day hikes will be up to five miles long with rugged, uneven, and sometimes steep terrain. Participants must be able to sit on the ground for periods of time. If you have any questions about your ability to participate, please read the workshop FAQs or email info@wildtender.com. Answers to frequently asked questions about the workshop can be found here.
This workshop includes a $40 material fee and $60 of additional tuition for park fees and art supplies.
Learn more about the requirements to receive continuing education credit.
Fletcher Tucker is a co-founder of Wildtender, an organization based in Big Sur that cultivates kinship with the natural world, and explores earth-based wisdom traditions. Fletcher is also a writer, multidisciplinary artist and musician whose work engages deeply with place.
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As co-founder of the organization Wildtender, Noël Vietor is dedicated to helping people relate meaningfully with the land, themselves, and each other. Noël finds joy and meaning through mindful hiking, nature drawing, wildcrafting, and raising her young daughter on a Big Sur ridge-top.
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Monday
5:00 pm – 5:45 pm*How to Drop into Esalen*
7:15 pm – 9:30 pm
Tuesday
9:30 am – 5:00 pm
Wednesday
9:30 am – 12:30 pm
4:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Thursday
9:30 am – 5:00 pm
Friday
10:00 am – 12:00 pm
Summer Groovers will experience Esalen in a format similar to our Self Guided Explorations workshops. Each Summer Groove week or weekend will open and close with a circle, and be filled with festive, nostalgic activities that harken back to those days of yore.
More activities can be found on our open class schedule.
See general schedule information including arrival, departure and meal times.
Click Register Now to view availability of accommodations and all-inclusive, program-specific tuition. Please note that not all accommodation levels are available for every workshop and additional faculty fees may apply.
We offer scholarship funds for those with financial need. Learn more.
Please note: On Wednesday September 20, online registration may be unavailable for up to 15 minutes while system maintenance is performed. If the 'Register Now' page does not load, please wait about 15 minutes and try again.
Click Register Now to view availability of accommodations and all-inclusive tuition that includes lodging, three meals per day, access to the baths, and all activities on the Summer Groove schedule.
We offer scholarship funds for those with financial need. Learn more.
For this workshop, you will register and pay for accommodations and tuition in two separate steps.
Second, click Book Accommodations from this page and enter the password to complete your reservation to stay at Esalen.
Prices for accommodations include your lodging, meals, open classes, and use of the baths and other facilities. View partner program accommodations pricing.
As of June 30, 2023 we no longer require a negative COVID test at the time of check in. Please read our current COVID safety guidelines for complete details prior to booking your stay.
All guests and faculty must provide proof of negative test results at time of check-in. Please read our current COVID safety guidelines for complete details prior to booking your stay.
In addition to proof of vaccination, all guests and faculty must provide proof of negative test results at time of check-in. Please read our current COVID safety guidelines for complete details prior to booking your stay.
Effective January 7, 2022 in response to the rapid spread of the new Omicron variant, all guests and faculty will provide proof of negative PCR, NAAT, or antigen test results at time of check-in. The test must be taken within 72 hours nd results must come from a laboratory or healthcare provider.Please read our updated COVID safety guidelines prior to booking your stay.
Effective December 15 in accordance with new guidance from Governor Gavin Newsom and the California Department of Health, all guests, students, staff, residents, and faculty are required to wear masks in all indoor public settings, irrespective of vaccine status, for the next four weeks (December 15, 2021 through January 15, 2022). Please read our updated COVID safety guidelines prior to booking your stay.
Effective November 19, 2021, in accordance with new guidance from the Monterey County Board of Supervisors, all guests, students, staff, residents, and faculty are no longer required to wear masks indoors on campus. Please read our updated COVID safety guidelines prior to booking your stay.
Starting November 5, 2021, due to substantial levels of COVID-19 transmission in Monterey County, a mask mandate established by the Monterey County Board of Supervisors will go into effect. Please read our COVID safety guidelines prior to booking your stay.
All guests will be required to provide proof of vaccination upon arrival starting September 3, 2021. Please read our COVID safety guidelines prior to booking your stay.
Masks are no longer mandated indoors or outdoors, except during massage sessions. Guests are not required to provide testing or vaccination verification before arriving on campus. Please read our COVID safety guidelines prior to booking your stay.
Sitting in stillness to draw a flower, tracing the mountain’s slope with brushstrokes by eye, following the sound of waves down corridors of memory, and free association through writing – these are gestures of connection as much as they are creative acts. Join us for an intimate creative workshop on the enchanted grounds of Esalen Institute and along the trails of the Big Sur coast to explore art making as a relational practice with the wild.
Immersed in the outdoors during the first lovely days of summer, we will write, draw, and craft to nourish our innate creative capacities and cultivate kinship with the land. We will hike to set ourselves on the creative path, grounding our bodies and opening our senses as we move through the landscape. While emphasizing a spirit of play and practice over product and gathering inspiration and materials from the environment, we will engage with a variety of media as pathways of meaningful connection with the self and the natural world.
Acknowledging Big Sur to be a precious, biodiverse wilderness and the sacred ancestral land of the Esselen Tribe, our artistic gestures will be humble offerings of reverent attention to the living world. May we joyfully participate in a collective creativity – one we share with the trees, boulders, rivers, birds, and all beings – to honor the Earth and our interconnectedness.
Activities will include:
Please note that this workshop is for people with all levels of creative practice, including those with no previous experience. You do not need to identify as an “artist” to participate. Various hiking abilities can be accommodated, but bear in mind that day hikes will be up to five miles long with rugged, uneven, and sometimes steep terrain. Participants must be able to sit on the ground for periods of time. If you have any questions about your ability to participate, please read the workshop FAQs or email info@wildtender.com. Answers to frequently asked questions about the workshop can be found here.
This workshop includes a $40 material fee and $60 of additional tuition for park fees and art supplies.
Learn more about the requirements to receive continuing education credit.
Fletcher Tucker is a co-founder of Wildtender, an organization based in Big Sur that cultivates kinship with the natural world, and explores earth-based wisdom traditions. Fletcher is also a writer, multidisciplinary artist and musician whose work engages deeply with place.
As co-founder of the organization Wildtender, Noël Vietor is dedicated to helping people relate meaningfully with the land, themselves, and each other. Noël finds joy and meaning through mindful hiking, nature drawing, wildcrafting, and raising her young daughter on a Big Sur ridge-top.
June 3–7, 2024
This program is full. Find another.
Applications are closed.
Applications are closed.
Sitting in stillness to draw a flower, tracing the mountain’s slope with brushstrokes by eye, following the sound of waves down corridors of memory, and free association through writing – these are gestures of connection as much as they are creative acts. Join us for an intimate creative workshop on the enchanted grounds of Esalen Institute and along the trails of the Big Sur coast to explore art making as a relational practice with the wild.
Immersed in the outdoors during the first lovely days of summer, we will write, draw, and craft to nourish our innate creative capacities and cultivate kinship with the land. We will hike to set ourselves on the creative path, grounding our bodies and opening our senses as we move through the landscape. While emphasizing a spirit of play and practice over product and gathering inspiration and materials from the environment, we will engage with a variety of media as pathways of meaningful connection with the self and the natural world.
Acknowledging Big Sur to be a precious, biodiverse wilderness and the sacred ancestral land of the Esselen Tribe, our artistic gestures will be humble offerings of reverent attention to the living world. May we joyfully participate in a collective creativity – one we share with the trees, boulders, rivers, birds, and all beings – to honor the Earth and our interconnectedness.
Activities will include:
Please note that this workshop is for people with all levels of creative practice, including those with no previous experience. You do not need to identify as an “artist” to participate. Various hiking abilities can be accommodated, but bear in mind that day hikes will be up to five miles long with rugged, uneven, and sometimes steep terrain. Participants must be able to sit on the ground for periods of time. If you have any questions about your ability to participate, please read the workshop FAQs or email info@wildtender.com. Answers to frequently asked questions about the workshop can be found here.
This workshop includes a $40 material fee and $60 of additional tuition for park fees and art supplies.
Learn more about the requirements to receive continuing education credit.
Fletcher Tucker is a co-founder of Wildtender, an organization based in Big Sur that cultivates kinship with the natural world, and explores earth-based wisdom traditions. Fletcher is also a writer, multidisciplinary artist and musician whose work engages deeply with place.
As co-founder of the organization Wildtender, Noël Vietor is dedicated to helping people relate meaningfully with the land, themselves, and each other. Noël finds joy and meaning through mindful hiking, nature drawing, wildcrafting, and raising her young daughter on a Big Sur ridge-top.
Esalen Institute
55000 Highway 1
Big Sur, CA 93920
US: 1-831-667-3000
info@esalen.org