Celebrate Spring Break in California’s Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, an arid land of beguiling beauty and startling extremes. Cactus and wildflowers will be in bloom in a land naturalist Susan Zwinger describes as “the secret passage into a Southern California of a century ago.” Here, at the western edge of the Sonoran desert, we’ll convene a group of graduate students to explore the potential for making remote work in response to a stunning and dramatic landscape.
Coyote Canyon is our first trip offered specifically for emerging professional artists. Part workshop, part experimental residency, students will camp together on public land for the duration of the week, making new work in response to the landscape. The instructors will demonstrate the basics skills of desert camping and backcountry safety and travel, and will provide readings and discussions designed to spur an exploration of our creative practices.
Our group will set up camp a short distance from an access road, and use this as a base for exploring the nearby mountains and canyons. Students will cook together in small groups and share camping gear. Instructors will lead day hikes that expose the unique natural and cultural characteristics of this region, the ancestral home of the Cahuilla Indians, as well as one overnight backpacking trip to bring us deeper into the wilderness. Days will include self-directed work time and periodic critique-style peer evaluations. In the evenings we will congregate after dinner to discuss readings, tell stories, and share ideas with our new network of friends and collaborators.
Participants: Kaila Farrell-Smith, Jayne Struble, Kathryn Yancey, Jessica Hirsch, Laura DeVito, Franciszka Voeltz, Bryan Michael Putnam, Stephanie Rohlfs, Isabel Theselius, Alyssa Pitman
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