Planted in the same pot retreat (overnight)
Planted in the Same Pot (PISP) is the introductory relationship-building retreat required for all ARS participants, mamas, and invited workshop leaders prior to our very first ARS circle. It is a collective opportunity for all members of ARS (new and returning) to get to know both the programmatic structure of ARS as well as the folks we will be in fellowship with during the summer. We invite all daughters to come as they are with their brilliance, curiosity, and wisdom as they will be presented with an open space to create, inquire, and dream.
This year, PISP will occur June 24th-June 26th with the location disclosed upon acceptance to ARS.
Greetings + Nourishment
Acknowledgment of the mundane and divine in each of us. A hello with a kind, grow me/ grow you purpose. Food, so that our bellies are full and we can show up as our core selves.
Yoga + Mindfulness
Movement and technique designed to open the body's pathway to Spirit. Deliberate practice of paying attention, on purpose, in the moment, without judgment. Every Sunday workshop begins with yoga. (Don't forget your mat!)
Opening + Closing Circles
Fundamental elements of ARS designed to build trust and community; used to develop and support our connections to one another and to help us challenge one another when our thinking may be harmful. Begin and end each Sunday workshop.
Political Education
When discussing Black liberation, as we do through the study of each of our media selections, it's important to ground ourselves in data, research and evidence that has not been gathered through a white male gaze. The PE component is a brief presentation on a relevant organizational theory illustrated in the media under study. PE is to ensure we don't get lost in our opinions and that we understand the forces, oppressive and otherwise, organizing our lives.
Readers' Workshop
These are daughter-directed literature circles. The space within which you deeply discuss the week's artistic work. Sometimes gently guided by mamas and youth leaders, but only if you all need some invigorating questions to kick off or keep the conversation going.
Project-Based assignments
One year in Sunday workshop, we wrote diss raps to rappers who had disparaged Black women, just to honor our rage. Another, we recreated scenes from Carrie Mae Weems' famous project The Kitchen Table Series, and photographed ourselves. Project-based assignments are authentic, personal applications of something we've learned through the media under study.
SMall Group Writing Workshops + Individual coaching
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Craft workshops that aim to strengthen daughters' existing writing skills and to cultivate their budding ones. Their creative work is also guided by writing coaches who they meet with multiple times across the summer.
Clean Up
Collective effort to tidy the space we occupy, to leave it better than we found it. Daughters, youth leaders and mams work together to pack up, sweep, arrange, and throw away as quickly as possible following all gatherings.