Category Archives: Workshop

Resources, Workshop

Poetry Home Repair Online Class March 15- May 21

Although Ted Kooser’s book, The Poetry Home Repair Manual states on the cover that it is “practical advice for beginning poets,” the book has great lessons for poets at any level of experience. In this course, you will work through Kooser’s book chapter-by-chapter, gleaning the valuable lessons he has to impart, and practicing incorporating some of his “practical advice” into our own poems. Each week, there will be a handful of discussion questions drawn from that week’s assigned chapter, then a poem prompt related to that week’s topics. Each participant will come away from the class with a truckload of new ideas, new tools in their poetry toolbox, 10 new poem drafts and the feedback received on them from participants and instructor LouAnn Muhm to guide revision, and a new writing community with whom to share triumphs and struggles.

Poetry Home Repair (10 weeks): 
March 15-May 21,2021— $350

Registration deadlines: March 10. Ten spots available, first-come, first served. To register or for more information, email northbeachwriters@gmail.com or visit https://northbeachwritersretreat.com/poetry-home-repair/

In this class, you will be following along in The Poetry Home Repair Manual by Ted Kooser. It is necessary that you have the book (print or digital) in order to take the class.

Topics covered in this 10-week course include:

  • Week 1–Chapter 1:  Poet’s Job Description
  • Week 2–Chapters 2-3: Writing for Others and First Impressions
  • Week 3–Chapters 4-5: Don’t Worry About the Rules, Rhyming, and Prose Poems
  • Week 4–Chapter 6: Writing About Feelings
  • Week 5–Chapter 7: Can You Read Your Poem Through Your Poem?
  • Week 6–Chapter 8: Writing from Memory
  • Week 7–Chapter 9: Working with Detail
  • Week 8–Chapter 10: Controlling Effects Through Careful Choices
  • Week 9–Chapter 11: Fine tuning Similes and Metaphors
  • Week 10–Chapter 12: Relax and Wait
Call for Artists, Chat Topics, Event News, Exhibit and Showcase, Workshop

Black Lives Matter 12×12 Canvas Art Creation Zoom Workshop

Looking for a chance to create some art? Teaching Artist and NWMAC Showcase and Training Specialist Trey Everett led a Zoom workshop to inspire and guide you in creating a 12 x 12 canvas with the theme of Black Lives Matter. This canvas will then be included in the Black Lives Matter exhibit at NCTC in Thief River Falls.

When: Saturday, December 12 10:00 to 11:30 am.

Did you miss the Zoom workshop? We’ve got you covered. Trey has recorded a Zoom that you can watch at any time convenient for you. There’s a quick test video first and then the workshop begins.

Here is the Zoom link and passcode:
https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/81Y7D-aIkl8U1sZ0mX3Bpk_GjDaeEbg3VemnhPRr39_EcjhJ9JPxsSxotP9jBw5Z.Z99NzVuW4JyCcJM4

Passcode: V4!EP$z1 

Don’t consider yourself to be an artist? No problem! This is open for anyone who interested. No experience or skill needed! We can provide you with a canvas, too. You will be responsible for other art supplies used, like paint, pencil, collage, etc.

Artwork for the exhibit will need to be done by January 4 so there’s plenty of time to complete it! Email Trey to request a canvas and to RSVP! We will also be accepting other art and art forms for this exhibit. Reach out to Trey with any questions!  trey.crxpres@midconetwork.com or 218-280-4917.

Chat Topics, Event News, Resources, Workshop

Arts in Digital Workshop Series — Apply for a scholarship

Are you interested in reserving assistance from our digital consultant for your specific digital needs? You may be able to receive a scholarship for active arts businesses. You must watch the first 2 webinars (links below) to be eligible. Let us know by Thursday, Dec 3 if you are interested in a scholarship worth $1,000 of consulting one-on-one work. We have never provided this opportunity before.

In case you missed it, here’s the link for Webinar#1

Webinar #2: a Virtual Events How-To at bit.ly/ArtsInDigital.

You asked so many great questions during the live webinar that we’re also offering a live “Ask Us Anything” broadcast on November 23rd…more details to follow!

Any and all information about the Arts in Digital Workshop Series is available at bit.ly/ArtsInDigital.

Questions? Ask Adam at adam@openvoicesllc.com

Resources, Workshop

Free Virtual Workshops: Arts in Digital Spaces. Sign Up Now

Ready to take your art online, but don’t know where to start? We’re here to help!

Whether you’re starting from scratch or ready to build on your existing digital engagement, this FREE virtual workshop series will provide the tools you need. Get the training, capacity building, and support you need to take your art to digital spaces in this series of facilitated workshops–all based on your feedback. 

Don’t miss this incredible opportunity to gather and learn! Sign up by Friday, October 16th and you’ll get the training, capacity building, and support you need to take your art to digital spaces. The FREE Arts in Digital Spaces virtual workshop series is built by, and for, you, so you won’t want to miss it!


How It Works

Provide feedback on what you need and want when it comes to taking your art online. 

Listen and learn about tools for key elements of digital engagement.

Dive deeper into the topics you choose and elevate your digital toolkit.

Make your digital plan a reality through facilitated cohort discussions with arts professionals.

The best part? It’s FREE thanks to the Forum of Regional Arts Councils of Minnesota! 

Sign Up Now!

Event News, Resources, Workshop

Online Writing Classes offered by North Beach Writers’ Retreat

Advanced Memoir Writing 
Have you started a memoir, but you just don’t know where to go? Do you want to take your memoir writing skills to the next level? This class will go into more than just the basics of memoir writing. Topics will include: using an objective correlative, building characterizations, using sensory imagery, creating a narrative arc, revising, and more. If you have already started writing and are looking for some direction, then this is the class for you! You do not have to be working on a book-length memoir. All you need are some interesting stories to tell that you are ready to shape into a literary format that others can appreciate. The best memoirs are not necessarily great because of the interesting experience that you are relating, but because they are written so that others can see and participate in the experience along with you. 

Advanced Memoir Writing (6 weeks)–$210 September 14 – October 26, 2020:   Registration Deadline: September 4. Ten spots available, first-come, first served.It is not required to take Memoir Basics I to take this class, but some writing experience is recommended.

Click Here for more info or to register. 

Tanya Stafsholt Miller has an MFA in memoir and poetry from Minnesota State University, Moorheadand MA in English from Bemidji State University.  Her poems and memoir essays have appeared in The Talking Stick, Bombshells: War Stories and Poems by Women on the Homefront, Red Weather, The Minnesota English Journal and others. She won a scholarship to the Northwoods Writers’ Conference in Bemidji, MN. Most recently, she was one of twelve writers chosen to attend the Pelee Island Book House writers’ retreat with Margaret Atwood and Wayne Grady. She currently teaches writing classes in Park Rapids, MN, and is an adjunct instructor at the University of Minnesota, Crookston.
Creative Boost 1:  Grow your Creativity
So many adults want to start or continue a creative practice, but are stuck. The writing and sketching prompts in this class help you identify what inspires you, and how to grow your creative confidence and purpose. We all have something to say; those seeds are within us. Look no further than your own curiosities and convictions. You already have the seeds; push through fears to create again!

Creativity Boost 1 (5weeks)–$175 October 4-November 8, 2020—$175:  Registration Deadline: September 20, 2020
Ten spots available, first-come, first served.

Click Here for more info or to register. 

Tiffany Besonen is a practicing artist of sculpture, painting, and mixed-media. She has taught Art in Minnesotapublic schools for 26 years, and has exhibited throughout the U.S. for 20 years. Tiffany is also a co-owner of Studio 176 Gallery in Park Rapids, MN She loves to write and talk about the creative process and encourages others to do something, anything, creative!
The Art of Voice in Poetry
In this brand-new class, we will be working our way, week by week, through Tony Hoagland’s excellent new book, The Art of Voice: Poetic Principles and Practice. Each week, we will read a chapter (or occasionally two) of the book, discuss, and then write a poem draft from a prompt based on the ideas of that week’s chapter(s). It will be necessary for participants to have a copy of the book, either print or electronic. Participants will come out of the class with at least 10 new poem drafts with feedback from both class members and LouAnn Muhm, as well as a raft of new ideas both from the book and from lively class discussions of the ideas presented in it.
 The Art of Voice in Poetry (10 weeks)–$350 September 21-December 1, 2020 (with a break for Thanksgiving): Registration Deadline: September 10Ten spots available, first-come, first served.
Click Here  for more info or to register

LouAnn Shepard Muhm is a poet and teacher from northern Minnesota.  Her poems have appeared in Antiphon, Alba, Red River Review, Eclectica, Pirene’s Fountain, and CALYX, among other journals and anthologies, and she was a finalist for the Creekwalker Poetry Prize and the Late Blooms Postcard Series. Muhm is a recipient of Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative Grants in Poetry in 2006 and 2012, and was chosen as one of two Artist Fellows by Region 2 Arts Council of Minnesota in 2016.   Her full-length poetry collection Breaking the Glass (Loonfeather Press, 2008) was a finalist for the Midwest Book Award in Poetry. Muhm was awarded an MFA in poetry from Sierra Nevada College in 2016.  She also serves as an associate instructor of English for Lake TahoeCommunity College in South Lake Tahoe, California, and taught poetry writing online for The Loft Literary Center 2011-2018.

To learn more visit their website here.