Cathartic Release: Collaborative Painting

Cathartic Release: Collaborative Painting

This workshop is an invitation to paint on a single canvas, together — and to let go.

COST | $65 per person

DURATION | 2 hours

GROUP SIZE 8-12 people

FORMAT In-person. This is a lightly guided hands-on workshop — taught experientially.

WHAT’S INCLUDED Art materials to use for the day.

Cathartic Release: Collaborative Painting is a practice of shared mark-making and letting go, for real release and a different way of creating something together. This workshop starts from a simple premise — the canvas is shared from the first mark, and no one gets to protect what they've made. You'll paint, watch someone paint over it, and paint over someone else's in turn. Every mark moves over, around, or into whatever's already there. We work this way because holding tightly to our own marks is exactly what keeps release out of reach. The goal is to make without owning, instead of protecting what we've made. 

We practice making and releasing something in the same breath. What that stirs up in the body — the flinch, the loosening, that's not an accident of the format, it’s the point. Ownership is something most of us carry into a room without noticing, and painting on a shared surface is a fast way to find out how tightly you're holding it. Every session ends with a different painting and a different group of hands on it, but the same negotiation happens each time, between what you wanted to make and what the canvas is becoming. There's no reserved corner and no final say — a mark you're proud of might be gone in ten minutes, covered by someone else's hand. By the end, the group decides together what happens to the painting: keep it whole, cut it up, paint over it completely. That decision belongs to the group. 


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By the end of the day

  • You'll have felt something in your chest loosen when a mark you wanted to protect disappeared under someone else's — and you kept painting anyway.

  • You'll have set down something you made — not because you were finished with it, but because holding on was never the point.

  • You'll have handed part of your painting to someone you just met, and picked up part of theirs in return.

  • You'll leave with more room than you started with — some open space where a fixed idea used to sit, and real curiosity about what could fill it instead.

No experience needed. Space is limited to a small group.

WHO IT’S FOR This is for you if you’re drawn to the idea of collaborating on a single piece, painting alongside others who want to do the same. Whether you need a real exhale, want to make something with your hands without worrying about the outcome, or are just looking to try something new, this is a chance to work directly with Kim Wilson, facilitator, and co-editor of We Grow the World Together: Parenting Toward Abolition.

Good to know

  • No. Come as you are and bring your curiosity — that's all this practice asks of you.

    • Water and snacks for yourself.

    • An apron, smock, or old shirt, to protect your clothing.

    • A willingness to try, and a warm smile to greet fellow makers.

  • I don't publicly share photos of participants. Images of your work are only shared with your consent. The same goes for each other — please don't photograph or record fellow participants without their consent, and don't post session photos to social media. Take the lessons, leave the details!

  • Plans change — reach out as soon as you know, and we'll sort out the best option together, whether that's moving you to another date or something else.

  • If I need to cancel a session for any reason, you'll hear from me as soon as possible, and you'll have the choice of a full refund or moving to another date — whichever works better for you.