Advanced Mentored Studies: Visual Storytelling and Documentary Photography Projects

In this workshop, participants explore the landscape through photography and transform their images into handmade books. Through field trips, discussions, and editing sessions, students develop a personal visual narrative rooted in place. Back in the studio, we introduce simple book structures, such as the pamphlet and accordion book, that allow images to unfold and connect in new ways. Combining photographic vision with tactile craft, this class offers a complete process from making photographs in the field to creating an artist's book that tells a story of landscape.

This immersive four-day workshop invites participants to discover the powerful intersection of equine-assisted exploration, personal experience, and interdisciplinary art-making through a unique collaboration between WindWalkers and Anderson Ranch Arts Center. A key component of the workshop introduces participants to digital fabrication tools, transforming 2D drawings into 3D forms. Students will create sculptural interpretations of horses, hybrid animals, or imagined creatures—extending their emotional and symbolic responses into new dimensions. The workshop emphasizes themes of connection, embodiment, transformation, and the human–animal relationship, encouraging experimentation, play, and personal expression. Through guided demonstrations and hands-on exploration, students will learn how to move fluidly between image-making, material exploration, and object-based practices, expanding their understanding of what their work can become. Days 1–2: WindWalkers — Equine Experience Participants begin their journey at WindWalkers through engagement with the natural environment and guided equine-assisted experiences. Through simple bookmaking, expressive sketching, and close interaction with horses, students explore presence, trust, emotional awareness, and nonverbal communication. These sessions are designed to foster reflection and personal insight, creating a strong foundation for their creative work. Days 3–4: Anderson Ranch Arts Center — Art Making Participants transition into the studios at Anderson Ranch Arts Center, where they translate their experiences into visual and sculptural form. Working from photographs, sketches, and memories developed during their time with the horses, students will explore both intuitive and structured approaches to art-making. This workshop is perfect for artists, creatives, and seekers of all kinds who are ready to go beyond the canvas — exploring nature, presence, and the wisdom of the herd as a source of creative inspiration.

Join an engaging exploration of the synthesis between two distinct art forms: photography and painting. Students discover transfer techniques that integrate photographic images and text directly onto painted surfaces, resulting in intriguingly layered works. Participants explore traditional collage and photomontage, and master new methods that allow for opaque and translucent layers. Reductive methods, such as sanding and scraping, reveal the history of earlier photographic layers and suggest an archaeological approach to image development. The workshop emphasizes experimentation and exploratory approaches. Students produce a portfolio of physical examples of all techniques.