News

Late in 2019 had an opportunity to connect with program leaders Plácida Gallegos, Akasha Saunders, Steve Schapiro and Carol Wishcamper (pictured above, left to right). Their program, Dare to Connect WE-LAB, provides a space to explore and support participants’ capacity to embrace differences and to connect with one another across those differences with curiosity and love. The program was rescheduled from March 2020 due to COVID. Dare to Connect WE-LAB is coming to the Whidbey Institute in August 2021 and registration is open to all!

During our conversation, I not only got a feeling for the facilitators (a fantastic team) and the program (a wonderful offering) but I also became convinced that there is little the world needs more than work like this. Supporting people across diverse social identities and circumstances in creating brave, vulnerable, and authentic connections can help us begin to heal the rifts of racism, sexism and other oppressive systems in our bodies, hearts, communities, and societies. Read More →

Special thanks to Themis Gkion and Tessie and Madeleine Bunnell for their contributions to this issue!

Click here to view the April Newsletter.

I recently had the opportunity to connect with Themis Gkion, a Creative Empowerment Facilitator with Partners for Youth Empowerment (PYE). Connecting via Zoom between Greece and the United States, we enjoyed a wide-ranging conversation about the PYE approach to learning, about larger trends in education, and about what is possible when the power and potential of young learners are unleashed. As an outcome of our conversation, I’ve been personally inspired to take an online Creative Facilitation 1 course from PYE in June. —Marnie Jackson Read More →

Pictured: a photo by tessie of MadelEine, Anika, and a curious doe. Photos courtesy the Bunnell family.

We were lucky enough to get to know the Bunnell family during spring and summer 2020, as Beth and her daughters Tessie (14) and Madeleine (16) got involved as volunteers on the land. When we asked for their reflections, Tessie and Madeleine both expressed excitement about what they had seen and learned, and eager anticipation of their next visit to the land. 

“I look forward to spending more time at the Whidbey Institute and seeing how our trail looks in the different seasons,” Tessie said.  Read More →

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Our resident caretaker, Thomas Arthur, shares an experience he had here during our February snowstorm and then offers up a beautiful video of that time. Enjoy! —Marnie

I am standing in the courtyard of Thomas Berry Hall in the midst of our February snow storm. There is no wind, no sound, just the wondrous view of huge flakes floating to the ground, galaxies of light falling through space. I am captivated by the moment, filled with a giddy delight as if I were seeing snow for the first time. Read More →

by Marnie Jackson

Kent Wales discovered the Whidbey Institute when a colleague invited him to Spirited Work in 2002. The program, hosted by Anne Stadler and others including Gabriel Shirley and Mark Jones, was once described by Tree Fitzpatrick as, “an ongoing experiment that embodies collective wisdom as a conscious system.” These Open Space gatherings continued to draw Kent west from his Spokane-area home until Spirited Work concluded in the mid 2000s. As a result of the program’s influence in his life and in appreciation for this land, Kent donates regularly. As part of his care for this place, he became a monthly donor to the Whidbey Institute in 2013.

I recently connected with Kent to thank him for his ongoing generosity and to find out more about why he gives. He shared about his experience with Spirited Work, which he said helped bring balance to his life. Read More →