Creative Circles
The heart and soul of our community
Creativity has a cycle, just like the seasons of life. There are winters and springs, droughts, and seasons of blossom, harvest, and dormancy.
Creative Circles are here to support you — no matter what season of the creative process you find yourself in.
Creative Circles are a place to bring your messy sketches, your scattered manuscripts, your Nearly Finished Work, your most ambitious but unrealized ideas, and your most tender poems.
Once a month, we gather to share and receive feedback on works-in-progress. Creative Circles are not just a moment to be witnessed in your raw creative process, but to build community with other artists in Portland.
You don’t have to be an artist with a capital A.
At Peace Tree Collective, we believe there is a story inside of you worth telling, whether it is shared through a poem, drawing, or a dance. That story is worthy of attention, and a community to hold it with you.
The human experience is full of loss and grief, as it is full of beauty, wonder, and joy. All of these things join together to feed the creative impulse.
From early cave markings to storytelling around the fire, there has always been the human instinct to gather in a circle, to make meaning from absence, and to say we were here.
Feedback Process
Our feedback process is not “constructive criticism” or an “artistic critique”. Our process is rooted in empowering you and your vision, no matter where you are in your creative journey.
Creative Circles hold space for the messy, non-linear creative process, while also offering compassionate, rigorous reflection.
We believe the most helpful kind of feedback is rooted in attention, curiosity, and deep engagement. Where artists can receive high-quality feedback on their work as it is, not how to “make it better”.
The feedback you receive is meant to illuminate, not direct. The goal: to help you see your work more fully, so you can make it more fully yours.
Creativity
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Community
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Healing
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Spirituality
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Creativity ∞ Community ∞ Healing ∞ Spirituality ∞
A non-exhaustive list of what you might bring to Creative Circle:
An idea you wrote in your notes app the night before that you think might be the beginning of a bigger project
A passage from the novel you've spent the last seven years writing
An unfinished painting
Sketches for a comic book
An improvised dance
A song you composed that you would normally never let anyone hear under any circumstances
A sculpture of found objects from your last run to Goodwill
Fabric samples for your next fiber art piece
The script for a short film
A PowerPoint presentation on your current obsession that you want to turn into something artistic but have no idea what yet
… and so on!
PS - don’t have anything to bring? YOU are welcome to come, just as you are.
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Testimonials
∞ Testimonials
“Creative Circle has been so touching and personal. It has been a space to connect authentically with other artists in my community. I always leave feeling inspired by everyone’s work and their feedback sparks my own curiosity and compassion.”
“It feels as though this retreat cleared some of the thatchy my mess in mind so I can more clearly look forward to what I want to create. ”
“I felt such a sense of community today. My experience with everyone felt accepting, open, vulnerable, and raw. Everyone let everyone just be as they are/were. Zero expectations or judgment. ”
“Today, I gave myself and others permission to be treated with elevated tenderness. Most spaces do not prioritize or consider tenderness, so it felt unique and special.”