THE STORY

Dear Reader,

I dedicate this space and all created within it to my youngest brother, Ezekiel (Zeke) Sozo Crowder. After his sudden death in February 2021, grief entered my life in profound ways that I feel I can only begin to comprehend. His life has deeply changed the lens through which I experience the world. In my journey with grief, I have found that creativity, community support, and my faith have been essential elements in my healing.

Shortly after Zeke’s death, my family moved out to 20 acres of farmland in the Willamette Valley. Zeke’s Farm is a space where we have continued healing and living in honor of my beautiful brother and the life he lived. The farm has been a gift that has held us in our grief, and we share this gift with others who seek restoration and hope. As I continue to heal from loss, I feel compelled to walk beside others experiencing any type of grief.

My mission is to foster a creative, resilient, and empathetic community through collective healing. I want to honor the joy Ezekiel brought to every life he impacted by cultivating joy with others and holding space for all emotions to exist. Peace Tree Collective offers our local community the kinds of support that are life-giving to us. By offering time, space, and compassion, we tend to our personal and collective grief in a nurturing space together. 

As you journey through the valleys and the hills of this life, I hope you experience moments of profound peace and presence that carry you. You are not alone. You are enough. You are loved.

~ Maile Crowder

Peace Tree Collective began from grief and joy .

Maile and Zeke, April 2020.
MISSION STATEMENT

Our mission is to steward the grief process as a community of artists by inviting opportunities to hold space for loss and pain. We believe healing can happen in a deeper, more profound way when we process pain together through creative expression and community.

The Co-Founders

  • Maile Crowder

    Maile Crowder is our Executive Director of Peace Tree Collective. Maile is a dancer and choreographer with over ten years of teaching experience. She is currently embarking on furthering her education in mental health and group therapy by pursuing a M.S. in Counseling at George Fox University.

    How do you grieve?

    Listening to music, the birds and the wind. Remembering his hands, his walk and his laugh. Touching the moss of an oak tree, placing a rock at his cross, and letting my tears cleanse me.

    What brings you joy?

    Dancing in the sunshine, creating and sharing homemade meals, watching the sun set and the stars shine surrounded by the people (and animals) I love.

  • Kat Freya

    Kat Freya is our Creative Director as well as an interdisciplinary artist, writer, dancer, and facilitator who believes dance is a ritual for memory, embodiment is resistance to the capitalist matrix, and poetry is a reunion with the robust mundanity of existence.

    How do you grieve?

    Singing the lost songs of my childhood. Sitting down in front of a blank page and bleeding. Remembering my grandmother’s grandmothers who I will never know but know in the flowers, the trees, the sky, and the river. In child's pose.

    What brings you joy?

    Reunions, resurrections, revitalizations, revisions. Long walks in the woods no matter the weather. Being in my body. Poetry. Sharing movement, art, and dinner with others.

  • Alicia Ralls

    Alicia Ralls is our Programs Director and Donor Engagement Manager. Alicia is a multidisciplinary artist, focusing on ceramics and music. Alicia believes that artistic expression is a crucial factor in healing and creating space to feel the depths of the human experience.

    How do you grieve?

    Allowing myself to swim in the waves of grief. I bathe in my grief. It’s baptismal. Also crying, dancing, singing, writing, walking, and any movement that allows my physical body to begin the process of moving through grief, instead of against it.

    What brings you joy?

    Laughing about the curiosities of life, philosophical conversations with friends while making dinner together, listening to new music, lying in the grass, and experiencing true moments of presence in groups of people.

Our Collaborators

Cory Standridge | The Meaning of February, cinematography

Brady Heinsoo | The Meaning of February, original score

… and you? Are you an artist/creative/human/animal/mineral interested in delving into grief, joy, and art with us? We really want to hear from you. Drop us a line at peacetreecollective@gmail.com

Our Partners

Zeke’s Farm

Speak Out PDX

Packman Farms

… and you? Are you a small business, yoga studio, dance center, or somebody else interested in joining forces to make something incredible? We wanna be friends. Drop us a line at peacetreecollective@gmail.com.