At McDougall United Church (July 10 - August 28)
Fridays | 5:30 PM – 8:00 PM

At Red Deer Lake United Church
Saturdays | 11:30 AM – 2 PM - Click here to sign up for Red Deer Lake Sessions

You can sign up for ALL 8 Sessions or Individually

Research suggests that creative activities can support healthy aging, cognitive flexibility, emotional well-being, lifelong learning, and meaningful social connection. Creativity encourages us to remain curious, engaged, and open to new experiences throughout our lives.

Yet many of us lose touch with our creative side as we grow older.

As children, we draw, imagine, build, and explore without worrying whether what we make is good enough. Somewhere along the way, many of us stop creating.

In the second half of life, we are offered a unique opportunity—not to become children again, but to become whole.

Join us for a series of gentle, welcoming workshops designed to awaken imagination, encourage reflection, build community, and explore art as a pathway to personal growth. No artistic experience is necessary—just curiosity and a willingness to explore.

The series is facilitated by Rev. Danah Cox, who holds both a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a Master of Divinity degree, bringing together a lifelong interest in creativity, spirituality, and personal growth. Rather than teaching art in a traditional sense, Danah hopes to serve as a guide, helping participants discover their own creative voice and explore Art as a way of Knowing.

Food & Fellowship

Each workshop begins with thirty minutes of conversation and a simple meal. The meal will be available throughout the session, but the formal learning and activity part will begin at the top of the hour.

The meal will typically consist of assorted croissant sandwiches, potato salad, water, coffee and cookies.

The food is intentionally simple— but enough to ensure no one has to choose between participating and eating. Participants with strict or special dietary requirements are welcome to bring their own meal.

WEEK 1 - July 10/11: Permission to Create

This opening workshop is designed for the most hesitant and inexperienced artist among us.

If you've ever said, "I'm not creative," "I can't draw," or "Art isn't for me," this is where to begin.

Through playful exercises, group activities, and simple creative prompts, we'll explore the barriers that often prevent adults from creating. There will be no pressure to produce anything beautiful or impressive.

The goal is simple:

To rediscover play.

To reconnect with curiosity.

To give yourself permission to begin.

If you only attend one workshop all summer, this might be the one.

WEEK 2 - July 17/18: Walking the Labyrinth: Art as Prayer

This week explores creativity as a contemplative practice.

Participants will be invited to walk the labyrinth or use hand-held wooden labyrinths for a quieter experience. Following the walk, participants will create personal mandalas using color, pattern, and symbol.

Mandalas can become visual prayers, reflections on a life season, expressions of gratitude, or simply a moment of peaceful focus.

This workshop is lightly structured and ideal for those seeking stillness, reflection, and renewal.

WEEK 3 - July 24/25: Memory Garden

Our memories help shape who we are.

Through collage, imagery, storytelling, and creative reflection, participants will create visual tributes to meaningful people, places, experiences, and moments in their lives.

You might create something inspired by a loved one, a favorite place, a cherished childhood memory, a spiritual experience, or a passage of scripture that has guided you.

Together we will explore gratitude, remembrance, and the stories that continue to shape us.

WEEK 4 - July 31 / August 1: Seeing with New Eyes

Photography, Attention & Wonder

Photography teaches us to slow down and notice.

Participants will explore selected outdoor locations and learn how images can help us pay attention to beauty, impermanence, memory, and place.

At Red Deer Lake, we will photograph the church gardens and memory garden.

At McDougall, we will explore a local Calgary location, documenting spaces, structures, and stories that may soon disappear.

No photography experience is required. Phones are welcome.

The focus is not technical perfection but learning to see.

WEEK 5 - August 7/8: Many Pieces, One Story

Community Mural & Collaborative Art

This is where we begin moving more intentionally into image-making.

Participants will contribute paint, marks, shapes, and symbols to a large shared artwork. Working together, we will create something no individual could create alone.

Afterward, the artwork will be digitally refined and transformed into commemorative stickers for everyone to take home.

This workshop explores belonging, collaboration, and the question:

"What happens when many small contributions become something larger?

WEEK 6 - August 14/15: Behind the Mask

What do others see?

What remains hidden?

Participants will create personal masks that explore both the public self and the private self.

The outside may represent the roles we play, while the inside may reveal hopes, fears, questions, dreams, and truths that are often left unspoken.

This workshop invites honesty, self-reflection, and compassionate conversation in a supportive environment.

WEEK 7 - August 21/22: Shaping Meaning

Clay, Carving & Sacred Objects

This workshop introduces three-dimensional creativity.

Participants may choose to work with clay, carve a small plaster block, create a symbolic vessel, build a simple sculpture, or paint meaningful imagery on stone.

Prompts will explore themes such as:

• Sacred containers

• Trees of life

• Pilgrimage and journey

• What we carry

• What we leave behind

This session invites participants to think with their hands and discover how meaning can emerge through making.

WEEK 8 - August 28/29: Finishing Touches & Celebration

Our final gathering provides an opportunity to complete unfinished projects, revisit favorite activities, and share reflections from the summer.

Participants will be able to continue work on previous projects with guidance and support.

Together we will celebrate what has been created, what has been discovered, and the community that has formed along the way.

This final session is less about finishing artwork and more about recognizing the creative journey we have taken together.

Because sometimes the most important thing we create is not an object at all.

Sometimes it is a new way of seeing ourselves.

At McDougall United Church (July 10 - August 28)
Fridays | 5:30 PM – 8:00 PM

At Red Deer Lake United Church
Saturdays | 11:30 AM – 2 PM - Click here to sign up for Red Deer Lake Sessions

You can sign up for ALL 8 Sessions or Individually

Research suggests that creative activities can support healthy aging, cognitive flexibility, emotional well-being, lifelong learning, and meaningful social connection. Creativity encourages us to remain curious, engaged, and open to new experiences throughout our lives.

Yet many of us lose touch with our creative side as we grow older.

As children, we draw, imagine, build, and explore without worrying whether what we make is good enough. Somewhere along the way, many of us stop creating.

In the second half of life, we are offered a unique opportunity—not to become children again, but to become whole.

Join us for a series of gentle, welcoming workshops designed to awaken imagination, encourage reflection, build community, and explore art as a pathway to personal growth. No artistic experience is necessary—just curiosity and a willingness to explore.

The series is facilitated by Rev. Danah Cox, who holds both a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a Master of Divinity degree, bringing together a lifelong interest in creativity, spirituality, and personal growth. Rather than teaching art in a traditional sense, Danah hopes to serve as a guide, helping participants discover their own creative voice and explore Art as a way of Knowing.

Food & Fellowship

Each workshop begins with thirty minutes of conversation and a simple meal. The meal will be available throughout the session, but the formal learning and activity part will begin at the top of the hour.

The meal will typically consist of assorted croissant sandwiches, potato salad, water, coffee and cookies.

The food is intentionally simple— but enough to ensure no one has to choose between participating and eating. Participants with strict or special dietary requirements are welcome to bring their own meal.

WEEK 1 - July 10/11: Permission to Create

This opening workshop is designed for the most hesitant and inexperienced artist among us.

If you've ever said, "I'm not creative," "I can't draw," or "Art isn't for me," this is where to begin.

Through playful exercises, group activities, and simple creative prompts, we'll explore the barriers that often prevent adults from creating. There will be no pressure to produce anything beautiful or impressive.

The goal is simple:

To rediscover play.

To reconnect with curiosity.

To give yourself permission to begin.

If you only attend one workshop all summer, this might be the one.

WEEK 2 - July 17/18: Walking the Labyrinth: Art as Prayer

This week explores creativity as a contemplative practice.

Participants will be invited to walk the labyrinth or use hand-held wooden labyrinths for a quieter experience. Following the walk, participants will create personal mandalas using color, pattern, and symbol.

Mandalas can become visual prayers, reflections on a life season, expressions of gratitude, or simply a moment of peaceful focus.

This workshop is lightly structured and ideal for those seeking stillness, reflection, and renewal.

WEEK 3 - July 24/25: Memory Garden

Our memories help shape who we are.

Through collage, imagery, storytelling, and creative reflection, participants will create visual tributes to meaningful people, places, experiences, and moments in their lives.

You might create something inspired by a loved one, a favorite place, a cherished childhood memory, a spiritual experience, or a passage of scripture that has guided you.

Together we will explore gratitude, remembrance, and the stories that continue to shape us.

WEEK 4 - July 31 / August 1: Seeing with New Eyes

Photography, Attention & Wonder

Photography teaches us to slow down and notice.

Participants will explore selected outdoor locations and learn how images can help us pay attention to beauty, impermanence, memory, and place.

At Red Deer Lake, we will photograph the church gardens and memory garden.

At McDougall, we will explore a local Calgary location, documenting spaces, structures, and stories that may soon disappear.

No photography experience is required. Phones are welcome.

The focus is not technical perfection but learning to see.

WEEK 5 - August 7/8: Many Pieces, One Story

Community Mural & Collaborative Art

This is where we begin moving more intentionally into image-making.

Participants will contribute paint, marks, shapes, and symbols to a large shared artwork. Working together, we will create something no individual could create alone.

Afterward, the artwork will be digitally refined and transformed into commemorative stickers for everyone to take home.

This workshop explores belonging, collaboration, and the question:

"What happens when many small contributions become something larger?

WEEK 6 - August 14/15: Behind the Mask

What do others see?

What remains hidden?

Participants will create personal masks that explore both the public self and the private self.

The outside may represent the roles we play, while the inside may reveal hopes, fears, questions, dreams, and truths that are often left unspoken.

This workshop invites honesty, self-reflection, and compassionate conversation in a supportive environment.

WEEK 7 - August 21/22: Shaping Meaning

Clay, Carving & Sacred Objects

This workshop introduces three-dimensional creativity.

Participants may choose to work with clay, carve a small plaster block, create a symbolic vessel, build a simple sculpture, or paint meaningful imagery on stone.

Prompts will explore themes such as:

• Sacred containers

• Trees of life

• Pilgrimage and journey

• What we carry

• What we leave behind

This session invites participants to think with their hands and discover how meaning can emerge through making.

WEEK 8 - August 28/29: Finishing Touches & Celebration

Our final gathering provides an opportunity to complete unfinished projects, revisit favorite activities, and share reflections from the summer.

Participants will be able to continue work on previous projects with guidance and support.

Together we will celebrate what has been created, what has been discovered, and the community that has formed along the way.

This final session is less about finishing artwork and more about recognizing the creative journey we have taken together.

Because sometimes the most important thing we create is not an object at all.

Sometimes it is a new way of seeing ourselves.

At McDougall United Church (July 10 - August 28)
Fridays | 5:30 PM – 8:00 PM

At Red Deer Lake United Church
Saturdays | 11:30 AM – 2 PM - Click here to sign up for Red Deer Lake Sessions

You can sign up for ALL 8 Sessions or Individually

Research suggests that creative activities can support healthy aging, cognitive flexibility, emotional well-being, lifelong learning, and meaningful social connection. Creativity encourages us to remain curious, engaged, and open to new experiences throughout our lives.

Yet many of us lose touch with our creative side as we grow older.

As children, we draw, imagine, build, and explore without worrying whether what we make is good enough. Somewhere along the way, many of us stop creating.

In the second half of life, we are offered a unique opportunity—not to become children again, but to become whole.

Join us for a series of gentle, welcoming workshops designed to awaken imagination, encourage reflection, build community, and explore art as a pathway to personal growth. No artistic experience is necessary—just curiosity and a willingness to explore.

The series is facilitated by Rev. Danah Cox, who holds both a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a Master of Divinity degree, bringing together a lifelong interest in creativity, spirituality, and personal growth. Rather than teaching art in a traditional sense, Danah hopes to serve as a guide, helping participants discover their own creative voice and explore Art as a way of Knowing.

Food & Fellowship

Each workshop begins with thirty minutes of conversation and a simple meal. The meal will be available throughout the session, but the formal learning and activity part will begin at the top of the hour.

The meal will typically consist of assorted croissant sandwiches, potato salad, water, coffee and cookies.

The food is intentionally simple— but enough to ensure no one has to choose between participating and eating. Participants with strict or special dietary requirements are welcome to bring their own meal.

WEEK 1 - July 10/11: Permission to Create

This opening workshop is designed for the most hesitant and inexperienced artist among us.

If you've ever said, "I'm not creative," "I can't draw," or "Art isn't for me," this is where to begin.

Through playful exercises, group activities, and simple creative prompts, we'll explore the barriers that often prevent adults from creating. There will be no pressure to produce anything beautiful or impressive.

The goal is simple:

To rediscover play.

To reconnect with curiosity.

To give yourself permission to begin.

If you only attend one workshop all summer, this might be the one.

WEEK 2 - July 17/18: Walking the Labyrinth: Art as Prayer

This week explores creativity as a contemplative practice.

Participants will be invited to walk the labyrinth or use hand-held wooden labyrinths for a quieter experience. Following the walk, participants will create personal mandalas using color, pattern, and symbol.

Mandalas can become visual prayers, reflections on a life season, expressions of gratitude, or simply a moment of peaceful focus.

This workshop is lightly structured and ideal for those seeking stillness, reflection, and renewal.

WEEK 3 - July 24/25: Memory Garden

Our memories help shape who we are.

Through collage, imagery, storytelling, and creative reflection, participants will create visual tributes to meaningful people, places, experiences, and moments in their lives.

You might create something inspired by a loved one, a favorite place, a cherished childhood memory, a spiritual experience, or a passage of scripture that has guided you.

Together we will explore gratitude, remembrance, and the stories that continue to shape us.

WEEK 4 - July 31 / August 1: Seeing with New Eyes

Photography, Attention & Wonder

Photography teaches us to slow down and notice.

Participants will explore selected outdoor locations and learn how images can help us pay attention to beauty, impermanence, memory, and place.

At Red Deer Lake, we will photograph the church gardens and memory garden.

At McDougall, we will explore a local Calgary location, documenting spaces, structures, and stories that may soon disappear.

No photography experience is required. Phones are welcome.

The focus is not technical perfection but learning to see.

WEEK 5 - August 7/8: Many Pieces, One Story

Community Mural & Collaborative Art

This is where we begin moving more intentionally into image-making.

Participants will contribute paint, marks, shapes, and symbols to a large shared artwork. Working together, we will create something no individual could create alone.

Afterward, the artwork will be digitally refined and transformed into commemorative stickers for everyone to take home.

This workshop explores belonging, collaboration, and the question:

"What happens when many small contributions become something larger?

WEEK 6 - August 14/15: Behind the Mask

What do others see?

What remains hidden?

Participants will create personal masks that explore both the public self and the private self.

The outside may represent the roles we play, while the inside may reveal hopes, fears, questions, dreams, and truths that are often left unspoken.

This workshop invites honesty, self-reflection, and compassionate conversation in a supportive environment.

WEEK 7 - August 21/22: Shaping Meaning

Clay, Carving & Sacred Objects

This workshop introduces three-dimensional creativity.

Participants may choose to work with clay, carve a small plaster block, create a symbolic vessel, build a simple sculpture, or paint meaningful imagery on stone.

Prompts will explore themes such as:

• Sacred containers

• Trees of life

• Pilgrimage and journey

• What we carry

• What we leave behind

This session invites participants to think with their hands and discover how meaning can emerge through making.

WEEK 8 - August 28/29: Finishing Touches & Celebration

Our final gathering provides an opportunity to complete unfinished projects, revisit favorite activities, and share reflections from the summer.

Participants will be able to continue work on previous projects with guidance and support.

Together we will celebrate what has been created, what has been discovered, and the community that has formed along the way.

This final session is less about finishing artwork and more about recognizing the creative journey we have taken together.

Because sometimes the most important thing we create is not an object at all.

Sometimes it is a new way of seeing ourselves.

At McDougall United Church (July 10 - August 28)
Fridays | 5:30 PM – 8:00 PM

At Red Deer Lake United Church
Saturdays | 11:30 AM – 2 PM - Click here to sign up for Red Deer Lake Sessions

You can sign up for ALL 8 Sessions or Individually

Research suggests that creative activities can support healthy aging, cognitive flexibility, emotional well-being, lifelong learning, and meaningful social connection. Creativity encourages us to remain curious, engaged, and open to new experiences throughout our lives.

Yet many of us lose touch with our creative side as we grow older.

As children, we draw, imagine, build, and explore without worrying whether what we make is good enough. Somewhere along the way, many of us stop creating.

In the second half of life, we are offered a unique opportunity—not to become children again, but to become whole.

Join us for a series of gentle, welcoming workshops designed to awaken imagination, encourage reflection, build community, and explore art as a pathway to personal growth. No artistic experience is necessary—just curiosity and a willingness to explore.

The series is facilitated by Rev. Danah Cox, who holds both a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a Master of Divinity degree, bringing together a lifelong interest in creativity, spirituality, and personal growth. Rather than teaching art in a traditional sense, Danah hopes to serve as a guide, helping participants discover their own creative voice and explore Art as a way of Knowing.

Food & Fellowship

Each workshop begins with thirty minutes of conversation and a simple meal. The meal will be available throughout the session, but the formal learning and activity part will begin at the top of the hour.

The meal will typically consist of assorted croissant sandwiches, potato salad, water, coffee and cookies.

The food is intentionally simple— but enough to ensure no one has to choose between participating and eating. Participants with strict or special dietary requirements are welcome to bring their own meal.

WEEK 1 - July 10/11: Permission to Create

This opening workshop is designed for the most hesitant and inexperienced artist among us.

If you've ever said, "I'm not creative," "I can't draw," or "Art isn't for me," this is where to begin.

Through playful exercises, group activities, and simple creative prompts, we'll explore the barriers that often prevent adults from creating. There will be no pressure to produce anything beautiful or impressive.

The goal is simple:

To rediscover play.

To reconnect with curiosity.

To give yourself permission to begin.

If you only attend one workshop all summer, this might be the one.

WEEK 2 - July 17/18: Walking the Labyrinth: Art as Prayer

This week explores creativity as a contemplative practice.

Participants will be invited to walk the labyrinth or use hand-held wooden labyrinths for a quieter experience. Following the walk, participants will create personal mandalas using color, pattern, and symbol.

Mandalas can become visual prayers, reflections on a life season, expressions of gratitude, or simply a moment of peaceful focus.

This workshop is lightly structured and ideal for those seeking stillness, reflection, and renewal.

WEEK 3 - July 24/25: Memory Garden

Our memories help shape who we are.

Through collage, imagery, storytelling, and creative reflection, participants will create visual tributes to meaningful people, places, experiences, and moments in their lives.

You might create something inspired by a loved one, a favorite place, a cherished childhood memory, a spiritual experience, or a passage of scripture that has guided you.

Together we will explore gratitude, remembrance, and the stories that continue to shape us.

WEEK 4 - July 31 / August 1: Seeing with New Eyes

Photography, Attention & Wonder

Photography teaches us to slow down and notice.

Participants will explore selected outdoor locations and learn how images can help us pay attention to beauty, impermanence, memory, and place.

At Red Deer Lake, we will photograph the church gardens and memory garden.

At McDougall, we will explore a local Calgary location, documenting spaces, structures, and stories that may soon disappear.

No photography experience is required. Phones are welcome.

The focus is not technical perfection but learning to see.

WEEK 5 - August 7/8: Many Pieces, One Story

Community Mural & Collaborative Art

This is where we begin moving more intentionally into image-making.

Participants will contribute paint, marks, shapes, and symbols to a large shared artwork. Working together, we will create something no individual could create alone.

Afterward, the artwork will be digitally refined and transformed into commemorative stickers for everyone to take home.

This workshop explores belonging, collaboration, and the question:

"What happens when many small contributions become something larger?

WEEK 6 - August 14/15: Behind the Mask

What do others see?

What remains hidden?

Participants will create personal masks that explore both the public self and the private self.

The outside may represent the roles we play, while the inside may reveal hopes, fears, questions, dreams, and truths that are often left unspoken.

This workshop invites honesty, self-reflection, and compassionate conversation in a supportive environment.

WEEK 7 - August 21/22: Shaping Meaning

Clay, Carving & Sacred Objects

This workshop introduces three-dimensional creativity.

Participants may choose to work with clay, carve a small plaster block, create a symbolic vessel, build a simple sculpture, or paint meaningful imagery on stone.

Prompts will explore themes such as:

• Sacred containers

• Trees of life

• Pilgrimage and journey

• What we carry

• What we leave behind

This session invites participants to think with their hands and discover how meaning can emerge through making.

WEEK 8 - August 28/29: Finishing Touches & Celebration

Our final gathering provides an opportunity to complete unfinished projects, revisit favorite activities, and share reflections from the summer.

Participants will be able to continue work on previous projects with guidance and support.

Together we will celebrate what has been created, what has been discovered, and the community that has formed along the way.

This final session is less about finishing artwork and more about recognizing the creative journey we have taken together.

Because sometimes the most important thing we create is not an object at all.

Sometimes it is a new way of seeing ourselves.

At McDougall United Church (July 10 - August 28)
Fridays | 5:30 PM – 8:00 PM

At Red Deer Lake United Church
Saturdays | 11:30 AM – 2 PM - Click here to sign up for Red Deer Lake Sessions

You can sign up for ALL 8 Sessions or Individually

Research suggests that creative activities can support healthy aging, cognitive flexibility, emotional well-being, lifelong learning, and meaningful social connection. Creativity encourages us to remain curious, engaged, and open to new experiences throughout our lives.

Yet many of us lose touch with our creative side as we grow older.

As children, we draw, imagine, build, and explore without worrying whether what we make is good enough. Somewhere along the way, many of us stop creating.

In the second half of life, we are offered a unique opportunity—not to become children again, but to become whole.

Join us for a series of gentle, welcoming workshops designed to awaken imagination, encourage reflection, build community, and explore art as a pathway to personal growth. No artistic experience is necessary—just curiosity and a willingness to explore.

The series is facilitated by Rev. Danah Cox, who holds both a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a Master of Divinity degree, bringing together a lifelong interest in creativity, spirituality, and personal growth. Rather than teaching art in a traditional sense, Danah hopes to serve as a guide, helping participants discover their own creative voice and explore Art as a way of Knowing.

Food & Fellowship

Each workshop begins with thirty minutes of conversation and a simple meal. The meal will be available throughout the session, but the formal learning and activity part will begin at the top of the hour.

The meal will typically consist of assorted croissant sandwiches, potato salad, water, coffee and cookies.

The food is intentionally simple— but enough to ensure no one has to choose between participating and eating. Participants with strict or special dietary requirements are welcome to bring their own meal.

WEEK 1 - July 10/11: Permission to Create

This opening workshop is designed for the most hesitant and inexperienced artist among us.

If you've ever said, "I'm not creative," "I can't draw," or "Art isn't for me," this is where to begin.

Through playful exercises, group activities, and simple creative prompts, we'll explore the barriers that often prevent adults from creating. There will be no pressure to produce anything beautiful or impressive.

The goal is simple:

To rediscover play.

To reconnect with curiosity.

To give yourself permission to begin.

If you only attend one workshop all summer, this might be the one.

WEEK 2 - July 17/18: Walking the Labyrinth: Art as Prayer

This week explores creativity as a contemplative practice.

Participants will be invited to walk the labyrinth or use hand-held wooden labyrinths for a quieter experience. Following the walk, participants will create personal mandalas using color, pattern, and symbol.

Mandalas can become visual prayers, reflections on a life season, expressions of gratitude, or simply a moment of peaceful focus.

This workshop is lightly structured and ideal for those seeking stillness, reflection, and renewal.

WEEK 3 - July 24/25: Memory Garden

Our memories help shape who we are.

Through collage, imagery, storytelling, and creative reflection, participants will create visual tributes to meaningful people, places, experiences, and moments in their lives.

You might create something inspired by a loved one, a favorite place, a cherished childhood memory, a spiritual experience, or a passage of scripture that has guided you.

Together we will explore gratitude, remembrance, and the stories that continue to shape us.

WEEK 4 - July 31 / August 1: Seeing with New Eyes

Photography, Attention & Wonder

Photography teaches us to slow down and notice.

Participants will explore selected outdoor locations and learn how images can help us pay attention to beauty, impermanence, memory, and place.

At Red Deer Lake, we will photograph the church gardens and memory garden.

At McDougall, we will explore a local Calgary location, documenting spaces, structures, and stories that may soon disappear.

No photography experience is required. Phones are welcome.

The focus is not technical perfection but learning to see.

WEEK 5 - August 7/8: Many Pieces, One Story

Community Mural & Collaborative Art

This is where we begin moving more intentionally into image-making.

Participants will contribute paint, marks, shapes, and symbols to a large shared artwork. Working together, we will create something no individual could create alone.

Afterward, the artwork will be digitally refined and transformed into commemorative stickers for everyone to take home.

This workshop explores belonging, collaboration, and the question:

"What happens when many small contributions become something larger?

WEEK 6 - August 14/15: Behind the Mask

What do others see?

What remains hidden?

Participants will create personal masks that explore both the public self and the private self.

The outside may represent the roles we play, while the inside may reveal hopes, fears, questions, dreams, and truths that are often left unspoken.

This workshop invites honesty, self-reflection, and compassionate conversation in a supportive environment.

WEEK 7 - August 21/22: Shaping Meaning

Clay, Carving & Sacred Objects

This workshop introduces three-dimensional creativity.

Participants may choose to work with clay, carve a small plaster block, create a symbolic vessel, build a simple sculpture, or paint meaningful imagery on stone.

Prompts will explore themes such as:

• Sacred containers

• Trees of life

• Pilgrimage and journey

• What we carry

• What we leave behind

This session invites participants to think with their hands and discover how meaning can emerge through making.

WEEK 8 - August 28/29: Finishing Touches & Celebration

Our final gathering provides an opportunity to complete unfinished projects, revisit favorite activities, and share reflections from the summer.

Participants will be able to continue work on previous projects with guidance and support.

Together we will celebrate what has been created, what has been discovered, and the community that has formed along the way.

This final session is less about finishing artwork and more about recognizing the creative journey we have taken together.

Because sometimes the most important thing we create is not an object at all.

Sometimes it is a new way of seeing ourselves.

At McDougall United Church (July 10 - August 28)
Fridays | 5:30 PM – 8:00 PM

At Red Deer Lake United Church
Saturdays | 11:30 AM – 2 PM - Click here to sign up for Red Deer Lake Sessions

You can sign up for ALL 8 Sessions or Individually

Research suggests that creative activities can support healthy aging, cognitive flexibility, emotional well-being, lifelong learning, and meaningful social connection. Creativity encourages us to remain curious, engaged, and open to new experiences throughout our lives.

Yet many of us lose touch with our creative side as we grow older.

As children, we draw, imagine, build, and explore without worrying whether what we make is good enough. Somewhere along the way, many of us stop creating.

In the second half of life, we are offered a unique opportunity—not to become children again, but to become whole.

Join us for a series of gentle, welcoming workshops designed to awaken imagination, encourage reflection, build community, and explore art as a pathway to personal growth. No artistic experience is necessary—just curiosity and a willingness to explore.

The series is facilitated by Rev. Danah Cox, who holds both a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a Master of Divinity degree, bringing together a lifelong interest in creativity, spirituality, and personal growth. Rather than teaching art in a traditional sense, Danah hopes to serve as a guide, helping participants discover their own creative voice and explore Art as a way of Knowing.

Food & Fellowship

Each workshop begins with thirty minutes of conversation and a simple meal. The meal will be available throughout the session, but the formal learning and activity part will begin at the top of the hour.

The meal will typically consist of assorted croissant sandwiches, potato salad, water, coffee and cookies.

The food is intentionally simple— but enough to ensure no one has to choose between participating and eating. Participants with strict or special dietary requirements are welcome to bring their own meal.

WEEK 1 - July 10/11: Permission to Create

This opening workshop is designed for the most hesitant and inexperienced artist among us.

If you've ever said, "I'm not creative," "I can't draw," or "Art isn't for me," this is where to begin.

Through playful exercises, group activities, and simple creative prompts, we'll explore the barriers that often prevent adults from creating. There will be no pressure to produce anything beautiful or impressive.

The goal is simple:

To rediscover play.

To reconnect with curiosity.

To give yourself permission to begin.

If you only attend one workshop all summer, this might be the one.

WEEK 2 - July 17/18: Walking the Labyrinth: Art as Prayer

This week explores creativity as a contemplative practice.

Participants will be invited to walk the labyrinth or use hand-held wooden labyrinths for a quieter experience. Following the walk, participants will create personal mandalas using color, pattern, and symbol.

Mandalas can become visual prayers, reflections on a life season, expressions of gratitude, or simply a moment of peaceful focus.

This workshop is lightly structured and ideal for those seeking stillness, reflection, and renewal.

WEEK 3 - July 24/25: Memory Garden

Our memories help shape who we are.

Through collage, imagery, storytelling, and creative reflection, participants will create visual tributes to meaningful people, places, experiences, and moments in their lives.

You might create something inspired by a loved one, a favorite place, a cherished childhood memory, a spiritual experience, or a passage of scripture that has guided you.

Together we will explore gratitude, remembrance, and the stories that continue to shape us.

WEEK 4 - July 31 / August 1: Seeing with New Eyes

Photography, Attention & Wonder

Photography teaches us to slow down and notice.

Participants will explore selected outdoor locations and learn how images can help us pay attention to beauty, impermanence, memory, and place.

At Red Deer Lake, we will photograph the church gardens and memory garden.

At McDougall, we will explore a local Calgary location, documenting spaces, structures, and stories that may soon disappear.

No photography experience is required. Phones are welcome.

The focus is not technical perfection but learning to see.

WEEK 5 - August 7/8: Many Pieces, One Story

Community Mural & Collaborative Art

This is where we begin moving more intentionally into image-making.

Participants will contribute paint, marks, shapes, and symbols to a large shared artwork. Working together, we will create something no individual could create alone.

Afterward, the artwork will be digitally refined and transformed into commemorative stickers for everyone to take home.

This workshop explores belonging, collaboration, and the question:

"What happens when many small contributions become something larger?

WEEK 6 - August 14/15: Behind the Mask

What do others see?

What remains hidden?

Participants will create personal masks that explore both the public self and the private self.

The outside may represent the roles we play, while the inside may reveal hopes, fears, questions, dreams, and truths that are often left unspoken.

This workshop invites honesty, self-reflection, and compassionate conversation in a supportive environment.

WEEK 7 - August 21/22: Shaping Meaning

Clay, Carving & Sacred Objects

This workshop introduces three-dimensional creativity.

Participants may choose to work with clay, carve a small plaster block, create a symbolic vessel, build a simple sculpture, or paint meaningful imagery on stone.

Prompts will explore themes such as:

• Sacred containers

• Trees of life

• Pilgrimage and journey

• What we carry

• What we leave behind

This session invites participants to think with their hands and discover how meaning can emerge through making.

WEEK 8 - August 28/29: Finishing Touches & Celebration

Our final gathering provides an opportunity to complete unfinished projects, revisit favorite activities, and share reflections from the summer.

Participants will be able to continue work on previous projects with guidance and support.

Together we will celebrate what has been created, what has been discovered, and the community that has formed along the way.

This final session is less about finishing artwork and more about recognizing the creative journey we have taken together.

Because sometimes the most important thing we create is not an object at all.

Sometimes it is a new way of seeing ourselves.

At McDougall United Church (July 10 - August 28)
Fridays | 5:30 PM – 8:00 PM

At Red Deer Lake United Church
Saturdays | 11:30 AM – 2 PM - Click here to sign up for Red Deer Lake Sessions

You can sign up for ALL 8 Sessions or Individually

Research suggests that creative activities can support healthy aging, cognitive flexibility, emotional well-being, lifelong learning, and meaningful social connection. Creativity encourages us to remain curious, engaged, and open to new experiences throughout our lives.

Yet many of us lose touch with our creative side as we grow older.

As children, we draw, imagine, build, and explore without worrying whether what we make is good enough. Somewhere along the way, many of us stop creating.

In the second half of life, we are offered a unique opportunity—not to become children again, but to become whole.

Join us for a series of gentle, welcoming workshops designed to awaken imagination, encourage reflection, build community, and explore art as a pathway to personal growth. No artistic experience is necessary—just curiosity and a willingness to explore.

The series is facilitated by Rev. Danah Cox, who holds both a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a Master of Divinity degree, bringing together a lifelong interest in creativity, spirituality, and personal growth. Rather than teaching art in a traditional sense, Danah hopes to serve as a guide, helping participants discover their own creative voice and explore Art as a way of Knowing.

Food & Fellowship

Each workshop begins with thirty minutes of conversation and a simple meal. The meal will be available throughout the session, but the formal learning and activity part will begin at the top of the hour.

The meal will typically consist of assorted croissant sandwiches, potato salad, water, coffee and cookies.

The food is intentionally simple— but enough to ensure no one has to choose between participating and eating. Participants with strict or special dietary requirements are welcome to bring their own meal.

WEEK 1 - July 10/11: Permission to Create

This opening workshop is designed for the most hesitant and inexperienced artist among us.

If you've ever said, "I'm not creative," "I can't draw," or "Art isn't for me," this is where to begin.

Through playful exercises, group activities, and simple creative prompts, we'll explore the barriers that often prevent adults from creating. There will be no pressure to produce anything beautiful or impressive.

The goal is simple:

To rediscover play.

To reconnect with curiosity.

To give yourself permission to begin.

If you only attend one workshop all summer, this might be the one.

WEEK 2 - July 17/18: Walking the Labyrinth: Art as Prayer

This week explores creativity as a contemplative practice.

Participants will be invited to walk the labyrinth or use hand-held wooden labyrinths for a quieter experience. Following the walk, participants will create personal mandalas using color, pattern, and symbol.

Mandalas can become visual prayers, reflections on a life season, expressions of gratitude, or simply a moment of peaceful focus.

This workshop is lightly structured and ideal for those seeking stillness, reflection, and renewal.

WEEK 3 - July 24/25: Memory Garden

Our memories help shape who we are.

Through collage, imagery, storytelling, and creative reflection, participants will create visual tributes to meaningful people, places, experiences, and moments in their lives.

You might create something inspired by a loved one, a favorite place, a cherished childhood memory, a spiritual experience, or a passage of scripture that has guided you.

Together we will explore gratitude, remembrance, and the stories that continue to shape us.

WEEK 4 - July 31 / August 1: Seeing with New Eyes

Photography, Attention & Wonder

Photography teaches us to slow down and notice.

Participants will explore selected outdoor locations and learn how images can help us pay attention to beauty, impermanence, memory, and place.

At Red Deer Lake, we will photograph the church gardens and memory garden.

At McDougall, we will explore a local Calgary location, documenting spaces, structures, and stories that may soon disappear.

No photography experience is required. Phones are welcome.

The focus is not technical perfection but learning to see.

WEEK 5 - August 7/8: Many Pieces, One Story

Community Mural & Collaborative Art

This is where we begin moving more intentionally into image-making.

Participants will contribute paint, marks, shapes, and symbols to a large shared artwork. Working together, we will create something no individual could create alone.

Afterward, the artwork will be digitally refined and transformed into commemorative stickers for everyone to take home.

This workshop explores belonging, collaboration, and the question:

"What happens when many small contributions become something larger?

WEEK 6 - August 14/15: Behind the Mask

What do others see?

What remains hidden?

Participants will create personal masks that explore both the public self and the private self.

The outside may represent the roles we play, while the inside may reveal hopes, fears, questions, dreams, and truths that are often left unspoken.

This workshop invites honesty, self-reflection, and compassionate conversation in a supportive environment.

WEEK 7 - August 21/22: Shaping Meaning

Clay, Carving & Sacred Objects

This workshop introduces three-dimensional creativity.

Participants may choose to work with clay, carve a small plaster block, create a symbolic vessel, build a simple sculpture, or paint meaningful imagery on stone.

Prompts will explore themes such as:

• Sacred containers

• Trees of life

• Pilgrimage and journey

• What we carry

• What we leave behind

This session invites participants to think with their hands and discover how meaning can emerge through making.

WEEK 8 - August 28/29: Finishing Touches & Celebration

Our final gathering provides an opportunity to complete unfinished projects, revisit favorite activities, and share reflections from the summer.

Participants will be able to continue work on previous projects with guidance and support.

Together we will celebrate what has been created, what has been discovered, and the community that has formed along the way.

This final session is less about finishing artwork and more about recognizing the creative journey we have taken together.

Because sometimes the most important thing we create is not an object at all.

Sometimes it is a new way of seeing ourselves.

At McDougall United Church (July 10 - August 28)
Fridays | 5:30 PM – 8:00 PM

At Red Deer Lake United Church
Saturdays | 11:30 AM – 2 PM - Click here to sign up for Red Deer Lake Sessions

You can sign up for ALL 8 Sessions or Individually

Research suggests that creative activities can support healthy aging, cognitive flexibility, emotional well-being, lifelong learning, and meaningful social connection. Creativity encourages us to remain curious, engaged, and open to new experiences throughout our lives.

Yet many of us lose touch with our creative side as we grow older.

As children, we draw, imagine, build, and explore without worrying whether what we make is good enough. Somewhere along the way, many of us stop creating.

In the second half of life, we are offered a unique opportunity—not to become children again, but to become whole.

Join us for a series of gentle, welcoming workshops designed to awaken imagination, encourage reflection, build community, and explore art as a pathway to personal growth. No artistic experience is necessary—just curiosity and a willingness to explore.

The series is facilitated by Rev. Danah Cox, who holds both a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a Master of Divinity degree, bringing together a lifelong interest in creativity, spirituality, and personal growth. Rather than teaching art in a traditional sense, Danah hopes to serve as a guide, helping participants discover their own creative voice and explore Art as a way of Knowing.

Food & Fellowship

Each workshop begins with thirty minutes of conversation and a simple meal. The meal will be available throughout the session, but the formal learning and activity part will begin at the top of the hour.

The meal will typically consist of assorted croissant sandwiches, potato salad, water, coffee and cookies.

The food is intentionally simple— but enough to ensure no one has to choose between participating and eating. Participants with strict or special dietary requirements are welcome to bring their own meal.

WEEK 1 - July 10/11: Permission to Create

This opening workshop is designed for the most hesitant and inexperienced artist among us.

If you've ever said, "I'm not creative," "I can't draw," or "Art isn't for me," this is where to begin.

Through playful exercises, group activities, and simple creative prompts, we'll explore the barriers that often prevent adults from creating. There will be no pressure to produce anything beautiful or impressive.

The goal is simple:

To rediscover play.

To reconnect with curiosity.

To give yourself permission to begin.

If you only attend one workshop all summer, this might be the one.

WEEK 2 - July 17/18: Walking the Labyrinth: Art as Prayer

This week explores creativity as a contemplative practice.

Participants will be invited to walk the labyrinth or use hand-held wooden labyrinths for a quieter experience. Following the walk, participants will create personal mandalas using color, pattern, and symbol.

Mandalas can become visual prayers, reflections on a life season, expressions of gratitude, or simply a moment of peaceful focus.

This workshop is lightly structured and ideal for those seeking stillness, reflection, and renewal.

WEEK 3 - July 24/25: Memory Garden

Our memories help shape who we are.

Through collage, imagery, storytelling, and creative reflection, participants will create visual tributes to meaningful people, places, experiences, and moments in their lives.

You might create something inspired by a loved one, a favorite place, a cherished childhood memory, a spiritual experience, or a passage of scripture that has guided you.

Together we will explore gratitude, remembrance, and the stories that continue to shape us.

WEEK 4 - July 31 / August 1: Seeing with New Eyes

Photography, Attention & Wonder

Photography teaches us to slow down and notice.

Participants will explore selected outdoor locations and learn how images can help us pay attention to beauty, impermanence, memory, and place.

At Red Deer Lake, we will photograph the church gardens and memory garden.

At McDougall, we will explore a local Calgary location, documenting spaces, structures, and stories that may soon disappear.

No photography experience is required. Phones are welcome.

The focus is not technical perfection but learning to see.

WEEK 5 - August 7/8: Many Pieces, One Story

Community Mural & Collaborative Art

This is where we begin moving more intentionally into image-making.

Participants will contribute paint, marks, shapes, and symbols to a large shared artwork. Working together, we will create something no individual could create alone.

Afterward, the artwork will be digitally refined and transformed into commemorative stickers for everyone to take home.

This workshop explores belonging, collaboration, and the question:

"What happens when many small contributions become something larger?

WEEK 6 - August 14/15: Behind the Mask

What do others see?

What remains hidden?

Participants will create personal masks that explore both the public self and the private self.

The outside may represent the roles we play, while the inside may reveal hopes, fears, questions, dreams, and truths that are often left unspoken.

This workshop invites honesty, self-reflection, and compassionate conversation in a supportive environment.

WEEK 7 - August 21/22: Shaping Meaning

Clay, Carving & Sacred Objects

This workshop introduces three-dimensional creativity.

Participants may choose to work with clay, carve a small plaster block, create a symbolic vessel, build a simple sculpture, or paint meaningful imagery on stone.

Prompts will explore themes such as:

• Sacred containers

• Trees of life

• Pilgrimage and journey

• What we carry

• What we leave behind

This session invites participants to think with their hands and discover how meaning can emerge through making.

WEEK 8 - August 28/29: Finishing Touches & Celebration

Our final gathering provides an opportunity to complete unfinished projects, revisit favorite activities, and share reflections from the summer.

Participants will be able to continue work on previous projects with guidance and support.

Together we will celebrate what has been created, what has been discovered, and the community that has formed along the way.

This final session is less about finishing artwork and more about recognizing the creative journey we have taken together.

Because sometimes the most important thing we create is not an object at all.

Sometimes it is a new way of seeing ourselves.

Event Details:

• September 26th

• 9 - 4 pm

• Happening at McDougall United Church

Ticket Info:

• $25 per session (lunch included) or

• $40 for both sessions (lunch included)

• Group rates are available for groups of 5 or more, please contact the office (403-252-1620) for more information

Schedule:

• 9 am - 12 pm Session 1: Becoming Conscious Allies: An Introduction to Sexual and Gender Diversity and Inclusion

• 12 pm - 1 pm Lunch

• 1 pm - 4 pm Session 2: Two-Spirit/Indigiqueer Pasts, Presents, and Futures

Workshop Details:

Decolonizing Gender & Sexuality: This workshop combines “Becoming Conscious Allies” and “Two-Spirit / Indigiqueer Pasts, Presents, & Futures”. The first part of the session provides an introduction to the nuances of sex assigned at birth, gender identity, gender expression, and sexual and romantic orientations, as well as myths and frequently made assumptions about the queer community. The second part will cover an appreciation of the diverse histories of gender and sexuality on Turtle Island (what is now known as North America) pre-colonization, recognize the effects of colonization on Indigenous gender and sexual diversity historically and currently, and providing hopeful paths towards the acceptance, support, and celebration of queer Indigenous folks. In this workshop, we will explore strategies that foster decolonial allyship practices in the spaces we occupy, including the workplace and interpersonally. 

Becoming Conscious Allies: An Introduction to Sexual and Gender Diversity and Inclusion: Join us to become a conscious ally to the 2SLGBTQ+ folks in your community. Learn about pronouns, what they mean and how to use them, as well as other 2SLGBTQ+ terminology. Explore the foundations of gender identity, gender expression and sex assigned at birth.  Analyze frequently made assumptions and myths about the 2SLGBTQIA+ community and develop practical tools for supporting queer and trans folks, including available resources. 

Two-Spirit / Indigiqueer Pasts, Presents, and Futures: This workshop aims to develop an appreciation of the diverse histories of gender and sexuality on Turtle Island (what is now known as North America) pre-colonization, helps to recognize the effects of colonization on Indigenous gender and sexual diversity historically and currently, and provides hopeful paths towards the acceptance, support, and celebration of queer Indigenous folks. In this workshop, we will explore strategies that foster decolonial allyship practices in the spaces we occupy, including the workplace and interpersonally.

Facilitator Bios:

Rae Madge (they/she) is a Deh’cho Dene, Cree-Métis, & mixed-settler Two-Spirit femme who calls Amiskwaciwâskahikan (Edmonton) home. They work at the Fyrefly Institute for Gender & Sexual Diversity as the program coordinator for Where The Rivers Meet; their work involves sharing teachings on Two-Spirit & Indigiqueer histories as well as decolonial allyship practices in support and celebration of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. Rae is an accomplished speaker, presenting to thousands of people in their years as an educator, including conferences and workshops all over Alberta.They are deeply passionate about helping folks appreciate the expansive nature of gender and sexual diversity, and to recognize and celebrate the gifts and medicines of queer authenticity.

Rae is connected to Fort Nelson First Nation and their family names are Villeneuve, Gairdner, Lafferty, and Bouvier. 

Star Oldring (they/them) is the Rural Fyrefly in Schools Program Coordinator at the Fyrefly Institute, a not for profit research institute housed within the Faculty of Education at the University of Alberta. The Fyrefly Institute offers evidence based education and advocacy in celebration and support of 2SLGBTQ+ communities and their allies throughout Alberta and beyond. Star is a settler descended, genderqueer, trans, lifelong resident of Alberta. They are an experienced educator whose advocacy is rooted in decolonial allyship and the joy of participating in communities where everyone belongs and thrives together.

Paying by Cash or E-transfer:

If you would like to pay the office cash (during office hours), please use code “PAIDOFFICE”. If you would like to pay by e-transfer to office@mcdunited.com, please use code “E-TRANSFER”. We will verify with the office to ensure payment has been made.

Learn More:

If you are interested in learning more about our Affirming work, please visit our Affirming webpage. To learn more about Right Relations Work, please visit our Right Relations Webpage.