Wide Open Studios Changes Lives

“Every day on this trip has been unforgettable.”
-Megan Wainwright, Oregon College of Art and Craft

“I have been furnished with so much raw material for art making. I did not expect the intellectual content of the course to relate so well to my still-developing artistic interests (mystery, unknowability, wildness). I was in a place of great uncertainty and self-doubt about whether art is even the right path for me, and I’ve gained so much energy and desire to proceed from this trip. I’ve also appreciated the diversity of ideas in the course— the acknowledgement of different perspectives. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced such an open, thoughtful culture before.”
-Grace Chen Jahui, California College of the Arts

“It has been the experience of a lifetime. You did an awesome job of incorporating backcountry skills, environmental issues, and art-making into a single course. I have gained not only practical skills but also life skills. You have become mentors to me and fostered an amazing community…you have challenged the way I think about art.”
-Skye Mitchell, Metropolitan State University of Denver

“Wide Open Studios is the truest form of experiential learning I have ever encountered and holds the answers true in face of the impending doom of higher education. It offers the honest, open exchange of knowledge and deeper understanding of the systems surrounding us.”
-Megan Marzec, Ohio University

“I am amazed at how comfortable I feel in the wilderness now. Safe. I’m walking away with so many new skills.” -Liliya Drubetskaya, Pacific Northwest College of Art

“I arrived five weeks ago looking for some kind of inspiration, some realization that I am an artist. In my hammock, overlooking a dry riverbed in the Golden Trout Wilderness five weeks later, I know I am an artist. I am also an environmentalist, amateur scientist, an ecofeminist, a fly fisherman, a student, and a part of nature itself. After this trip it is hard to imagine my art not incorporating and being inspired by all I’ve learned.”
-Dean McCrillis, University of Southern Maine

“I’ve remembered that first and foremost, I am an artist. I feel inspired again.”
– Maggie Rogers, New York University

“This month, with these people, was incredible in a way I could not have expected.”
– Melanie Szemis, Princeton University

“I’ve been completely inspired, I’m questioning more, finding the need to to dig deeper than surface level art.”
– Lora Martin, Humboldt State University

“The support you provided for the group was powerful and comforting. It felt like each week we were out there, I grew a lifetime.”
– Andrea Jacobs, Pacific Northwest College of Art