Joe Creek Artists Retreat

Year-round retreat on the Sunshine Coast taking bookings now.

Year-round retreat on the Sunshine Coast taking bookings now.  Just 1.5 hours from Vancouver and accessible by transit, yet a world away.  Light-filled renovated garden cottage.  Woods.  Creek.  Ocean.  Launch a new project.  Write your final draft.

$550/week* September 1, 2012 - May 18, 2013
$650/week* May 18 - August 31, 2013

*Reduced rates may be available for bookings of more than two weeks, or demonstrable need (please include a letter with your application).

“There has never been a crucible so quiet, cool, crisp and clean, and conducive to germinating great works of art as The Only Animal's cottage nestled amongst the ancient community of cedars... A retreat from the madness of the city - this space gave me breathing room to uncover a mind as fecund as the environment of Canada's West Coast.” -- Mr. and Mrs. Keith Murray, artist Located just 1.5 hours from Vancouver and accessible by transit, this retreat is available for weekly rentals to artists from any discipline. Set on 5 acres of mature forest with a year-round creek and lush gardens just a 5-minute walk to the coastal beach.

Our facility is suited to solo artists or small groups in a refurbished self-catered cottage, supporting a total ‘woodshed’ experience, or community with the core artists of The Only Animal. Minutes from the tiny town of Roberts Creek and the Gumboot Café, with old growth forests beckoning from the mountains above and seals spy hopping under the eagles’ nests, this is a place that has always attracted iconoclasts and dreamers. And for thousands of years before any Europeans this land sustained vibrant communities.

We are building an accessible refuge that encourages artists to explore the nature of this place, and our human lives in it, past, present and future. Every season holds its delights: blossoms and hummingbirds in spring, huckleberries, thimbleberries, raspberries, and blackberries in summer, the orange cedar carpet of fall, and the crackling woodstove of winter. Enjoy local produce from our neighbors pre-stocked in the fridge, and be inspired by a community of rural resilience and abundant beauty.

--Kendra Fanconi, Artistic Director of The Only Animal and Retreat Host. As a key initiative of our new mandate to Create, Inspire, and Retreat, Joe Creek Retreat offers a renewed connection to place and practice for stressed-out urban artists. Launch a new project. Write a final draft. Plant the seed for a new collaboration with The Only Animal. Go deep. To ensure the health and well-being of the people in our industry, the theatre community needs more opportunities for contemplation, retreat, and community building.

The Only Animal has begun to forge a pathway for this urgent necessity… is clearing a way for a healthier, more stable theatre industry in BC.” --Eleanor Stacey, Executive Director, Greater Vancouver Professional Theatre Alliance

Now accepting applications for September 1, 2012 – August 31, 2013.

For more information or to book retreats visit: www.theonlyanimal.com or email retreat@theonlyanimal.com