Events

All workshops are listed in Eastern Time.

Unless specifically noted, our programs are free, virtual and suited for participants ages 16+. For further details about what to expect from our workshops, including accessibility options, and registration & Zoom instructions, click here.

Poetry of the Heart Chakra: A Writing & Yoga Pop-Up Workshop with Sarah Martin

Zoom Virtual Event

Poetry of the Heart Chakra: A Writing & Yoga Pop-Up Workshop with Sarah Martin About This Workshop The Poetry of the Chakras is a somatic, creative writing workshop merging poetry, yoga, and meditation to nurture spiritual blossoming. This special edition workshop will guide participants on a journey through heart chakra, drawing on Black and Indigenous nature-inspired poetry. Suitable for beginners and advanced yogis, participants will leave with at least one draft of a poem based on this meditative journey. In addition to writing materials, please bring a mat or prepare a soft surface to practice on for the movement portion of the workshop. Sarah Alayne Martin is a Black, queer poet, yogi, storyteller, and multi-dimensional teaching artist from Little Rock, Arkansas. A certified yoga instructor and SKY Wellness coach, Sarah blends poetry with yoga, breathwork, and meditation to create a unique healing practice that supports trauma recovery. They have facilitated somatic and creative writing workshops in diverse community settings, including public libraries, bookstores, wellness centers, parks, schools, and churches. Currently engaged as a storyteller with the National Endowment for the Arts' Creative Forces initiative, Sarah is also a 2022 Anaphora Arts Poetry Fellow and a two-time recipient of the Peoples […]

Creative Writing Workshop with Seema Reza

Zoom Virtual Event

No experience required! If you can think, you can write. In this creative writing workshop, we'll consider writing as a tool for communication, expression, and relief from holding it all together. Join us. Seema Reza is the author of the books A Constellation of Half-Lives and When the World Breaks Open. She is the CEO of Community Building Art Works, a non-profit organization that brings workshops led by professional artists to service members, veterans, and clinicians. An alumnus of Goddard College and VONA, Reza has taught poetry in classrooms, jails, hospitals, and universities. She was a 2019 Stand-to Veteran Leadership Fellow at the George W. Bush Institute and the 2023 Pauli Murray Art for Racial Justice Fellow at the Antiracism Research and Policy Center at American University. Reza’s writing has been widely anthologized and has appeared in the Washington Post, McSweeney’s, The LA Review, LitHub, and Electric Literature among others. REGISTER HERE MissionBelonging is funded in part by Creative Forces®: NEA Military Healing Arts Network, an initiative of the National Endowment in partnership with the U.S. Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs. Creative Forces Community Engagement Grant program is managed by Mid-America Arts Alliance.

Poetic Record: Resilience Workshop for Healthcare Workers with Laura Van Prooyen

Zoom Virtual Event

Join our community of healthcare workers, where writing offers connection, expression & relief from holding it all together. This free, online workshop led by Laura Van Prooyen, blends poetry, community, and the science of resilience. Each week, Laura selects a poem and together participants read, respond, write and can choose to share. We believe that at the heart of community is communication and at the heart of communication is knowing what you contain. We know art helps us better understand what we hold within ourselves and allows us to better express that to the people around us. No creative writing experience required. This workshop is intended for healthcare providers that are age 18 or older. Laura Van Prooyen is author of three collections of poetry: Frances of the Wider Field, Our House Was on Fire, nominated by Philip Levine and winner of the McGovern Prize, and Inkblot and Altar. She is also co-author of Text Structures from Poetry, a book of writing lessons for educators of grades 4-12. Van Prooyen is the Managing Editor for The Cortland Review, facilitates free online workshops with Community Building Art Works for healthcare workers, and is the founder of Next Page Press. She works […]

Painting Water in Watercolor — An Online Visual Art Workshop with Veteran Artist Shaun Smith

Zoom Virtual Event

Join Veteran Artist Shaun Smith for a fun and engaging online workshop, where you'll learn to capture the beauty and tranquility of water using watercolor techniques. Suggested Supplies: Watercolor paint Watercolor paper Paint brushes Water container Tape Pencil Paper towels Qtips White gouache paint Shaun Smith is a Retired U.S. Army Veteran and Fine Artist based in Northern Maine. Shaun served 10 years as a Combat Medic with a tour in Afghanistan. During that time, he was awarded The Combat Medic Badge for providing care under fire and a Purple Heart for injuries sustained from a VBIED. Shaun found comfort in art therapy as a way to express his experiences, leading him to enroll into an art university. Shaun graduated from The Academy of Art University of San Francisco with a bachelor's in fine art Painting in 2021. Shaun dedicates his time to painting landscapes, wildlife, and peaceful moments. "War carves a deep scar on us, always reminding us long after we leave the battlefield. I combat that ugliness by submerging myself in the tranquility of the wilderness to reflect and find peace. When I paint a scene or a subject, That's the only thing that matters in that moment […]

Military Voices: A Free Writing Workshop for Active Duty, Veterans & Military Families with Kevin Basl in Partnership with Blue Star Families

Zoom Virtual Event

It's time to tell your story. Blue Star Families has partnered with Community Building Art Works (CBAW) for a virtual creative writing workshop. Writing is a powerful tool for communication, self-discovery, and reflection. Together over Zoom, we’ll read a short piece of writing, see what makes it work, and use it to enter into our own stories. This workshop runs on the 1st & 3rd Thursdays of each month from 3:30 - 4:30 PM Eastern Time. No writing experience required—if you can think, you can write. Kevin Basl is a writer and musician living near Ithaca, New York. He was a mobile radar operator in the U.S. Army. Over the past decade, he has taught many writing and art-marking workshops for service members, veterans, and their communities. He's author of Midnight Cargo: Stories and Poems (Illuminated Press), and he's co-author of a chapbook of poems: Corn, Coal & Yellow Ribbons (Out of Step Press). (Midnight Cargo by Kevin Basl | illuminatedpress ) About Blue Star Families: The families of our all-volunteer military make unprecedented sacrifices these days to serve our country. Blue Star Families was founded by military spouses in 2009 to empower these families to thrive as they serve. […]

Memory as Lyric, as Inheritance with Nathan Xavier Osorio — An Online Creative Writing Workshop in Partnership with Strathmore

Zoom Virtual Event

Creative writing is a tool for knowing yourself, understanding the world, and connecting with other people. Led by author Seema Reza and accomplished guest writers—including poets, memoirists, novelists, and storytellers—these generative community workshops follow the model developed by Community Building Art Works (CBAW) over the course of a decade of bringing people together in military and hospital settings. Each workshop is designed to help participants put their personal stories on paper in a supportive environment. Whether you’re just starting out or have been writing for years, you are welcome; no experience is required. Bring a pen, a notebook, and an open mind! Memory as Lyric, as Inheritance with Nathan Xavier Osorio About This Workshop In this generative workshop we will write deeply to consider how poetry transforms personal and public memory to enact alternate histories, exercise identity, and embody ways of thinking and being. Using our writing practices as creative and critical tools, we will examine how, why, and to what effect memory in poetry can be experienced. We will ask questions like, “What histories can multiple languages reveal in a poem?” “Can we reanimate a (cyber, spiritual, or othered) place in a prose poem?” or “Can the poem be […]

Creative Writing Workshop with Seema Reza

Zoom Virtual Event

No experience required! If you can think, you can write. In this creative writing workshop, we'll consider writing as a tool for communication, expression, and relief from holding it all together. Join us. Seema Reza is the author of the books A Constellation of Half-Lives and When the World Breaks Open. She is the CEO of Community Building Art Works, a non-profit organization that brings workshops led by professional artists to service members, veterans, and clinicians. An alumnus of Goddard College and VONA, Reza has taught poetry in classrooms, jails, hospitals, and universities. She was a 2019 Stand-to Veteran Leadership Fellow at the George W. Bush Institute and the 2023 Pauli Murray Art for Racial Justice Fellow at the Antiracism Research and Policy Center at American University. Reza’s writing has been widely anthologized and has appeared in the Washington Post, McSweeney’s, The LA Review, LitHub, and Electric Literature among others. REGISTER HERE MissionBelonging is funded in part by Creative Forces®: NEA Military Healing Arts Network, an initiative of the National Endowment in partnership with the U.S. Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs. Creative Forces Community Engagement Grant program is managed by Mid-America Arts Alliance.

More Than One Story: An Arts Program for Women & Nonbinary Military & Veterans

Zoom Virtual Event

Join Community Building Art Works in a virtual orientation session to learn more about our program for women and non-binary military (Active Duty and Veterans), More Than One Story. Individuals interested in participating in MTOS are required to attend one Orientation Session. Orientations sessions take place on the second Tuesday of each month at 12 pm & 6 pm Eastern Time. After attending a single orientation session, participants will be able to attend the monthly workshop on the fourth Monday of every month. All discharge statuses are welcome. This program is partially funded by the SSG Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program through the VA. Registration closes 24 hours before scheduled orientation sessions. REGISTER FOR ORIENTATION HERE

Creative Writing Workshop with Ben Weakley in Partnership with Steven A. Cohen Military Family Clinic at Easterseals & The Up Center

Zoom Virtual Event

Join us for a generative creative writing workshop where we use the written and spoken word to find healing and self-discovery together in a welcoming, safe community. Open to all voices. No experience necessary. Ben Weakley spent fourteen years in the U.S. Army, beginning with deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan and finishing at a desk inside the Pentagon. He writes poetry and prose about the enduring nature of war and the human experience for veterans, their families, and anyone who would help them bear witness to war and its aftermath. A believer in the power of words to empower and heal, Ben leads writing workshops for Active Duty Military, Veterans, their families and caregivers, as well as Frontline Health Care Workers and other communities of ordinary people bearing witness to a difficult world. Ben lives in the Tri-Cities of Northeast Tennessee with his wife, two children, and a well-meaning but poorly behaved hound-dog. REGISTER HERE MissionBelonging is funded in part by Creative Forces®: NEA Military Healing Arts Network, an initiative of the National Endowment in partnership with the U.S. Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs. Creative Forces Community Engagement Grant program is managed by Mid-America Arts Alliance.

Poetic Record: Resilience Workshop for Healthcare Workers with Laura Van Prooyen

Zoom Virtual Event

Join our community of healthcare workers, where writing offers connection, expression & relief from holding it all together. This free, online workshop led by Laura Van Prooyen, blends poetry, community, and the science of resilience. Each week, Laura selects a poem and together participants read, respond, write and can choose to share. We believe that at the heart of community is communication and at the heart of communication is knowing what you contain. We know art helps us better understand what we hold within ourselves and allows us to better express that to the people around us. No creative writing experience required. This workshop is intended for healthcare providers that are age 18 or older. Laura Van Prooyen is author of three collections of poetry: Frances of the Wider Field, Our House Was on Fire, nominated by Philip Levine and winner of the McGovern Prize, and Inkblot and Altar. She is also co-author of Text Structures from Poetry, a book of writing lessons for educators of grades 4-12. Van Prooyen is the Managing Editor for The Cortland Review, facilitates free online workshops with Community Building Art Works for healthcare workers, and is the founder of Next Page Press. She works […]

Open Art Studio – An Online Visual Art Workshop with Veteran Artist Joe Merritt

Zoom Virtual Event

Come hang out in a collaborative group setting and bring anything you want to work on, in any medium. Often times we view art making as a singular experience, communicating through visual expression often starts at the planning and early stages. In this workshop we will be nurturing this practice. Suggested Supplies: Anything you want to use to make marks, sculpt, build, or create. It is entirely up to you. Joe Merritt was medically retired from the United States Marine Corps in 2016 after 10 years of honorable service. Joe rediscovered art during his medical treatment and has a successful career as a professional artist, exhibiting his work and presenting gallery talks across the country. He is a steward of the veteran art community, leading art programming with active duty and veteran populations in DC, MD and VA. About CBAW Visual Arts Workshops Join Veterans and Artists, Valerie Acosta, Shaun Smith, Joe Merritt, or a special guest to learn new art techniques on Wednesdays at 7pm EST. Come hang out in a collaborative group setting and bring what materials you have. No experience necessary! To register, click the link below. REGISTER HERE MissionBelonging is funded in part by Creative Forces®: […]

Creative Writing Workshop with Seema Reza

Zoom Virtual Event

No experience required! If you can think, you can write. In this creative writing workshop, we'll consider writing as a tool for communication, expression, and relief from holding it all together. Join us. Seema Reza is the author of the books A Constellation of Half-Lives and When the World Breaks Open. She is the CEO of Community Building Art Works, a non-profit organization that brings workshops led by professional artists to service members, veterans, and clinicians. An alumnus of Goddard College and VONA, Reza has taught poetry in classrooms, jails, hospitals, and universities. She was a 2019 Stand-to Veteran Leadership Fellow at the George W. Bush Institute and the 2023 Pauli Murray Art for Racial Justice Fellow at the Antiracism Research and Policy Center at American University. Reza’s writing has been widely anthologized and has appeared in the Washington Post, McSweeney’s, The LA Review, LitHub, and Electric Literature among others. REGISTER HERE MissionBelonging is funded in part by Creative Forces®: NEA Military Healing Arts Network, an initiative of the National Endowment in partnership with the U.S. Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs. Creative Forces Community Engagement Grant program is managed by Mid-America Arts Alliance.