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DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260627T160000
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UID:10319-1782576000-1782583200@mesarefuge.org
SUMMARY:Sophie Wood Brinker
DESCRIPTION:Bolinas-based artist\, illustrator\, and Mesa alum Sophie Wood Brinker joins Point Reyes Books at the Dance Palace to celebrate the publication of her new book\, Birds of Santa Cruz. This event is organized by Point Reyes Books. This is a free event and no registration is required. Visit their website for more information. \n\nThis charming\, full-color guide to the birds of Santa Cruz is infused with California coastal soul and the quiet fierceness of love one can only derive from ardent attention. Author-illustrator Sophie Wood Brinker profiles 25 species you’re likely to spot hopping the sands or soaring overhead in Surf City\, and shares what we can learn not only about them but from them. From the collective organizing of the Brown Pelican\, to the community protection of the California Quail\, to the Band-Tailed Pigeon flock that Sophie likens to a mutual aid cooperative\, these birds have stories to tell. Vivid hand-painted portraits accompanied by identification and song notes help everyone get to know their avian neighbors\, with descriptions of each species that invoke reflections from Diane di Prima\, Mary Oliver\, and dreamers of all stripes. A joy to read and pore over\, Birds of Santa Cruz shimmers with poetic sensibility and a conservationist ethos. Sophie’s findings\, gleaned from patient observation\, will enchant readers far beyond the city limits. \n\nSophie Wood Brinker is a science illustrator and writer who concentrates on appreciation of the small care of human and non-human neighbors. As a Quaker\, Sophie grew up sitting in intergenerational circles and hearing messages spoken out of silence. She has lived in Quaker communities on and off for much of her life and deeply values spending time with elders\, asking questions and working towards living a life of integrity and a quiet fierceness. Sophie has a BA in Peace and Global Studies from Earlham College and is a graduate of the Science Illustration Graduate program at California State University\, Monterey Bay. She is also a librarian at the Stinson Beach Library. Sophie worked on Birds of Santa Cruz while she was at Mesa Refuge. She was a 2025 West Marin Community Fellow. You can learn more about Sophie Wood Brinker here. \n 
URL:https://mesarefuge.org/event/sophie-wood-brinker/
LOCATION:Dance Palace\, 503 B Street\, Point Reyes Station\, CA\, United States
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://mesarefuge.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Bird-Drawing-Workshop.jpg
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260708T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260708T163000
DTSTAMP:20260309T185535Z
CREATED:20260221T000132Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260309T185535Z
UID:9936-1783515600-1783528200@mesarefuge.org
SUMMARY:Workshop - Writing In the Artists' Garden
DESCRIPTION:“Summer afternoon\, summer afternoon\, to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language\,” said Henry James. \nJoin us for an inspiring summer afternoon of writing at the Mesa Refuge – the former home of well-known California Abstract Expressionist painter Sam Francis. The home and gardens of Sam and Margaret Francis provide the ideal setting for exploring our inner and outer landscapes and enjoying the gardens\, writing sheds and views of the Giacomini Wetlands and the San Andreas Fault. In this workshop led by former Mesa Refuge Executive Director and teacher Susan Page Tillett and author and teacher Elizabeth Fishel\, students will learn the history of the artists’ home and will be encouraged to find a place on the property that resonates with them\, as an inspiration for their writing. \nOpen to writers of all experience levels. Short writing prompts and poems shared in small groups will help you sharpen your observational skills\, mine your memories\, and use all your senses to create surprising pieces of prose by the end of the session. \nThe instructors have co-taught popular writing workshops at the Mesa Refuge\, Ghost Ranch and online for UC Berkeley’s Osher Lifelong Institute and at the 92nd Street Y in New York for the past 10 years. They particularly enjoy teaching at the Mesa Refuge\, where they first collaborated. \nSliding scale $50-100. Limited to 18 participants. Please reach out to nkansky@mesarefuge.org if the cost of the workshop is prohibitive to your participation. \n\nSusan Page Tillett became the first executive director of the Mesa Refuge in October 2013. She originally came to the Mesa Refuge as a writer and later moved to West Marin to lead the artist community from founder’s startup to a sustainable organization. Susan has a deep commitment to supporting the work of creative people and connecting them to the local community. Prior to directing Mesa Refuge\, Susan was executive director of the Ragdale Foundation\, a large artist community north of Chicago\, from 2000-2012. During her tenure\, she welcomed more than 2\,000 artists-in-residence\, restored the historic property\, increased Ragdale’s profile in the community and raised more than $10 million. Before working in artist communities\, Susan had 25 years of experience in museums\, including the Smithsonian\, the Art Institute of Chicago\, the Chicago History Museum and the Cape Cod National Seashore. You can read more about Susan here. \nElizabeth Fishel is a widely published journalist and author of five nonfiction books including Sisters; Reunion; and Getting To 30: A Parent’s Guide to the 20-Something Years (coauthored with Jeffrey Arnett)\, as well as a contributor to publications including Vogue\, Oprah’s O\, Ms.\, New York and The Writer. You can read more about Elizabeth here.
URL:https://mesarefuge.org/event/in-the-artists-garden/
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ORGANIZER;CN="Mesa Refuge":MAILTO:info@mesarefuge.org
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260725T140000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260725T140000
DTSTAMP:20260528T183210Z
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SUMMARY:Jeanne Carstensen and Roberto Lovato
DESCRIPTION:Mesa alums Jeanne Carstensen and Roberto Lovato discuss Jeanne’s award winning book A Greek Tragedy: One Day\, a Deadly Shipwreck\, and the Human Cost of the Refugee Crisis \n\nOn October 28\, 2015\, a boat meant for only a few dozen passengers capsized off the coast of the Greek island of Lesvos. Hundreds of refugees\, forced in desperation onto the overloaded boat manned by armed smugglers\, were tossed into a roiling sea. The resulting loss of life\, the largest in a single day during the biggest refugee crisis since World War II\, shocked the world. \nAfter nearly a decade of research and interviews\, investigative reporter Jeanne Carstensen has captured every detail of the dramatic twenty-four hours. This includes the recollections of the refugees’ lives before they left their homes and a full account of the courageous rescue efforts of the Greek islanders and volunteers rushing to help\, even as their government and the EU failed to act. In this remarkable narrative feat\, Carstensen brilliantly showcases the extraordinary heroism of ordinary people in extreme circumstances. \nIn a world where forced migration is on the rise\, and where standing up to protect our neighbors can come at great personal risk\, A Greek Tragedy challenges us to confront our collective humanity. This unforgettable testament of our times is “a crushing account of a senseless tragedy” (Publishers Weekly\, starred review) and a compassionate depiction of the lengths to which a person will go to save another human being. \nSilver Medal Winner in nonfiction for the 95th Annual California Book Awards  \n2026 Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and the PEN/Galbraith Award for Nonfiction \n\nJeanne Carstensen is an award-winning journalist whose work has appeared in New York Times\, Foreign Policy\, The World\, The Nation\, Salon\, Nautilus\, and Global Post\, among other outlets. She covered the Syrian refugee crisis in Greece and Turkey with support from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting and was short-listed for the Immigration Journalism Awards. Jeanne has been awarded fellowships at the Logan Nonfiction Program and National Arts Journalism Program at Columbia University. Previously\, she was managing editor of Salon and The Bay Citizen\, which produced the Bay Area pages of New York Times. Jeanne was the Peter Barnes Long-Form Journalism Fellow at Mesa Refuge in 2021. \nRoberto Lovato is an award-winning journalist\, and the author of Unforgetting: A Memoir of Family\, Migration\, Gangs\, and Revolution in the Americas\, a “groundbreaking” memoir the New York Times picked as an “Editor’s Choice.” Newsweek listed Roberto’s memoir as a “must read” 2020 book while the Los Angeles Times listed it as one of its 20 Best Books of 2020. He is also an Assistant Professor of English at the University of Nevada\, Las Vegas. His work has appeared in the New York Times\, the Boston Globe\, Guernica\, Le Monde Diplomatique\, La Opinion\, Der Spiegel and other national and international media outlets. A recipient of a reporting grant from the Pulitzer Center\, he has reported on numerous issues—violence\, terrorism\, the drug war and the refugee crisis—from Mexico\, Venezuela\, El Salvador\, Dominican Republic\, Haiti\, France and the United States\, among other countries. Roberto was a Marion Weber Healing Arts Fellow at Mesa Refuge in 2025.
URL:https://mesarefuge.org/event/jeanne-carstensen-and-roberto-lovato/
LOCATION:Pt Reyes Presbyterian Church\, 11445 CA-1\, Point Reyes Station\, CA\, 94956\, United States
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