Holly Wren Spaulding

Alum 2006

Driven by her belief that living a mindful life immersed in art is a revolutionary act, Holly Wren Spaulding is a poet and teaching artist who catalyzes her collaborators, clients, and students toward a more humane and intimate way of being in the world.

In a society that so often undermines the consciousness we seek to cultivate, Spaulding stands as a beacon to those ready to do the necessary work of living according to their convictions; finding their true place in the ecosystem; resisting the exploitation of others and the earth; and materializing the inner life through the practice of art.

A passion for direct experience has led her from her childhood homestead in the upper Great Lakes, around the world as an activist, filmmaker and award-winning poet, writer, researcher, and artist.

Spaulding is a member of the creative writing faculty at Interlochen College of Creative Arts, and directs Poetry Forge, an incubator for writers and their work. In addition, Spaulding writes about art and artists for Culture Keeper, serves on the advisory board of Crosshatch Center for Art & Ecology, and teaches occasional letterpress & poetry workshops at Big Wheel Press. She was the Ann Hall Artist in Residence at the Leelanau Cultural Center in 2017. She lives with her husband, author Matt Rigney, in Williamsburg, Massachusetts.

Through her writing, courses, and relationships, Holly Wren Spaulding creates spaces for people to experience a sustained encounter with a way of being that fosters a sense of calm sufficiency, and where a depth of intellectual and creative inquiry prevails. Her commitment, in each of these areas, is to make a space for the radical imagination at a time when creative thinking, boundary crossing, and greater empathy is so needed in all areas of private and public life.