In 2022, FreeHorse Arts participants curated our first BE HERD celebration. This extended 2024-2025 session will focus on our January Gratitude Gathering honoring Songwriters Hall of Fame President & CEO, Linda Moran.

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In preparation for the June 28 FreeHorse Arts Songwriters Series featuring the Music of Bill Withers & Storytelling by Kori Withers, we’ll explore the poetry of lyrics that bring the music to life.

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Richmond bassist and audio engineer Curtis Fye took the Herd through the final process of designing sound/audio cues for the FreeHorse Arts Songwriters Series featuring the Music of Paul Williams.

Creative Collaborator Chase Kniffen collaborated with InterConnected participants to uncover the magic of projection design through creating, gathering, editing and programming video content used in the FreeHorse Arts Songwriters Series featuring the Music of Paul Williams.

FreeHorse Arts participant Edward Bova and Richmond bassist and audio engineer Curtis Fye collaborated with the Herd to design and create nature-based audio content for the upcoming LIVE production: FreeHorse Arts Songwriters Series featuring the music of Paul Williams. Participants built upon skills learned in prior class sessions to include Storytelling through Audio Arts (2021) and Grow Through Sound (2022).

Did you ever wonder about the behind-the-scenes details involved in creating a large scale awards show? In preparation for the FreeHorse Arts inaugural on-the-road experience to the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame awards show in New York City in June, professionals from the production taught participants about their roles and responsibilities during the online class sessions before meeting and sharing with them in person at the event. Creative Collaborators include Dorie D’Amore/Coordinating Producer, Eli Tishberg/Director, Mitch Maketansky/Audio Coordinator, Gayle Depoli/Technical Manager, and Nancy Munoz/Producer.

Through the process of learning about and practicing animation skills in our online InterConnected class, Savannah Philyaw and the FreeHorse Arts Herd worked together to create an animated story.

Illustrator and picture book creator Jon Marro explored the editing process in our picture book creation from design and layout to self-publishing. Participants continued to journey through the principles of the healthy horse herd

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FreeHorse Arts welcomed back Creative Collaborator Valley Haggard to the FreeHorse Arts InterConnected Herd to lead us in the writing of a picture book, exploring the principles and qualities of The Healthy Herd to include: Alignment, Balance, Exploration & Play, Honesty & Congruency, Individual Responsibility & Accountability, Presence, Safety, and Shared Leadership.

Community Partner and Principle of Unbridled, Kim Hallin and FreeHorse Arts Co-Founder and President Nancy Munoz explored Albert Einstein’s famous quote, that “Energy cannot be created or destroyed, it can only be changed from one form to another”, with the goal of expanding our understanding of what it means to be part of the community of life on Earth.

In this extended class session, FreeHorse Arts Co-Founder and President Nancy Munoz was joined by other FreeHorse Arts Board members and Guest Artists including Songwriter Extraordinaire Paul Williams, Chad Hugo, Kori Withers, Paul Rothenberg, Allison Smartt, Rudy Perez, Jill Dell’Abate, and Ché Fitzgerald as we explored the process of music creation from the seed of inspiration to sharing and enjoying its bounty. Special guests dropped in weekly to share the process including Inspiration (creativity, writing processes, solo & co-writing), documenting and backstopping the creative process (agreements/contracts), choosing instrumentation, sound effects, and vocals or lack thereof, arranging, recording/re-recording, mixing, and mastering, publishing, marketing, and distribution.

Four weeks wasn’t enough time for the richness of this session content!

Herd members continued in the exploration of nature’s design elements through photography and graphic design with Creative Collaborators Lexi Pasternak and Susan Wermus, expanding their awareness and deepening their ability to see nature creatively through learning the principles of photography, taking photos and utlizing online graphic design software.

In this class session, Herd participants were led by nature photographer, Susan Wermus in a visual exploration of nature’s design elements through photography and Creative Collaborator Lexi Pasternak, who lead us in an exploration of graphic design using nature focused photographs taken by class participants . We expanded our awareness and deepened our ability to see nature creatively through learning the principles of photography, taking photos, and playing with them in online graphic design software.

In this online session led by Alex Ginsberg, Erin Thomas and Emily Roig, participants explored the elements of storytelling through fable and creative sound design in storytelling.

Have you ever wondered: What is a podcast? How do you create one? What are the elements that make it compelling and resonant for listeners ?

In this session, creative collaborator and “Media Midwife” Ahri Golden joined us from Ashland, Oregon via the Zoomiverse to lead the Herd in exploring these questions as we generated ideas and created a production plan for “The Art of the Podcast: In the Studio”.

In this session participants learned about the design of social media, exploring both its benefits as well as its pitfalls utilizing social media platforms and designing content for a social cause that they connect with and feel compelled to highlight for the benefit of the planet and the living beings inhabiting it.

FreeHorse Artst started the calendar year with Creative Collaborator, Erin Frye, experiencing renewal and regeneration through movement, breath, intention, vibration and song.

In this session, participants designed and implemented a year-end online inter-connected Herd celebration! In so doing, participants honed their planning and artistic skills by design through: Canva invitations, considering all online event planning elements to include creative decorative options, exercising empathetic considerations relative to guest logistics, food, beverages, customizing experiences relative to music and entertainment, familial rituals and more!

Participants practiced the skills of deep listening, reflection, connection and curiosity through song creation. In mutual interviews, participants listened deeply to one another, gathering information through words, tone, body language and transforming the sharing into song through the art of symbol, sound and metaphor.

Participants learned about the varied palette of comedy and practiced the skills of improvisation to include idea initiation, collaboration, and content creation through comedic play with Roxi Jara.

Creative Collaborators Heather Bruneau and Jaime Weinstein will guide and support participants in visual art mural design and creation around the themes of planetary regeneration, renewal and the principles of a healthy herd. Online FHA participants will focus on mural design to be created within the space of the FreeHorse Arts Community Garden.

The Herd was thrilled to welcome back artist and creator, Savannah Philyaw, who lead participants in the creation of a video celebration of the summer’s FreeHorse Arts experience entitled “Bounty!”

Returning Creative Collaborator Thom Woodward supported participants in sound exploration and the creation of an original piece that was included in the culminating multimodal experience, celebrating spring and summer class-created content titled, “Bounty!”. Participants explored and created audio pieces as it related to nature, our human rhythms, and the worlds beyond.

Puppeteer extraordinaire, Jordan Brownlee joined us in creating and building our own puppets, which were used during class time in improvisational play. Creative content will be included in the culminating summer performance of “Bounty!”

Herd member, Heather Bruneau, joined us for the creation of art pieces to celebrate regenerative creativity. We learned together while having the opportunity to customize individual pieces to enjoy and share.

Growing upon our connection to the natural world while celebrating the start of our FreeHorse Arts community garden inspired by Rachel, Jody Conway shared her experience with participants in garden cultivation from soil to seed to garden design.

Jon Marro led us through illustrative art making processes, with a focus on the Principles of a Healthy Herd. We learned about the art of illustration and story making, with a focus on character creation designed to inspire a commitment to planetary renewal and growth in a creative, colorful, and playful way.

FreeHorse Arts participants were gifted screeners of the live stage performance of Emmet Otter’s Jugband Christmas thanks to The New Victory Theater in NYC. Composer and FHA Board Member, Paul Williams and Puppeteer, Jordan Brownlee discussed the art of music composition and puppeteering.

Through her “Life in 10 Minutes” process of expression through writing, Valley Haggard led the Herd in creative internal exploration, a deep dive through which participants engaged in the process of self-expression through “writing” (with accommodations as preferred).

In The Art of Soul Space, Guest Artist Erin Frye led us through group practices focusing on principles of Grounding, Release, Opening and Interconnectivity utilizing music, mindfulness meditation, yoga movement and breath work.

In The Art of Play and Exploration, Kim Hallin and Nancy Munoz introduced the ‘Principles of a Healthy Herd’ with a particular focus on play, exploration and honest communication. Participants were invited to explore ways in which the principles of a healthy horse herd inform their experience within all herds to which they belong. Journals were crafted for more in-depth exploration and set the stage for improviser and teacher Jill Eickmann. Jill and FreeHorse Arts Collaborators Taylor Kavanagh, Heather Bruneau and Alex Ginsberg assisted participants in creatively expressing portions of their class content which highlighted the fun, humor and universal themes that connect us all.

World Mythology come to life! Broaden your world and inspire your soul while learning legends and myths from around the world through story telling and dance-theatre interpretation with Ana Ines King. Legends and dances may include cultural information of Venezuela with “La Reina Maria Lionza”, The Anjanas from the Cantabria and Spain, Nicte-Ha from Mexico, La Madre del Agua (The Mother of Water) from Colombia, Ochun and Yemanya from African-Cuban culture and Australian Aboriginal myths about the world creation. For more information on myths and legends visit: https://www.latinballet.com/mistica

Herd member Heather Bruneau led us on a mural adventure with a look at local Richmond based murals/muralists and beyond. Participants then engaged in the creation of a collaborative mural, continuing with the exploration of the theme “ interconnectedness,” and utilizing skills learned in the prior session.

Herd members joined Heather Bruneau and Lexi Pasternak to learn about online art making tools as we use them to create pieces of art that explore the theme of “interconnectivity.”

Music educator and orchestrator, Samson Trinh, touched upon the rhythm and roots of American song structure. The origins and components of popular songs will be explored and created, to include The Blues, Folk, Rock ‘n’ Roll, Hip Hop, and Pop.

Educator & Audio Professional Thom Woodward led the herd in the creation of an audio recording which included identifying the key elements of storytelling, learning about script analysis, finding sounds to underscore the narrative, and exploring online sound software for use in mixing all of the elements while creating a final group audio piece.

Songwriter, artist and videographer Savannah Philyaw guided participants in creating their own videos which were combined into a shared video that reflects the FreeHorse Arts values of a deeply present connection to the natural world, understanding beyond self, and living more consciously within their communities.

An exploration of our interconnectedness with the natural world. In the first week of this session, POLLINATORS and CHOMPERS, Jenna Hopp at Dandelion Springs Apiary, shared her knowledge about bees and the ways in which they contribute to the process of nature’s regeneration. In the second week, with RVA Goats, Jenna taught about the ways in which goats and sheep help to heal the earth by trimming back overgrowth and invasive plant species through grazing, a natural and environmentally healthy practice. In weeks three and four, NOURISHING OURSELVES, NOURISHING OUR WORLD, we learned from master gardener, Sara Jane Rutz. Through her home garden and greenhouse, Sara shared the benefits of growing and nurturing garden-fresh foods that are healthy and nourishing to all living parts of our earth. Participants learned about the nutritional values of plants along with creative and delicious recipes for you to prepare.

An extended session with Heather Bruneau, Jacob Currance, and Chris Caswell, which focused on the creation of puppets, storytelling through puppetry and music making

Lydia Nitya Griffith www.nityaliving.com facilitated activities aimed to relax and restore the mind, body and spirit through activities accessible to all participants. These (various forms of yoga) are intended to increase awareness through the arts we engage in, the way we nourish and move our bodies, thoughts we can explore through journaling, and giving back to our families, communities, while caring for the natural world.

Start the calendar year with Creative Collaborator, Erin Frye. Experience renewal and regeneration through movement, breath, intention, vibration and song.

Participants joined FreeHorse Arts Associate Director, Lucretia Anderson, for an exploration of how we, along with people around the world, can be sources of light during the winter solstice. Combining skills acquired during previous classes, sprinkled with seasonal inspiration, they created crafts/gifts, stories, movement and sound in illuminating ways.

With guest artists, Sacrificial Poets, participants transformed their personal stories into poetic expressions about who we are and how we see the world around us.

By combining different materials, often paper, into one work of art, students had an opportunity to explore transformation through collage. Interdisciplinary arts educator and visual storyteller Blythe King guided students through chosen images from magazines and other materials into visually rich portraits that tell a story.

After unlocking our creativity through songwriting, Kevin LaMarr Jones of Claves Unidos led the herd in an exploration of movement through music. Most forms of music have an underlying rhythmic base. Through acknowledging and celebrating the similarities and differences of those rhythms and the cultures behind them, students experienced, through movement, how closely related we are, no matter where we are from.

Students drew from their own experience to write and collaborate on lyrics while learning about percussion, melody and harmony. Guest artists included Mighty Joshua, Mona Tavakoli, Chris Caswell & Doug Walter who assisted with composition, percussion, editing, engineering and arranging respectively.

Helmed by artist Heather Bruneau, activities included mindful awareness, visual art, interpersonal sharing, connection to the natural world, and mask making.