Alta Mesa Center of the Arts 

AMCA is an interfaith arts and spirituality hub, housed and sponsored by Orinda Community Church.

Mission 

We believe that art is a spiritual act and a human right. Contained within that sentence are our two primary goals: a) to provide a place for artists to engage in the spiritual aspects of their art and for spiritual seekers to use art to deepen and discover new avenues of spiritual experience; b) to provide a place where people from diverse traditions, artistic practices, and economic realities come together in community. 

From experience we know that art can bridge the divisions, substantive and arbitrary, that divide us. We come together not only to practice and teach the arts, but to celebrate and learn from our differences and to foster lively and respectful interdisciplinary dialogues. We seek unity in diversity. We welcome professional artists, writers and musicians, experienced amateurs, hobbyists, mystics and seekers young and old. Wherever you are on your artistic and spiritual journey, whoever you are, we welcome you.  


​Maker, Mentor, Muse was founded in 2022 by Mary Volmer, Maw Shein Win, and Dawn Angelicca Barcelona. Hailing from three distinct cultural backgrounds, generations, and spiritual traditions, we believe community is essential to building a satisfying and sustainable literary life and that true success requires balancing all three roles: maker, mentor, muse. We are building a place where artists embrace practices that honor process, spiritual growth, collaboration, and community.

Next up at AMCA 
and
​Maker, Mentor Muse

Small Seed, Big Harvest
led by Elizabeth Costello
Sunday, February 9th - 4pm-5:30pm PDT
Zoom
Is there an image or an idea that comes to you when you ask yourself "What is the story of my family?" Perhaps there is an object, a fragment of cloth, a tchotchke on the mantel, a line in a letter that you found in a drawer. A gift that was given when you were a child that you have been unable to part with. Such objects or images or even ideas have tremendous power for you, they might be a kind of chorus in the song of yourself that you are always singing, consciously or unconsciously. So how can they serve you in your work as a writer? How can you share that power? In this salon, we’ll work together to turn the small potent things that mean so much to us into plotlines or throughlines for stories and poems (or songs or dances or...). Let’s get together and make a big batch of soup from these symbolic soup starters!
Price for this salon is on a sliding scale: $15-$45. 
RSVP HERE: bit.ly/smallseeds


Remember to use the code winter50 to receive 50% off any ticket for this upcoming salon!
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