Think summer camp is just for kids? Marge Graham doesn’t. She has just opened A Woman’s Place, a retreat in New Buffalo, Mich., that is a cross between summer camp, beach cottage and a school for discovering your artistic inclinations.
Beginning Friday and continuing through fall, A Woman’s Place will offer specific retreats on weekdays and weekends that focus on drawing, journaling, women’s poetry and music and traditional crafts.
“I always wanted to have my own school,” says Graham, a Winnetka resident and teacher for the last 15 years at area community and private colleges. She has a master’s degree in American and English literature and has taught humanities and women’s issues, including a course on women and creativity. Different teachers and artists will join Graham to present the programs in New Buffalo.
A Woman’s Place includes a studio, library and several bedrooms and baths. Lodging for retreats also is available in The Pink House, a “dorm” one block away.
Prices include room and three meals. The session on women’s poetry and music June 16-18 is $195. The retreat June 26-30 celebrating women’s skills and crafts is $325. The program will explore family recipes, pastry techniques and needlework, including quilts.
Graham also plans plenty of down time for participants to stroll along the beach.
“Women don’t have enough solitude in their life,” she says. “That is one of the big ingredients of creativity. You need to have unstructured time when the phone is not ringing and the children aren’t needing you.”
For more information call 708-446-3522 or 616-469-4242.