Swimming in the stars in British Columbia
When
September 2024
Where
Cedar Coast, Vargas Island
Themes
Ideas, Play, Magic
We started Idea Camp with the hope of finding our people – other creative humans with an insatiable desire to play, experiment, and make a lot of art. Idea Camp on the Island in 2024 was sillier, more energetic and more connected than we even knew could be possible.
Tofino, British Columbia is known to be a rainy place, but the day that we arrived, the clouds cleared and blue skies stretched out over the North Pacific. The feeling of arriving on a secluded island with 18 other strangers is one of immense anticipation – like taking a deep breath before you dive into a body of water. For the next five days we would explore this place, each other, and our own minds through art, and leave with an indescribable connection. But we didn’t know that yet.
On the first day, our intention was presence. We took careful note of our new surroundings: the lush forest, the ocean air, the water lapping the shore. We hiked through the trees to Ahous Bay, where we ran and swam and did an artmaking workshop on the huge sandy beach. In the afternoon, it was time for “Collaboration Stations,” a workshop we designed to explore different modes of creatively working together, that resulted in 4 paintings, a diorama, many improvised songs and a lot of laughter induced tears.
The retreat only got more magical. We swam in the bioluminescence of the ocean and warmed up in the sauna. We spent an afternoon creating a group zine and the last day working on personal projects, which culminated into a final gallery show. We wriggled and limboed and had quite possibly the craziest dance party of all time. We drew, we wrote, we played made up games and sang made up songs about made up words around the campfire.
By the end of the 5 days, we had created our own world– one filled with joy and laughter and the freedom to be our most creative selves. It is still hard for us to put into words exactly what happened during this retreat. But we left feeling undoubtedly sure of why we invented Idea Camp in the first place, and the importance of creating the kind of spaces that let us be exactly as weird and creative and playful as we all are.