Oaxaca, Mexico January 14-23, 2027
The Workshop
We are thrilled to invite you to our 10-day creative retreat in Oaxaca, Mexico, hosted by two lovely and experienced locals, Mija Matriz & Jon Labrousse.
Curated with care, these ten days offer a perfect balance of studio time and exploration of this culturally rich area, allowing us to integrate our experiences and discoveries into our work.
Visual languages create the texture of our experience, and our gathering offers an expansive dive into creative bliss with Orly& Leighanna.
During our workshop days, we will explore writing, somatic, and asemic, as well as a variety of mixed media techniques on paper, canvas, and metal. You will learn all about image transfers and how to incorporate layers of paint, simple drawing, ephemera, marks, ink, and text, which we will transform into several non-traditional art books or journals. We will use lines, symbols, brushstrokes, small found objects, and images to tell our story and create our own innate language, with a little bit of basic assemblage thrown in just for fun!
No special skills or experience are required; just plan to come and have a fabulous time creating and connecting.
This will be our second time teaching in Oaxaca, and we can’t wait to return, especially in January! We hope that you will join us for this memorable time.
Join us in Wondrous Oaxaca
Oaxaca, a UNESCO world heritage site, is a vibrant, welcoming, historical and culturally rich city in southern Mexico. Oaxaca has become a world class destination. Pick up any travel magazine and they will have lists of the 10 best things to do in Oaxaca…from eating unique regional cuisine and mezcal tastings to the ancient archaeological sites and lovely artisan villages. It is home to some of the finest artists in the world and abounds with ceramics, textiles, tin art, woodcarvings, jewelry, and so much more. There is also a prolific contemporary art scene with many murals, printmaking studios, photography and modern art galleries to enjoy. The vibrant atmosphere, fabulous food, and friendly people make Oaxaca an amazing place to visit. We’ll spend several days exploring this culturally rich, architecturally beautiful city, visiting traditional and contemporary artist’s studios, taking street art and mural tours, and enjoying the out-of-this world cuisine.
Itinerary
Jan 14 – Arrival day. Everyone’s flights arrive at different times. When you get in, either relax from your travels or start exploring the city. In the evening, we’ll take those that have arrived for a walk down to the zocalo (the city center park) for a bite to eat.
Jan 15 – Walking tour of Oaxaca centro. We’ll see grand cathedrals, beautiful colonial architecture, and visit world class galleries. We’ll enjoy lunch together on the zocalo. In the afternoon, you’ll have the option of participating in a printmaking workshop at Prietos Taller a women’s printmaking collective near the Zocalo.
Jan 16 – First full workshop day. After the workshop, we’ll freshen up and have our welcome dinner at one of Oaxaca’s many fine restaurants.
Jan 17 – Full workshop day. After the workshop we’ll walk over the the Ethnobotanical Garden behind Santo Domingo Church to see if we can drop in on a tour. Rest of the evening free.
Jan 18 – Excursion Day! Today we will travel up to the Centro de las Artes de San Agustín (CASA), an art center in the lush green of San Agustín. We’ll enjoy the current exhibits at the art center and the natural beauty of the campus. Then take a short walk over to Maestro Alberto Valenzuela’s papermaking studio for a demonstration. We’ll have an amazing lunch in San Agustín and visit the home of Marietta Bernstroff to learn more about her art activism projects in support of women in Oaxaca.
Jan 19 – Full workshop day. After the workshop, we’ll head over to Jalatlaco for an optional mural tour. Rest of the evening free.
Jan 20 – Workshop day. Rest of the evening free.
Jan 21 – Excursion Day! Today we’ll visit the truly breathtaking Monte Albán, a premier UNESCO World Heritage archaeological site near Oaxaca City, Mexico, serving as the ancient Zapotec capital (c. 500 B.C. – A.D. 850). It is a significant center of Mesoamerican history, showcasing early urbanization and astronomical observation. After spending the morning exploring with our official tour guide, we’ll head over to Atzompa for a delicious home-cooked meal and a ceramic sculpture demonstration with Maestra Angelica Delfina Vasquez Cruz.
Jan 22 – Open Studio Day: Finish up a project, try out something new, or keep practising some of the techniques you’ve learned with Leighanna dnd Orly’s guidance. In the afternoon, we’ll have a closing circle and then get ready for our farewell dinner with the group at one of Oaxaca’s many fine restaurants.
Jan 23 – Fly away home day. Thank you for joining us in magical Oaxaca!
- Itinerary is subject to change
- Airfare is not included. When searching for airfares the Oaxaca code is OAX.
- Included: Workshops, hotel for 9 nights, 3 lunches, 2 dinners, and guided tours.
- Alcoholic beverages are not included
Price
Single $4,595
Shared Double $4,095
(Price if sharing room with another person taking the workshop)
Tag along $2,995
(Someone sharing a room with a Single-paying workshop taker but not taking the workshop. Price includes everything except the workshop.)
Deposit
$750 non-refundable deposit to secure your spot
Balance due November 1, 2025
Cancellation Policy
$750 deposit will be forfeited for cancellation.
No refunds (unless we are able to fill your space) after November 15, 2025.
If the workshop is canceled you will receive a full refund.
Hotel Information
Hotel Boutique Na’ura Centro
Miguel Hidalgo 918
Centro, 68000 Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca, Mexico
Travel Insurance
Travel insurance is strongly recommended. Check out Rick Steves for recommendations and advice on types of coverage.
www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/trip-planning/travel-insurance
To Enroll
Once you have submitted your registration form, Mija or Jon will contact you with payment options.
If you have any questions email Mija at mija.matriz@gmail.com
About Us: Your Instructors
LEIGHANNA LIGHT
I am a passionate art instructor, thingmaker, bookmaker, figurative assemblage artist, tinkerer, and recovering perfectionist. My background is in fine arts and photography and I’ve been teaching art workshops for the past 20 years at art retreats in the US. I develop my classes by playing, making a mess, making “mistakes” and I can’t think of any better way to live and make a living. I love to create, to hunt for things to create with & to share my creativity with others. It’s what I live for, it’s my oxygen.
I grew up in a small town in upstate New York and I have spent most of the past 20 years in New Mexico. I am so lucky to live in Taos, the mountains of Northern New Mexico, with my best friends Thomas, Peetie, Lily, Hairy B….and now Jessie. Sheesh, each year I keep adding more!
ORLY AVINERI
In my life as a ‘maker of things’ I’ve been creating and earning a living from painting and collage making, graphic, book, textile and surface design, illustration, mural painting, and a myriad of other disciplines. I’ve studied fine arts in Ein-Hod, an artist’s village, overlooking the Mediterranean Sea in the mystical Carmel Heights in Israel where I am originally from. Later I studied graphic design and graduated from the University of Arts in the contemporary yet history-drenched city of Utrecht, in the Netherlands. In the last decade, I’ve been practicing and teaching complex yet simple art making processes through mixed-media, visual-journaling, book making, story telling, and ritual building.
I have taught workshops in intimate settings and large art retreats, both across the US and abroad, in Australia, Mexico, Morocco, The Czech Republic, The Netherlands, Ireland, and England. I’ve been a contributor in more than a dozen books and magazines and have authored three published books and two card decks designed to inspire and support creative practices. I have spoken about these practices in beautiful events as well. My work’s purpose is to advance the well being of those who seek it through a unique creative process and an experience based content I have created and developed throughout these years. Engaging in a world that is far more expansive than my own enlivens me to no end and I hope to invoke that feeling in others.
Now living in the beautiful Willamette Valley in Oregon I take in all the magnificence of the landscapes that shaped me and of the visual languages I have acquired along the way. I am passionate about the process of marrying multiple media to inspire freedom of expression, honesty of emotion, and a deep belief in the possibility, the power, and the beauty of change. I truly believe that the need to be witnessed by the self and by others is a core human need to be fulfilled by the act of creating. Therefore, a compelling part of my own journey and my absolute passion is the fostering of that in others. Art making practices cultivate insight into the nature of growth and the creative process as they relate to deep stories of loss and mend.
Enriched by self trust and acceptance, images, photos, paper, paint, words, pen, line, thread, and many unconventional tools and materials entwine to make expressive, complex, and personal creations. It’s all about one’s willingness to reveal vulnerability and rawness for the sake of true creative freedom, newness, and a deep sense of interconnectedness to all. Experiencing honest, open ended, and spirit lifting journeys takes precedence over producing beautiful outcomes. Ultimately, this, for me, is about living and depicting the fluidity of our lives, about effortlessly carrying ourselves from one place to another, and about connecting to a larger world than our own. I wish to bring it forth to you.
JON LABROUSSE and MIJA MATRIZ
Creativity flourishes with good company. And DEEP ENERGY.
Mija and Jon are creators and connectors. We are passionate about our potential for human expression and collaboration. We have a vision for a more connected world, a more celebratory world, a world that delights in the challenges and rewards of cooperation. A world we ALL want to live and participate in.
We’re both artists, ourselves. Mija is a mixed media visual artist. Jon is a poet and musician. And we have a gift for holding space for artistic exploratoin and development.
We’re striving to build an International Art Collective that honors every creative who is willing to bet on themselves, who feels moved to thrive in community.
Oaxaca City is a place like no other on earth. In our experience, it’s a place where art is a living, breathing animal, ever evolving, celebrating life and indigenous cultural heritage, challenging social injustice, fighting for equity and representation.
Our tours offer a perfect balance of creative time, and explore Oaxaca time. We love Oaxaca. You will, too. And you’ll grow and learn, as an artist. We all will. Your Creative Community can expand with us.