THE SPRAWL
a creative rehabilitation art-making club
Time to restore you back to the wildly prolific being you are, and compost the grief of everything that stands between your instincts and creative action.
You already know that having a creative outlet is non-negotiable.
Making art is vitality-hygiene, not a self indulgence.
It’s a place we come to to face ourselves,
and face life exactly as it is.
To feel Spirit flush through us,
and sort out what we’re carrying.
Art is a spiritual technology for
metabolizing life—
Not a slick product that’s either good or bad, cool or cringe.
But of course there are a million and one ways this process gets bent out of shape.
The flow slows.
Overthinking and second-guessing steal your voice and your momentum.
And when you don’t create and make your wild, unruly mark,
you feel the aching consequences.
Let’s do something about that.
Welcome to The Sprawl — part coaching and support group, part magical artist open studio
we move in a simple rhythm.
2 gatherings each month.
every other Friday
12–2p ET
Session 1: Live workshop + creative practice lab
A monthly workshop for body-centered practices to loosen stagnation and revive inspiration.
Creative interventions: movement, drawing, somatic tools to reorient to your creative center.
Space to experiment and soften the pressure to know everything and get it right
Group conversation and co-conspiring
Co-making time to actually be with your art
Session 2: The Celebration
Show + tell, share your art!
Space to be witnessed, to hear yourself and each other
Share your discoveries, learn from each other’s processes
You’re already the expert on your Way, this is where we get to witness it together.
Q+A coaching radio show in between sessions.
Submit your questions and get my perspective on issues in your art practice or creative business.
A members-only podcast:
Founding Members:
$111 / month
» 2 live calls per month
» Coaching and feedback podcast
Fridays, 12–2pm eastern
Doors to The Sprawl open a few times a year - our first cohort begins May 8th.
a few questions
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We gather twice a month, every other Friday from 12–2pm Eastern.
The first session begins May 8th.
When you become a member of The Sprawl, you’ll get access to our monthly calendar to sync with your own, and see all sessions automatically added.
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These are live, relational spaces, so being there in real time matters. It’s where the juice is.
Replays are available for the first session of the month-the workshop-only.
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First of all, vibes. The container is shaped by who shows up. We’re responding to what’s in the room. But the rhythm goes like this:
The first session of the month is a workshop space—
I give you creative interventions (movement, drawing, and somatic tools) to loosen what’s stuck, then move into conversation and co-making.The second session is a celebration + sharing space—
bring what you made, what you discovered, what didn’t work. This is where we witness and celebrate each other.
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Embodied entry points into making.
Things that help you get out of your head and into motion »
drawing games, movement explorations, ways of working that interrupt perfectionism and overthinking. THANK GOD -
In between sessions, you’ll get access to our membership audio feed.
This is where I respond to your questions and share coaching and perspective-shifts to keep you close to your creative pulse throughout the month.
You can listen whenever. If you love voice notes from besties, this is for you.
You'll receive instructions on accessing after enrolling.
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This is an ongoing membership.
The doors for new members to join open periodically.
Stay as long as it feels good, and step out whenever it doesn’t.
I’m Melissa - an artist, dancer, movement educator, grief and death doula, and writer.
I create gatherings where people heal their creative lives and explore their relationship to their bodies, expression and mortality. Read more about my practice and influences here
I'm a coach and I'm just very impressed by people who can hold space for others this well and create that sense of belonging. People said so many things in class that I'll remember for a long time, and I don't think that happens without you creating a mood of safety, but also inviting people to look at things in new ways.
- KM, workshop participant
Melissa is the kindest, most caring, most engaging facilitator I have ever met - I just felt so lucky to be in her sphere. I can't describe how magical the two hours each week felt. It was both Melissa’s presence, as well as the other participants - I think all of us felt that something special was being created - not just with thread and needle but also in the space between us.
- MG, workshop participant + 1:1 client
I felt so in my body, community, and creative-spiritual flow. It’s an act of love from my past self to my future self to be creatively ACCOUNTABLE.
I got to say yes to things and feelings that I love saying yes to, but rarely carve out time for. And the people were PERFECT JUICY PEACHES I am so excited to see my friendships and quilting practice flourish
-Rose C, workshop participant
Melissa is curating a forum that’s the antithesis to old American ways of being together. It’s real community. It’s non hierarchical and non transactional. There’s nothing to consume. We’re learning to be together in radical new ways. It’s a real place to belong. We came for class but got each other. It’s why no one wanted to leave at the end of class! She’s tapping into ancient wisdom here
- LS, workshop participant and long-time 1:1 client
We make our art as if tomorrow is not promised.
We make with urgency, but not hustle.
A mortality awareness that goes like: ‘LFG not one more day can go by without me getting to these visions and impulses swirling inside me’
Restore the flow, make your mark.
Questions about The Sprawl?
Get in touch.
hello@melissaword.com
