The Artist's Way Workshop begins May 18, 2025
Mindy knows my work intimately and brings to it her own considerable creativity.” - Julia Cameron
In 1988, I was part of a small group of students that met in Julia Cameron’s tiny Victorian living room in Chicago, IL.
(See image below)
The Artist’s Way, at that time called Healing The Artist Within, in order to figure out what to do with the rest of my life as I had dramatically quit acting about six weeks prior. One of Julia’s early students, those twelve weeks dramatically altered how I approached my life; my entire life, not just my creative life. In many ways, though I didn’t fully understand this for years, the tools in The Artist’s Way have ultimately taught me how to come home to myself.
I still practice the principles daily, nearly thirty-five years later, and have my copy of the first draft (printed by Julia at Kinko's) of what became the phenomenon known as The Artist's Way. (See the above photo)
I began facilitating the work in 1992 at Julia Cameron's suggestion.
After The Artist’s Way, I found myself more open to actively pursuing my dreams (ironically, the very dreams I had given up on prior to the workshop), but at the time, I never imagined that Julia would encourage me to facilitate the workshop. For most of the 90s, I internationally facilitated the workshop that the book is based upon. At one point, I had a class of students who just rolled into another class, one right after the other, because they felt it kept them on track and grounded. One student actually said it was cheaper than therapy and more effective. Another was that it was like I had given them a key that unlocked something that had been hidden within.
I have evolved and grown over the years, but I can promise you that you have done the workshop before, either on your own or by working through the book, the practices behind the class, and your relationship to it deepen over time. And each time you cycle through you enter it from a new place.
Most importantly, it is called the Artist's Way for a reason. Ultimately, the work is a spiritual practice. A way of being with yourself. If you let it, through practice, it shifts your relationship to God/Goddess/the Universe (however you experience a relationship to the divine).
Essentially, the workshop teaches you a new way of showing up for yourself and helps you get past the barriers that you have unconsciously erected for any number of reasons, but can no longer see. It helps you get out of the labyrinth of creating the same patterns again and again and provides you with tools that help you stay on the path that you wish to set for yourself.
It supports you in giving yourself permission.
Beginning mid-May 2025, I will be facilitating the original workshop that the acclaimed book “The Artist Way: A Path to Higher Creativity” is based upon. It is a different experience from working through the book on your own. While it has a similar structure to the book, the workshop has a very personal tone, containing both exercises that are in the book as well as exercises that are designed specifically to address the needs of each individual, as well as the particular needs of the group as a whole.
This is a guided encounter with someone who has lived/walked with this particular work since 1988. I am deeply familiar with the twists and turns on this particular path. I have had students say they end up in the class to help with their accountability, but to me, it is the support during the journey of the workshop that makes the difference. All of the unconscious patterns you have, the barriers you put up that get in your way, will be activated during the process. That is actually part of the process, and it is extremely difficult to navigate on your own.
I joke about my resistance during that first class. Open resistance in class to Julia's urging. This happens to everyone because you are coming up against your own hidden self-sabotaging beliefs about what is possible for you and your life.
In order for us to create the life we dream of, that we long for, our belief in that vision has to be stronger than our belief in its impossibility. Achieving that is a moment-to-moment spiritual practice.
You do not need to be an artist (actor, writer, musician, dancer, etc), I have worked with people from all walks of life, from elementary school teachers, those in college, retired individuals, to corporate CEOs. The workshop is always a place of discovery and opens something for each individual.
Class size is extremely limited to provide an intimate one-on-one experience for participants. I have found that small groups tend to be most effective as they allow for more time to process within the group. This is a small group of ten participants and two spaces are already taken.
This is a hybrid in-person/Zoom workshop (in the Chicago area, but you can participate from anywhere)
The cost for the twelve-week workshop is $400.
Dates: Sunday evenings beginning May 18 from 7-9 pm CDT. There will be no class on May 25(Memorial Day Weekend) or July 6 (4th of July Weekend)
For more detailed information, to ask any questions, or to register, please text or call me directly at: 213-268-0641 or you can directly email me at [email protected]
"Taking The Artist's Way Workshop from Mindy Mendelsohn gave me the tools to get my first photography book published. Her guidance and encouragement in following the program kept me writing on a regular basis with the daily Morning Pages. From that practice, I grew more confident in my writing. Becoming a published author and photographer of the award-winning book Secret Sedona: Sacred Moments in the Landscape comes directly from her leadership in the Artist's Way workshop. I highly recommend Mindy as a workshop teacher."
- Acclaimed landscape photographer Larry Lindahl
In 1988, I was part of a small group of students that met in Julia Cameron’s tiny Victorian living room in Chicago, IL.
(See image below)
The Artist’s Way, at that time called Healing The Artist Within, in order to figure out what to do with the rest of my life as I had dramatically quit acting about six weeks prior. One of Julia’s early students, those twelve weeks dramatically altered how I approached my life; my entire life, not just my creative life. In many ways, though I didn’t fully understand this for years, the tools in The Artist’s Way have ultimately taught me how to come home to myself.
I still practice the principles daily, nearly thirty-five years later, and have my copy of the first draft (printed by Julia at Kinko's) of what became the phenomenon known as The Artist's Way. (See the above photo)
I began facilitating the work in 1992 at Julia Cameron's suggestion.
After The Artist’s Way, I found myself more open to actively pursuing my dreams (ironically, the very dreams I had given up on prior to the workshop), but at the time, I never imagined that Julia would encourage me to facilitate the workshop. For most of the 90s, I internationally facilitated the workshop that the book is based upon. At one point, I had a class of students who just rolled into another class, one right after the other, because they felt it kept them on track and grounded. One student actually said it was cheaper than therapy and more effective. Another was that it was like I had given them a key that unlocked something that had been hidden within.
I have evolved and grown over the years, but I can promise you that you have done the workshop before, either on your own or by working through the book, the practices behind the class, and your relationship to it deepen over time. And each time you cycle through you enter it from a new place.
Most importantly, it is called the Artist's Way for a reason. Ultimately, the work is a spiritual practice. A way of being with yourself. If you let it, through practice, it shifts your relationship to God/Goddess/the Universe (however you experience a relationship to the divine).
Essentially, the workshop teaches you a new way of showing up for yourself and helps you get past the barriers that you have unconsciously erected for any number of reasons, but can no longer see. It helps you get out of the labyrinth of creating the same patterns again and again and provides you with tools that help you stay on the path that you wish to set for yourself.
It supports you in giving yourself permission.
Beginning mid-May 2025, I will be facilitating the original workshop that the acclaimed book “The Artist Way: A Path to Higher Creativity” is based upon. It is a different experience from working through the book on your own. While it has a similar structure to the book, the workshop has a very personal tone, containing both exercises that are in the book as well as exercises that are designed specifically to address the needs of each individual, as well as the particular needs of the group as a whole.
This is a guided encounter with someone who has lived/walked with this particular work since 1988. I am deeply familiar with the twists and turns on this particular path. I have had students say they end up in the class to help with their accountability, but to me, it is the support during the journey of the workshop that makes the difference. All of the unconscious patterns you have, the barriers you put up that get in your way, will be activated during the process. That is actually part of the process, and it is extremely difficult to navigate on your own.
I joke about my resistance during that first class. Open resistance in class to Julia's urging. This happens to everyone because you are coming up against your own hidden self-sabotaging beliefs about what is possible for you and your life.
In order for us to create the life we dream of, that we long for, our belief in that vision has to be stronger than our belief in its impossibility. Achieving that is a moment-to-moment spiritual practice.
You do not need to be an artist (actor, writer, musician, dancer, etc), I have worked with people from all walks of life, from elementary school teachers, those in college, retired individuals, to corporate CEOs. The workshop is always a place of discovery and opens something for each individual.
Class size is extremely limited to provide an intimate one-on-one experience for participants. I have found that small groups tend to be most effective as they allow for more time to process within the group. This is a small group of ten participants and two spaces are already taken.
This is a hybrid in-person/Zoom workshop (in the Chicago area, but you can participate from anywhere)
The cost for the twelve-week workshop is $400.
Dates: Sunday evenings beginning May 18 from 7-9 pm CDT. There will be no class on May 25(Memorial Day Weekend) or July 6 (4th of July Weekend)
For more detailed information, to ask any questions, or to register, please text or call me directly at: 213-268-0641 or you can directly email me at [email protected]
"Taking The Artist's Way Workshop from Mindy Mendelsohn gave me the tools to get my first photography book published. Her guidance and encouragement in following the program kept me writing on a regular basis with the daily Morning Pages. From that practice, I grew more confident in my writing. Becoming a published author and photographer of the award-winning book Secret Sedona: Sacred Moments in the Landscape comes directly from her leadership in the Artist's Way workshop. I highly recommend Mindy as a workshop teacher."
- Acclaimed landscape photographer Larry Lindahl
