Reducing Overwhelm: A Perspective Shift at the Art Museum

Date & Time: Saturday, January 10, 2026 @ 10:30 AM
Price: $55 per person
REGISTER HERE
Museum Admission: Not included (free for members)
Location: Portland Art Museum + nearby coffee shop
Total Time: Four+ hours (includes a 30-minute coffee break and a Zoom follow-up)
Group Size: Small
Registration: Advance registration required

Join me for this four-hour workshop designed to slow things down and shift perspective. The museum setting creates distance from daily routines and offers a mental and visual pause.
This workshop focuses on thinking differently, using art as a practical lens to look at how attention, ideas, and patterns show up in your own work. Rather than analyzing art history, we focus on what you notice, what holds your interest, and what keeps pulling you back.
Those reactions often reveal where things feel cluttered, unresolved, or ready to take shape. This makes the workshop especially useful for writers and storytellers who are working through a project, circling an idea, or looking for a visual way to unlock momentum.

How the workshop works

• We move through the museum using simple observation prompts
• Examples include:
• Finding a piece that stops you
• Finding a piece that feels complex but cohesive
• We use the art as a shared reference point to talk about what resonated and why

The conversation stays grounded in what you saw and noticed. The art carries the weight of the discussion, making it easier to talk about ideas, structure, and direction without overexplaining.

The “Beads and Birds” Insight
In a previous workshop, one participant was drawn to a large, dark abstract piece that made her want to cry. She described it as her “busy brain,” a reflection of what too much feels like. In the next room, she found a piece filled with colorful beads, all moving in different directions but connected in intervals by birds.
Her insight was noticing how her thoughts could string together with grounding elements. She left with a clearer sense of how complexity could still have structure and flow.

Follow-up
The workshop includes a one-hour Zoom conversation two weeks later. This is a chance to reflect on what stayed with you and how it showed up once you returned to your own work.

Facilitator
I’m Ryan, founder of Campfire Tales. I’ve worked as a visual artist for over 22 years and as a business coach and mentor. I regularly work with writers, artists, and professionals who are navigating complex ideas and looking for clearer ways to organize and move them forward. This workshop was built from direct facilitation experience and long-term observation of how art supports clearer thinking.
Advance registration is required to keep the group small and focused.