Are you looking for a space amidst your busy life to connect more deeply with yourself and your community in a supportive and inspiring environment?
Illumination, Photograph by Lisa Kagan
Touchstone Retreats offers you the chance to immerse yourself in the creative process of sharing your stories through art and writing. We facilitate art and writing retreats in Portland, Oregon. Our offerings include weekly, monthly, full day, and weekend programs. We specialize in caring for those that care for other, with a focus on serving caregivers, health care providers, therapists, educators, chaplains, hospice workers, and social justice activists through our retreats.
Upon request, we also provide specialized programming for organizations and community groups.
We invite you to:
- Take a break from your responsibilities and enjoy the opportunity for self-reflection and creativity.
- Allow yourself to be nurtured and nourished, supporting the process of regeneration and renewal.
- Embark on your own journey of transformation, stepping more fully into your personal power and expressing your authentic voice and vision.
- Share insight, inspiration, and wisdom through deepening community connection.
We honor writing and art as a creative process that belongs to all people. Each person’s voice is unique and of value. All writing, art and creativity is welcome here. No previous experience is necessary, just an openness to exploration.
Please contact us with questions, to register for our upcoming retreats (schedule of current offerings listed below), or to brainstorm on ideas for bringing a Touchstone Retreats program to your community.
Join us for our upcoming Touchstone Retreats programs…
CREATIVE ALCHEMY ~ Poetry, Art & Community
A ten-week series with Lisa Kagan & Margaret Hartsook
CREATIVE ALCHEMY ~ Poetry, Art & Community Mondays 6:30am-9pm (Sept. 28-December 7, 2026)
SE Portland
Visit our event page to learn more and register.
NOURISH ~ Inspiring Creativity & Connection
A six-week series with Lisa Kagan
NOURISH ~ Inspiring Creativity & Connection Thursdays 10:00am-12:30pm (October 8th-November 19th)
SE Portland
Visit our event page to learn more and register.
WRITING FROM CENTER ~ A Thursday Morning Writing Devotion
A weekly series with Dawn Thompson via Zoom
Thursdays 10am-12:15pm, (September 10-November 19, 2026)
Learn more and register here.
VISION ~ A Monthly Writing Devotion
A monthly series with Dawn Thompson
Wednesdays 10am-12:30pm (Sept. 9, Oct.14, Nov. 11, Dec. 9, 2026)
NE Portland
Learn more and register here.
SANCTUARY ~ A Free Personal Monthly Writing Salon
with Dawn Thompson via Zoom
SANCTUARY ~ 1st Wednesday of the month, October 2026-May 2027
Learn more and register here.
Here is what participants have to say about Touchstone Retreats…
I have now been to two art and writing retreats with Dawn Thompson and Lisa Kagan and both provided so much healing for my soul. There is nothing like gathering with others to create. Much like meditating with a group of people, the experience is very powerful in a way that cannot be replicated on your own. Dawn and Lisa are both very thoughtful, kind and supportive and just an inspiration to work with. I feel very nurtured with them, even (especially) at my most vulnerable moments sharing my work with the group. I am so grateful for them and can’t wait to retreat with them again!”
– Touchstone Retreats Participant
Extraordinary things happen when a group of women come together and commit to writing, creating, and exploring in nature. Dawn and Lisa of Touchstone Retreats provided a safe, nurturing space to simply be— without judgment or expectation. We were invited as individuals to experience our weekend as we needed. There’s such freedom in that. I wrote, hiked, put my feet up, and got my fingers sticky with paint. It was fantastic! Our group quickly became a unique type of family, forged in a creative space so often unattainable in the bustle of modern life. The delicious, locally-sourced meals prepared by an amazing chef made the weekend extra special. This was a writing and art retreat, but it was also a nature and foodie retreat! Dawn and Lisa are two of the most welcoming and talented humans I’ve ever met. I left feeling loved, nurtured, and inspired. I can’t wait for the next Touchstone retreat!
– Touchstone Retreats Participant
I recommend Touchstone Retreats to women who are looking for a safe place to connect with their inner voice and creativity, and also to connect with kindred spirits. Life is such a hectic race through our to-do lists that we hardly ever disconnect not only from electronics, but from our self-talk to do more and be more. Taking time for reflection is so important. Participating in a retreat like this is a way to be kind to yourself through taking time to write and create.
– Touchstone Retreats Participant
I registered for this retreat because I wanted time away in the forest with like-minded creatives. It was so much more ~ from the beautiful venue to the incredible meals and ‘forest bathing’ to the deep dive into writing and mask making, it was a pure joy. I hope to attend many more.
– Touchstone Retreats Participant
About Touchstone Retreats Facilitators:
Lisa Kagan is a writer, artist, creative facilitator, celebrant, and personal historian. She is a co-founder of Touchstone Retreats, facilitating art and writing programs throughout the Portland area. Her business, Family Heirloom Arts, is dedicated to helping individuals and families celebrate their life stories and significant life milestones through conducting oral history interviews and creating illustrated heirloom books. Through her work as a celebrant, Lisa runs Full Circle Ceremonies, supporting people to create custom ceremonies honoring celebrations, transitions, and healing. Lisa believes in the transformative nature of the creative process to renew, empower, challenge, inform, and awaken the human spirit. Lisa received her BA from Wesleyan University in Connecticut with a focus on writing and fine art. She has completed intensive studies in the arts at Skidmore College, the University of New Mexico, Sitka Center for Art and Ecology, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, and the Maine Photographic Workshops. Lisa has completed her celebrant training through the Celebrant Academy and the Ceremony and Rites of Passage Global Training certification program. Lisa has published two books of original art and poetry, Coming Home to Myself (2021) and Emergence (2009).
Dawn Thompson believes writing our stories, whether they originate from our life experience or our imagination, is a sacred act that liberates, heals and transforms us. Dawn is passionate about how writing in community offers us the gift of becoming more intimate with ourself and more connected to one another. She currently offers writing workshops for women and individuals healing from cancer through Words for Healing. Dawn oversaw and facilitated through Portland Women Writers from 2008-2023. She has also worked as a staff member for Write Around Portland. Dawn holds an M.A. in Creation Spirituality from Naropa University and a B.A. in Journalism from the University of Oregon. Dawn is a co-founder of Touchstone Retreats.
Margaret Hartsook sees art making and writing as spiritual practices that can open the gates of creativity and self-expression. She believes we each have a unique creative language that can promote well-being, healing, meaning making and growth in our lives. Through de-mystifying the tools of visual art making, she guides individuals to explore and find their own unique expression. Trained in drawing and painting at California College of Art, Margaret completed her BFA at the University of Oregon and received a Master’s degree in Transpersonal Counseling & Psychology with an emphasis in Art Therapy from Naropa University. Margaret is currently working at Legacy Good Samaritan in the Cancer Institute as an Art Therapist. In addition to facilitating many art-based workshops she co-created the Art Therapy program for Pathways Hospice in Northern Colorado and established the Memories in the Making art program for the Alzheimer’s Association in Oregon.
Lisa Kagan
503.347.1391
lisa@familyheirloomarts.com
FamilyHeirloomArts.com
Dawn Thompson
503.568.6145
dawnrenethompson@gmail.com
https://words-for-healing.com/
Margaret Hartsook
margarethartsook@yahoo.com
303-682-1073
mhartsook.com
