Annual PSC Calligraphy Retreat
This weekend event is a time for quiet practice, gathering with friends and enjoying nature.
Greetings fellow Scribes!!
The Retreat Committee is thrilled to announce that our reservation is in place for the 2026 PSC Calligraphy Retreat May 1st through 3rd, 2026 at the Canby Grove Retreat Center. This is a non-profit retreat center situated on 54 acres of land along the Molalla River, an easy drive from Portland (about 25 minutes) and also easy access from Albany, Salem, and Eugene.
Portland Society of Calligraphy will have the whole Riverfront Lodge which has a large conference room with a two-story wall of windows next to the river. It has 37 bedrooms with a private bathroom in each room. There is also a balcony workspace upstairs and room for workshops (which are currently in the works; full details will be available on the website) and social time (last year we had great fun around the campfire, just outside the lodge).
Buffet meals will be served in another building nearby; six meals are included in the room prices. For an additional $5 per meal, Canby Grove offers special dietary requests. The cost for a shared room (two or three people) will be $400 per person and a private room is $425. Please list any preferred roommates on the Registration form.
Arrival time is 4pm on Friday with a 4pm departure on Sunday. In addition, there is an option for people who live in the Canby area – and do not wish to spend the night – to attend all of the daytime activities, including free workshops, for a one-day price of $120 or for all days at $180. These prices would include meals.
This is a fabulous place to continue our traditional retreat of 50 plus years. In order to confirm the reservation of the PSC retreat, and to demonstrate our level of participation with a minimum of 35 attendees, please register as soon as possible at the registration page.
If the registration page indicates that there are no tickets left, you can ask to be put on the waitlist. To do that, contact Celeste at retreats@portlandsocietyforcalligraphy.org
You can pay online, either the full room amount or $100 down with the remainder due in April 1, 2026.
The three 50% scholarships have been awarded to the applicants.
Note that the retreat is open to PSC members and non-members – we hope to see many of you from outside the Portland area.
Any questions, please email Celeste Lucas at retreats@portlandsocietyforcalligraphy.org
We look forward to seeing you at this verifiably wonderful event!
Click here to see the list of retreat workshops and presentations.
Attendees typically arrive on Friday afternoon to set up their workspace and enjoy time meeting and greeting friends, old and new. Fellowship, sharing, and whimsy are in plentiful supply. You can work uninterrupted for a whole weekend on a book, a class project, an alphabet you never mastered, or try out new ideas shared by fellow calligraphers. There is no agenda or workshop pressure, just some designated meditative quiet periods to work, and lots of time to create and renew.
Retreat Workshops and Presentations
The workshop schedule will be announced a few weeks before the retreat.
Illusions of Dimension with Lee Littlewood
A quick overview of ways to make your lettering look solid, with some hands-on practice. An easy way to make your letters pop, and you just need a pencil.
Roman Capitals with Deborah Mader
Roman Capitals as shown on the Trajan column in Rome were calligraphed with a wide edged brush in ink/paint and then chiseled in the first century CE. We will take a close look at those letter forms and have the opportunity to produce them with wide edged pen.
Flat Brush Calligraphy with Penelope Culbertson
This class teaches how to use flat brushes for calligraphy, starting small and working bigger while you try your own lettering style and experiment with color using watercolors or ink.
Calligraphy for Elves (slideshow) with Stephanie Byrd
Creating a Collaborative Alphabet with Katrina Malachowski
Retreat attendees are encouraged to contribute a letter to the 3rd annual retreat collaborative project. The theme this year is “Together We Can.”
Weathergrams with Christine Olsen
Long Tradition
The Portland Society for Calligraphy Retreat is a tradition that Jaki Svaren started for her PCC students in 1969. PSC eventually sponsored the calligraphy retreat, which was held at the Menucha Retreat Center in the Columbia Gorge for 54 years.
(See article on Menucha in PSC 50th Anniversary Book, pg. 18).
Photos from past retreats
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for general inquiries:
admin@portlandsocietyforcalligraphy.org
or go to the contact page for contact information for the Board of Directors and Committees