〰️May 2024〰️

Facilitated by Emily Prentice

$66 for Mycelium Members
$99 for non-members

THE UNDERWORLD IS OUR INVERSIONS.

It’s our dusty corners and cobwebbed windows. The home of fairies and spirits, worms and seeds. It’s the depths we descend and the winters we emerge from. It’s deep dark secrets and fertile soil. It is where the world cycles and creates itself.

We can create from it, too.

What’s a creative study group?

A creative study group is a small community of artists, writers, and non-linear thinkers. We take a common theme (in this case it’s The Underworld!) and explore it from our own creative practices.

We’ll share our findings and connect threads across mediums. We’ll notice the underworlds that exist all around us. We’ll leave no stone unturned.

Our creative study group will be in community via Discord. We’ll share our research over two Zoom calls. We’ll spark inspiration with 4 PDF workbooks. We’ll examine the underworld together, because we’d rather go with friends than go alone*.

*kimya dawson’s line, not mine

SCHEDULE

DISCORD DIGITAL COMMUNITY SPACE.

Our space is open from May 1st-31st, though our earliest undernauts are already hanging out <3

ZOOM COMMUNITY CONVOS.

Our two 1 hour calls will take place on Thursday the 9th & 16th at 7pm EST. Expect conversations to be recorded and for all of us to talk, at least a little bit. Cozy clothes and art projects highly encouraged.

UNDERWORLD ART CHALLENGE.

31 underworldly art prompts drop in the Discord on May 1st! Anyone who completes all 31 prompts will get a special gift courtesy of our sister biz, Mycelium Shop.

IRL HANGOUTS.

If you are within hangout distance of Mycelium in Elkins, WV, you’re cordially invited to come hang out on Saturdays from 2-4 all month long. We’ll work on our creative “homework” together!

Week 1: Descend. We’ll drop into The Underworld by exploring the themes of BELOW through shapes, colors, symbols, and structures.

Potential Explorations: fairy rings, persephone, death, and the afterlife!

Week 2: Connect. We’ll consider the importance of webs and networks, and think about what relationships mean to our creative work.

Potential Explorations: mycelium, seances, the world wide web (online & IRL!)

Week 3: Create. We’ll focus on the generative aspects of the Underworld, and consider cycles of growth and decay in our creative lives.

Potential Explorations: compost, dirt, worms, and seeds!

Week 4: Emerge. We’ll wrap up our time underground and start to answer the big question: How can we make art like the Underworld?

Potential Explorations: cicadas, spring flowers, zombies!

 Why the Underworld?

Pithy answer? Because the Overworld isn’t cutting it. 

The Underworld is our compost. It’s earthworms and burrows and seeds. The Underworld is cave maps and mycelium networks, both making criss-crosses and interconnections underneath us. The Underworld is the suit of Pentacles, the island formed from a volcano, the burrow of bunnies in the backyard.

And, for our very human purposes, the Underworld exists in opposition to our concepts of hierarchy, linearity, and time. Capitalism means nothing to the cave art from millennia past. Grind culture cannot exist in a space outside of time. Our concept of hierarchy disappears through the generative nature of below. Under is relative and all things come from it. (And return to it.) The Underworld lives cyclically, reminding us that we, too, must winter. The Underworld builds networks of communication, gently nudging us towards interdependence.  

When we learn the lessons of the underworld, we honor community, sleep, squiggles. We crush patriarchy and we dismantle white supremacy. We carry earthworms from sidewalk to grass. We live softer and in season.

  • Digitally? You can expect weekly workbooks, 2 zoom calls, a Discord community space, and a Notion “suitcase” packed full of tools for the underworld :)

    IRL? If you’re local to Elkins, WV, expect a weekly meet-up where we can work on our creative “homework” together.

    Energetically? You can expect a supportive network, a focus on non-linear thinking, and PERMISSION GRANTED to play or daydream or take naps or dive deep. We do not have “outcomes” in this group: the noticing is the thing. We get to co-create this space, and it changes because you’re in it :)

  • HELL YES. It is a hard time to be a human, and it is a-ok if your creative practice has gone on the back burner. You will be invited to take action through low-key creative prompts: think journaling, mood boarding, noticing, and connecting with like-minded people. The Underworld works outside of productivity culture and forced timelines. While we’re there, we do, too.

  • YES. Absolutely nothing is mandatory. If small group convos aren’t your thing, no problem! The benefit to attending live is that you can help us co-create our conversation. You can always listen to our group conversations afterwards, though. They will be recorded!

  • Our Discord space will officially “open” on the first day of class, though you can access it when you sign up! Our Zoom calls will take place twice through our time together. Our workbooks will drop weekly. Your Notion Suitcase will be available at sign up.

  • MAYBE! If it has ANYTHING to do with accessing our class space or your Notion dashboard, then we will get you sorted. If you’re having software trouble with Discord, Notion, or Zoom, you’ll need to use support from those companies! Either way, don’t hesitate to reach out using the “CONTACT” link above. If I can’t fix it, I can send ya in the right direction!

  • You’ll receive a link to our Discord & Notion spaces within 24 hours of purchase! I can’t automate this process because we have different pricing tiers, so I’ll be sending out link info once a day. Thanks for the patience!

MEET YOUR CREATIVE STUDY FACILITATOR

Hi! I’m Emily, I used she/they pronouns, and I love staring off into the distance in photos!

I’m an illustrator, fiber artist, and zine maker living in West Virginia, which is unceded land of the Massawomeck and Calicuas peoples. I’m the facilitator for The Center for Underworld Studies, which started because of this exact study group!

When I started becoming interested in all things below, I know I needed a space to talk about it with other creatives. Art & The Underworld was born, and by the end of our first trip, I was hooked.

The Underworld has taught me so much. I learned to make art like a compost bin. I learned to think like a mycelium network. I learn to seek out relationships that made me feel secure in the webs we weave.

It’s my absolute honor to share the way that The Underworld changed me, and I can’t wait to watch it change you, too.

If you have ANY questions about The Center for Underworld Studies, Art & The Underworld, or whether this group would be a good addition to your creative explorations, please don’t hesitate to reach out. I’m here, both in and out of class, to support your art and your journeys below.

—Emily