Sara Crippen

Website for more info and to register: https://www.arc11.org/apprenticeship

THE Arc11 APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAM

JUNE 15 - Sept 6, 2026 - Ashland, Oregon

We believe building is a birthright.

Four apprentices. Three months. Two natural cabins built from the ground up.

There is no shortage of short-form natural building workshops — spaces that offer inspiration, exposure, and first contact with materials. These have their place. But again and again at ARC, we witnessed the same gap: no space to stay long enough to understand the full arc of a natural build — foundation to finish — within a cohesive, mentored process.

What we built is the apprenticeship we wished we had.

During our three month program we will build two earthen homes. The first, you build alongside your instructors — learning by doing, every technique arriving at the moment it's needed, from foundation to finish. The second is yours, the apprentices take the lead repeating what we accomplished with the first in order to ground in the techniques!  Same methods, same materials — but now you bring your own eye to it. Your own decisions as a team. Your own hands leading the work with supportive educators there ensuring you feel the confidence and strength do do things well.

By the end, you will know how to read a plan, raise a wall, lay a floor, and finish a natural structure that will stand for generations. Not in theory — in your body, through repetition and real work with folks who have devoted their lives to the art and practice of natural building.

We believe knowing how to build your own home is a birthright. This is where that begins.

This workshop is being co-facilitated by natural builders Sara and Josh of Clay Sand Soul, and Scott and Kathryn Kloos, medicine keepers and healers based in the Columbia River Gorge.  Although the focus of this three day natural building workshop will be to build a cob bench complete with clay sculptures, we will also be focusing on connecting to the land and each other through altar building, prayer, song, intentional work, and connecting with various plant medicines while meditating or working with the clay sculptures.  Throughout the weekend, Scott Kloos, founder of The School of Forest Medicine, will guide us through different plant meditations, with a focus on native plants of the area and the emergent needs of the collective.  There will be an opportunity to take a mini-dose of psilocybin mushrooms during the sculpting portion of the workshop, although it is not obligatory.

Cob, a mixture of clay, sand, and straw, is a wonderful building material without ‘hard’ edges. Building and sculpting a cob bench while in an altered state is not only safe, but can open up doorways of possibilities.  We have found it to be a beautiful way to honor and play with the clay body of the Earth.  Our prayer is to create a space of intentionality and thoughtful work, where one’s body and soul can take a breath and see what happens in the exhale, where we can collectively wonder about the world, our community, and our bodies.  This will be a co-creative experience, where it is safe to bring your questions, dreams, and troubles to the forefront, and allow the modality of working with the Earth to work on those threads.  

We will also be covering basic natural building concepts, building with monolithic cob on a larger scale, how to analyze your soil for clay content, and  formulating cob and plaster proportions. Bring your own soil so we can analyze it together.

This is a family-friendly event. We believe that children and elders are the heart-center of all communities, so all are welcome here.

On logistics: This workshop is being held at a community dedicated to healing and earth connection in Corbett, Oregon. The workshop will begin on Friday, July 4th at 9am and end on Sunday July 6th at 6pm.  Our general daily schedule is as follows: morning session from 9am-1pm, lunch from 1-2:30, afternoon work session from 2:30-6. Camping, an outdoor hot/cold shower, and a daily vegetarian lunch are included. We suggest bringing your favorite snacks for eating throughout the day.  There will be potable water and electricity available for filling up containers and charging devices.  Breakfast and dinner are not included, so those camping will need to bring their own food storage and preparation set-up. This will be an off-grid weekend, so please come prepared.  The weather in Corbett, OR in early July tends to be dry, with a slight chance of rain.  Temperatures during the day are in the high 60s and at night drop to the mid 40s.  Our work site will be in the shade for most of the day, but come prepared for chilly, dewy mornings, potential rain, and full sun exposure.  We will be working with clay, stone, sand, and straw, so bring clothes you don’t mind getting dirty =)  All tools and materials will be provided, but bring your favorite work gloves, slip on shoes for while we are mixing cob, and plenty of layers for any changing weather.

Tuition is $400 and includes, camping, amenities, a daily lunch, all materials, plant medicine offerings, and digital instructional material from Clay Sand Soul. We accept Venmo, Zelle, and PayPal.  Please reach out for each platform handle.

Half of proceeds from this workshop will be donated to MECA, the Middle East Children’s Alliance. For more information on MECA, visit: https://www.mecaforpeace.org

If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to email Josh and Sara at claysandsoul@gmail.com or text at 907-650-7704

If you can’t make this workshop, but would like to follow our work you can follow us on IG @claysandsoul and also sign up for our newsletter with this link…. https://www.claysandsoul.com/newsletter

We look forward to working with you! Let’s get muddy! Sara & Josh