Art as Prayer: A Lenten Retreat for Healing and Renewal

Program Details

During this Lenten season, we invite you to step into a gentle, creative space where art becomes a pathway to healing, reflection, and soulful renewal. Led by artist and United Methodist minister Lisa McColgan, this full‑day retreat blends expressive artmaking with contemplative reflection to help you explore where you are in life, in spirit, and in your own unfolding story.

Through three guided projects—expressing emotion through color and collage, mapping your “inner world,” and choosing between drawing yourself as a tree or creating a visual anchor—you’ll engage a variety of media including tissue paper, collage materials, paint, and mixed‑media elements. Each exercise is designed to help you listen inwardly, honor your lived experience, and discover new insights with compassion and curiosity.

The day also includes spacious breaks for walking the labyrinth, journaling, resting, or simply breathing in the quiet beauty of Rolling Ridge. Reflection readings from Maya Angelou, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Kate Bowler will accompany our time together, offering grounding wisdom for the Lenten journey.

No artistic experience is needed—just an open heart and a willingness to explore.

Come create, reflect, and heal in community.

Cost: $105 (includes program from 9:30-3:30, art materials, pastries and lunch)

About the Leaders

Lisa McColgan

Lisa McColgan is a United Methodist Church pastor in Enfield, CT. With a background in art and trauma informed training, she is inspired by the healing ability of art. Through her seminary courses at Boston University School of Theology, she discovered the importance and need of this work. Lisa received further training at HIU in the courses Creating Trauma Informed Schools and Designing and Facilitating Reflective Structured Dialogue. These experiences have been a driving purpose to include therapeutic art events as part of her ministry.