New Mexico
Nourishing the Creative Spirit in New Mexico with Sarah Brokke & Mary Bue
Ghost Ranch - Abiquiú, NM • July 21st-26th 2025
Join us.
Experience the beauty, power, and depth of Georgia O’Keeffe’s New Mexico at Ghost Ranch
Do you yearn for the great American southwest? The ancient lava fields, wind-swept gorges, high desert sun illuminating looming vistas of red-orange rocks … This is the iconic New Mexico landscape that many of us have come to know and love from Georgia O’Keeffe’s paintings. Step into this mysterious world of mesas, canyons, sun-baked skulls, and desert flowers for this 5 night/6 day retreat offering sacred grounding and creative exploration through art history, painting, meditation, yoga, movement, writing, music, and more.
Share time in the welcoming space offered by guides Sarah Brokke ~ fine artist/painter & art professor, and Mary Bue ~ singer-songwriter & yoga instructor while lodging at the famous Ghost Ranch where our muse O’Keeffe spent many of her years living and working.
We’ll pilgrimage to the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe with an option to visit Georgia’s house museum in Abiquiú. A morning day trip takes our gaze upon the shrine & flowing river at mysterious Santuario de Chimayo followed by a festive lunch at the famous Rancho de Chimayo. Experience a luxurious afternoon soak in the hot tubs, mud bath, spa and exquisite pools at Ojo Caliente set into the striking red rock.
Regarding the heat - temps rest in the in the uppers 80’s during this time and down to the 50’s in the high desert night, and sleeping in the vastness of Ghost Ranch is a velvety kind of silence, dappled with night birds and the occasional coyote howl. And oh - the Stars!
Our retreat offers plenty of space to rest, relax, bask, or siesta in the afternoons. Everything is optional ~ our hope for guests is nourishment, inspiration, connection, and rejuvenation.
About Georgia O’Keeffe
Georgia O'Keeffe was a renowned Modernist painter, and was born in Sun Prairie, WI in 1887. Reflecting the very essence of her surroundings, she is known for her exquisite use of color and form. O'Keeffe was deeply inspired by New Mexico, painting the summer landscape surrounding Ghost Ranch over two decades, eventually making it her permanent home in 1949. Her courage to depict the world through her eyes and experience is reflected in this quote, "I’ve been absolutely terrified every moment of my life and I’ve never let it keep me from a single thing that I wanted to do." Together we will step into her world, examining the depth and breadth of the ways she encapsulated the 'land of enchantment', and create work based off of her processes.
We are happy to offer an option for round-trip airport transfer from Albuquerque Sunport for those who would like to avoid renting a car for an additional fee of $100 per person.
Guests are most welcome to book additional tours via Ghost Ranch (horseback riding, landscape, etc) as well as schedule on-site massage services, or enjoy the community pool at the main ranch.
Meals at Casa del Sol will be catered with our wonderful private chef Erin, offering nourishing vegetarian fare with vegan and gluten free options available. There will also be a few meals off site for you to choose your own adventure.
This retreat will be relatively off-grid (minimal cell phone service and barely any light pollution!) so we can bask in the silence underneath the stars.
Join Sarah in exploring Georgia O'Keeffe's country through a range of methodologies, working with both the exterior visage and the interior soul of the land. Together we'll explore working en plein air as well as working to seek the essence of the surrounding forms through abstraction and simplification. Our Casa sits with a direct view out onto one of Georgia O'Keeffe's muses, the Padernal Mountain, which she loved so much that she said in an interview: "It is my private mountain. It belongs to me. God told me if I painted it enough, I could have it." There are at least 29 of her works devoted to the mountain, and her ashes, after her death, were scattered upon it. In addition to her mountain, we'll explore the stunning environs through pastels, pencils, and paint, and you'll leave with work that reflects your personal experience of breathing the soft air and feeling the warmth of the sun in the air.
Attached: 'Padernal' from 1945 in pastels on paper.
Retreat Package includes:
5 nights lodging at Casa Del Sol on Ghost Ranch
All meals while at Casa Del Sol
Admission to Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe
Afternoon soak at Ojo Sante Fe Spa
Lunch at Rancho de Chimayo
Visit to El Santuario de Chimayo
Art supplies
Painting & drawing workshops
Daily Yoga Sessions (including asana, breathwork, meditation, yoga nidra, nada yoga)
Transportation while at retreat
Private Concert
What is not included in the retreat package:
Flights/transportation
Travel Insurance
Spa treatments at Ojo Caliente
Admission + transportation to Georgia O’Keefe’s house ($100)
Alcoholic beverages
Meals in Santa Fe and at Ojo Caliente Spa
Optional transportation from ABQ Airport ($100)
Supplemental dietary needs beyond vegetarian/vegan/gluten free
About Your Hosts
Sarah, as an artist who has taught both painting and art history over the past 20 years, will lead us through the history and working methods of Georgia O'Keeffe. Together we will explore the area surrounding Ghost Ranch, using the forms and color to inspire drawings that will build the foundations of fully developed work over the course of our time together. You will leave with several rendered works as well as sketches and materials to support work far beyond this retreat. Sarah's teaching supports students at all levels from beginners through advanced artists, so no matter where your starting point is, you will stretch your skills. After our studio work, we'll spend time at the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, exploring their epic collection of her work, and adding to our understanding of the depth and breadth of expression. Learn more about Sarah Brokke
Mary is a performing songwriter of 25+ years, has been teaching yoga for 15 years, and just co-launched a registered yoga teacher training school Yojita Yoga. Since she closed her yoga studio in 2019, she has hosted and co-hosted over 20 retreats around the world. Mary holds a deep love of New Mexico in her soul. In 2017 she was Artist in Residence at the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation of New Mexico in Taos, NM, a sacred time spent working on songwriting, deeply inspired by the land. During our time at Ghost Ranch, Mary will offer grounding & energizing yoga sessions, an exploration into creative writing and poetry, intention setting/sankalpa practice, a labyrinth walking meditation, as well as musical entertainment, and sonic blessings. Learn more about Mary Bue
Retreat Details
About an hour and a half north from Santa Fe, you enter the landscape of vast vistas, table-topped mesas, tall cliffs, the Rio Chama bordered by huge old cottonwood trees, mountains in the distance and more beauty around every bend in the winding road.
The landscape of Ghost Ranch—made famous by painter Georgia O’Keeffe—encompasses 21,000 acres of towering rock walls, vivid colors and vast skies. “It is not a country of light on things,” said Georgia O’Keeffe. “It is a country of things in light.” With a history as colorful as the surrounding red and yellow cliffs of the Piedra Lumbre, Ghost Ranch offers a diversity of programs and adventure.
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RETREAT PACKAGE INVESTMENT
DEPOSIT (incl. in total price)
$300 Shared Room ~Deposit here
$500 Single Room ~Deposit here
SINGLE ~ $2,500
SHARED ~ $2,000
Once deposit is made to hold your space, please note that preferred payment options after the deposit are check, Apple Pay, or Zelle. A small fee will be added for PayPal or Venmo due to their admin charges.
Half payment due by March 15th 2025 // Full payment is due by May 15th 2025
Please note a $10 daily fee for late payments. Thank you!
ONCE REGISTERED
As the retreat approaches, you will receive an informational email with additional information, getting there, what to pack, and more about our time together. You’ll also receive a waiver of liability to sign, knowing that you choosing to participate in this experience at your own risk.
REFUND POLICY
Full refund (minus deposit) before March 15th, 2025
50% refund (minus deposit) between March 15th to May 15th 2025*
No refunds after May 15th 2025*
*If the retreat is canceled by the host, you will receive a refund in full.
* In case of extreme personal circumstances, we will consider full refunds less small administration fee on a case-by-case basis if your spot can be filled.
*If you cannot attend, you are welcome to sell your retreat package to another guest with the approval of the host IF the retreat does not have a waiting list. Please note that it is not the responsibility of the host to fill your place.
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CASA DEL SOL
Located two miles from main Ghost Ranch main campus, Casa del Sol is a retreat space at Ghost Ranch dedicated to deeper spiritual contemplation perfect for retreats that lend themselves to an intimate group and setting.
Casa del Sol is a single story adobe home built in the mid-1930s with bedrooms that open up to a shared plaza. Casa del Sol is set at the base of the multi-colored 700-foot tall cliff wall with a chimney feature standing guard.
A heart-shaped labyrinth is off to the side, bordered by prayer ties and flags fastened to sagebrush.
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SARAH BROKKE
A practicing and award-winning visual artist for over 20 years, Sarah is primarily a painter, who has also worked as an illustrator, author, photographer and muralist. She has extensive teaching experience in art and art history and is an Associate Professor and Director of the Art Program at the College of St. Scholastica, in Duluth, MN. Believing experiential learning to be heightened through travel, Sarah’s instructed abroad, as well, most recently co-hosting retreats with Mary in Italy and Ireland. Her studio is nestled on the incredible North Shore of Lake Superior between Two Harbors and Duluth.
Sarah works intuitively both through observation and imagination, and states, “My work originates in dreams and echoes of distant once-lived memories. Navigating the space between the external world and our internal lives, I seek to transcribe water as it transforms into roots, which, in turn become veins; a mirror of nature and the cosmos found within our physical bodies. Through painting contemporary mythologies on canvas, I am testing the boundaries of unearthing the sacred in the secular; visioning towards a future where we hold each other and the world around us in equal and elevated esteem. While exploring far flung possibilities visually may seem futile and impractical, I am driven to develop a path through and beyond. I intend to make the liminal tangible.”
Sarah has three exhibitions scheduled in 2024, and a forth-coming book and oracle card publication with Poet Kyle Leia titled ‘Irrevocable Wholeness: Poems and Meditations to Hold it All’.
MARY BUE
Mary Bue is an indie musician, registered yoga teacher (e-RYT 500), co-founder of Yojita Yoga Teacher Training (230 yoga teacher training program), and a teacher in the Viniyoga tradition, a breath-centered, flowing practice that believes in adapting postures to fit the whole person (not forcing a person to fit into a posture!). Mary received her certification at Whole Life Yoga in Seattle, WA by Tracy Weber, (student of Gary Kraftsow, student of T.K.V. Desikachar) and her 300-hour from Yoga Center Retreat (formerly Yoga Center of Minneapolis). In 2020, Mary received an additional 200-hour certificate in Nada Yoga (the Yoga of Sound) from Nada Yoga School in Rishikesh India.
Mary has pursued continuing yoga education in prenatal yoga, yoga for anxiety & depression, pranayama, and 30 hour-certification in Trauma-informed Yoga with Firefly Yoga International. Mary was a teaching assistant for Whole Life Yoga’s ten month long, 200-hour teacher training in 2010 and has also assisted in WLY’s “Yoga for Healthy Backs” Series. She has her bachelor’s degree in psychology, with an emphasis on Transpersonal Psychology from the University of Minnesota – Duluth. Mary has also received volunteer training in sexual assault victim advocacy from PAVSA and domestic violence victim support from DAIP. She founded and ran Imbue Yoga Studio in S. Mpls for nearly 3 years (closing Jan. 2019).
As a wanderer-luster and experience junkie, she has worked in many types of jobs: as a clinical research assistant in a prison & hospital, an AIDS prevention outreach worker on the streets and harm reduction work in needle exchanges, as well as many hundreds of hours as a server, bartender and barista.
In her life as a musician Mary has toured in 40+ states, released 7 albums, been awarded four artist grants, enjoyed three Artist in Residence awards, and has served on the board and steering committee of the Duluth Homegrown Music Festival.
All of these experiences culminate in the guiding of Creativity and Yoga Retreats. Mary has led and co-led retreats in Bali, Malta, Ireland, and Italy, Northern Minnesota, Wisconsin, and New Mexico.
Mary is an avid runner (10 half marathons and two full marathons), nature lover and vegan. In her spare time, she enjoys playing music, cooking, writing blogs, poetry and in journals, painting cow portraits, reading non-fiction and traveling.
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Ghost Ranch is located 65 miles northwest of Santa Fe (forty miles beyond Española) on U.S. 84 between mile markers 224 and 225.
Google Maps: Use 280 Private drive 1708, Highway 84, Abiquiu, NM 87510 as the address to find us on https://maps.google.com and when using your GPS.
Mary will be offering round trip transportation service for an additional $100 per person from ABQ Sunport early afternoon on July 21st return early afternoon July 26th for those who would like to coordinate their flights and not rent a car.
Otherwise, renting a car will be fairly essential to arrive at Ghost Ranch, or shuttles listed below.
Albuquerque Sunport
The nearest major airport is the Albuquerque Sunport, 130 miles south of Ghost Ranch. There are several car rental agencies located here.
GROUND TRANSPORTATION
*Herrera Coaches, Inc.
Steve Herrera
(505) 242-1108 ext. 3318
www.herreracoach.com
Email:steve@herreracoach.com
*RoadRunner Shuttle and Charter
(505) 424-3367
www.roadrunnershuttleandcharter.com
*White Buffalo Specialty Shuttle Service
Kevin Spitzer
831-359-8077
info@whitebuffaloshuttle.us
Accent Chauffeured Transportation
Angela Caro-Irving
505-424-2171
505-490-3459
info@accentnewmexico.com
Join us! Register here.
Would you like to join us on this adventure? Kindly check the investment tab above for more info about what is included as well as our cancellation policy. Once you are ready to join us, your deposit for a single or shared room saves your place. This experience is limited to eleven guests in the beautiful Casa Del Sol at Ghost Ranch.
SINGLE ~ $2,500
SHARED ~ $2000
DEPOSIT (included in total price, non-refundable)
$300 Shared Room
$500 Single Room
Please note that preferred payment options after the deposit are check, Apple Pay, or Zelle. A fee of 3% will be added for PayPal or Venmo due to their admin charges.
Half payment due by March 15th 2025 // Full payment is due by May 15th 2025. Please take care to note a $10 daily late fee.
OPTIONAL ADD ONS:
Round trip transportation from ABQ Sunport to Ghost Ranch - $100
Admission + transportation to Georgia O’Keeffe House Museum in Abiquiú - $100
“The most calming, nourishing, peaceful time of my life.”
— Maren L.
