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THEME: CONTINUE unfinished

In the New Year we are prompted to consider new beginnings and starting over. But what if we just gave ourself permission to keep going and continue what we have already started? If you wish, use this Writing Day to add to projects that are unfinished, half-completed, or in need of edits or just some extras. 

paige raina davis is a fellow of whp in residence at confloptus in oakland for the month of december. we will host her open door on the 28th from 4-7pm. join us…

from paige:

“Intrigued by the phrase “body of work”, I’ve been considering my work as a means to sit beside, physically as well as energetically, my family’s artistic practices and their collective vision.

Just down the street from Confloptus sits the church my grandparents were married in, its wrought-iron, screened moongate serving as a mascot for my time here.

The month of December will be spent synthesizing texts and images from books of Doaist talismanic calligraphy, Chinese garden architectural motifs, and ancient jewelry pieces.

I am offering a form of meditation and mediation that connects the self to the many who came before and those who will come after, while at the same time proposing a body of time that sees no difference, no “before” and no “after”. How might ancient texts and practices, how might ever-present forms/concepts like shadow and translucence, aid in our collective vision and action of today, how might they lead us to open up new avenues of possibility, new sights/sites of truth?”

if you cannot drone with us in person, dronestice will stream live on the whp internet radio… here

this link above is best used on a computer - if you’d like to stream on phone look at image from a text with brian bartz - one of the whp radio creators!

This annual RadioDinner event that contemplates the winter solstice from the point of view of drone, thanks to the radioGuests assembled for all-day tablecore edibles of all kinds from the dining room of Winslow House Project.

From the beginning of Civil Twilight at 6:52am to its end at 5:22pm Pacific Standard on this shortest day, tune in to hear the quartet of Suki O’Kane, Michael Zelner, Michael Wertz, and Andy Cowitt.

We will be amplifying the light we hold and see.

this is a gathering for friends & fellows of whp - there will be a fire and an open mic - bring a nostalgic item from home and tell us a story about it - sing a song - recite a poem - potluck instructions: bring what you love to make. this is an invitational year end event for the whp community - invites via email & face/face words - a congregation for folks who have contributed to whp. please rsvp as always.

emma spertus has brought four other artists along for her fellowship residency - december 1-8, 2025. they will be having an open studio & potluck on sunday december 7th from 10-2. bring food, see work. staying at whp alongside her are ian dolton thorton, pablo manga, christian nagler, & josh moreno. come see what they have been up to… bring something to share & rsvp please

THEME: INDEX

The theme for the final Writing Day of 2025, INDEX, was suggested by frequent Writing Day participant Amy Berkowitz: Asked how to write a movie, David Lynch replied: “You get yourself a pack of 3x5 cards, you write a scene on each card, and when you have 70 scenes, you have a feature film.” Is it really that simple? Are index cards really that powerful! Yes! We think so! Getting your thoughts down on cards, moving them around, and finding connections is a simple and effective way to set the foundation for whatever you’re writing, whether it’s a book, an essay, a script, or something else. We’ll give you a pack of 3x5 cards, and you can spend the day using them to bring your ideas to life. (And if index cards don’t inspire you, you can spend the day journaling, doodling, napping, or writing your own way!)

charlie macquarie hosts radioheads - speakers tba.

this is a whp fellowship occupation of confloptus.

mo & leaflet will be in residence for the lovely month of october.

a whp fellowship occupation of confloptus.

a site-specific installation by Quinn R. Keck

4-9 pm at confloptus - whp auxiliary space

not on maps, reach out for address 

performances starting at 5 pm by 

Badri Valian, Helen Shewolfe Tseng, Tasya Abbot

with microscopes by Nate Dube

* you are invited to bring something you want to examine closely

* potluck style food ~ bring something to share that tethers you  

& you are also welcome to ignore both prompts and come as you are

quinn has been in residence for the month of september

charlie macquarie hosts readioheads - torreya cummings presents.

The summer ends, and everything is dry. The dirt waits for rain to turn the dead plants into night and then new life. Get dirty, get dusty, get crumbly, get muddy with your writing. Make it gross and messy and matter of fact. 

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aine & ava will be in residence at whp for one week - this open door will be their offering - a week in collaboration - an unknown - an unfolding - full of distortion & disproportion.

a whp fellowship occupation of confloptus.

keywords: is existential dread a rational response to the polycrises, incels do you ever think that maybe the blackpill is wrong, best blue shoes for running, social media as an unconscious desire to immortalize oneself, the men wear grey and the faggots wear all the other colors, repressed death anxiety, even before the genocide most packages to gaza were intercepted, top job interview tips for success, how race was constructed in the US, can AI read your thoughts, is kink a mental illness or sexual orientation, can we survive in a multipolar collapsing world, what’s the best mascara that won’t smudge during a sweaty activity, are trans rights human rights debate explained, may this cruelty end and you are free, may this cruelty end and you are free, may all delusion dawn as clarity, may all delusion dawn as clarity, may all delusion dawn as clarity.

silas has been in residence at confloptus for the month of august.

A meeting of creative and curious people who are interested in using radio in their creative work. Speaking at this meeting will be Kelley O'Leary & Brian Bartz. sign up with charlie!

an occupation of the auxiliary to the auxiliary of whp.

the vicks are friends of whp. marlowe blantz & ava bolton.

ann altstatt, bill basquin, kelli black, blanca bercial & tana quincy arcega

rsvp here.

an occupation of confloptus by a friend of whp.

GERTRUDE. Mad as the sea and wind, when both contend. Which is the mightier. (Hamlet 4.1.9) 

Fourteen Amphorea to be shown in the small gallery at Galerija Flora in October, 2022 before being submerged 20-40 meters under the sea and then retrieved in September, 2023 when shown with the larger body of work.

Project Description 

Renée Delores presents three pieces (one black and white print, fourteen Amphorae, and a double projection film) installed as an experimental examination of the play Hamlet. She uses the play as a symbolic and structural framework to probe the fragility of shared human history, in the dance of tightrope navigation over environmental and relational tribulations. Like Ophelia, how can we reconcile our collective or individual paradoxical selves? Her men insist that she be chaste, preserving equilibrium, but still her soul yearns, and she is left with no way to unravel these contradictory expectations.

When read holistically, one is confronted with a cipher of beauty and bewilderment inherent to the human condition. The capacity for making decisions most aligned with our interests triggers resolute action, but the actions frequently are cloaked in veils of illusion, The three pieces of the installation connect as a meditation on Nature, Hamlet, and ultimately, what it means to live, to love, to feel a sense of ambiguous loss, and to harbor the pain of exile and longing in search of meaning in a world out of joint. What follows is an elaboration on the three pieces.

renée is a friend of whp & has been in residence at confloptus for the month of july.

come and spend the day writing at winslow. signup soon!

a workshop offered by amy berkowitz

for anyone who likes to write and is curious about collaboration

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Speakers: Megan & Rick Prelinger

Topics: Getting your amateur license, plus?

lunch will be provided and shared.

check-in with charlie macquerie if you are interested in becoming a member!

a whp fellowship occupation of confloptus.

W Y R M

Charlotte Wendy Law / cwl / (b.1980)
I am an interdisciplinary artist from Dartmoor, currently based in Oakland, CA.
I work in a sensual, de-creative and durational style, seeking an embodied form of knowledge. The resulting work is visceral yet lyrical.

As I find myself increasingly led by the landscape, I draw on my own queer nomadism, alongside alchemical processes, deep listening and quiet observation, to create work that blurs the boundaries between self and other, body and landscape, perceptions of living and non. Hoping to share a sense of enchantment and solidarity with the natural world.

charlotte has been in residence for th month of may.

jacqueline suskin is on a west coast tour reading from her new book of poetry the verse for now. lora mathis and the current whp writers in residence may read as well - sarah heady, emlyn guiney, shawn wen & amy bell. please rsvp with j. suskin here.

piece of cake - you get the ghost you want

guests of the open house are invited to bring a cake of their own to offer up for other guests to enjoy in the bounty. visually speaking the cake can either be in response to the title of the open house or just your favourite type of cake to make (or even from you favourite cake maker!) & this is a request - not a demand - but please please please bring a cake. have fun with it. we plan to bask in the aftermath of the cake party - it will be gorgeous.

danielle shi, j pansa, katie revilla, shaina pan & stephanie rohlfs

rsvp here. april newsletter here.

The theme for the first writing day of 2025 is Radio, in honor of the new radio tower sculpture at whp. What needs to be broadcast? What signals, invisible or otherwise, need to be transmitted from person to pen to paper to reader? How is a message received at close range, and from a distance? Take these prompts to guide your writing, or just let the radio waves do their thing.

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