Workshop Retrospective: Spring ARTS INTENSIVE
Exploring Inner Landscapes & Creating Making Room
In the spring of 2026, local teens stepped up as artists, actors, writers, and visionaries. They joined The Benji Project and Guest Artist Thaddeus Jurczynski on a collaborative journey to explore their inner voices, emotional landscapes, and how to communicate them to the outside world.
Through six weeks of creative exploration, participants engaged with themselves and each other with deep compassion. They brought their vision to life in a unique interactive public event for Mental Health Awareness Month.
See the Final Results! > The workshop is now complete, and the final installation was a big success. Click here to see photos and read more about the Making Room installation.
About our Guest Artist:
Thaddeus Jurczynski is a teaching artist and sculptor who has lived and taught in and around Port Townsend for more than 30 years, including teaching in Chimacum’s Pi Program for the last nine years. Last year he created creature of Smaug for OCEAN’s production of “The Hobbit,” and the plant puppets for PTHS’s “Little Shop of Horrors.” His work has taken him from Port Townsend to Taiwan, where he helped students and participants create ensembles and giant puppets for an annual parade and performance.
Jurczynski considers himself a catalyst: “My goal is to provide students with the tools, materials, and guidance they need for discovery learning. I believe that learning is something that people do, not something that is done to them. I want participants to learn they can develop and use art based knowledge and skills. I am, in turn, inspired by what they create. Being neuro-spicy myself, I strive to create an inclusive environment where everyone feels valued.”
This program is supported, in part, by a grant from the Washington State Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts.
