Paint Stitch Collage Oaxaca Feb 2026

Oaxaca Art + Culture Retreat: Paint, Stitch, Collage

DATES: February 27 – March 8, 2026

A Creative Journey through Tradition, Texture, and Place

with instructors Lisa Pressman & Susan Stover
Oaxaca, Mexico

ART + CULTURE ADVENTURE IN THE HEART OF OAXACA

Step into the colorful world of Oaxaca, Mexico, and immerse yourself in a week long retreat designed for artists, makers, and curious souls. This experience blends hands-on art-making with cultural discovery, inviting participants to explore the intersections of paint, textile, and collage through a deeply personal and place-based lens.

Oaxaca, a region renowned for its indigenous artistry, colonial charm, and natural beauty, offers the perfect backdrop for creative exploration. Whether you’re a seasoned artist or just beginning your journey, this retreat is about discovery—of materials, techniques, and the rich stories that live in both the land and its people. The retreat is enriched with cultural excursions, studio visits, and the sights, sounds, and flavors of Oaxaca. Participants will not only develop their artistic skills but also connect deeply with the cultural heritage that inspires this vibrant region.

What you’ll experience

Paint & Printmaking
Explore intuitive mark-making and mono-printing using gel plates and acrylic paints. You’ll create layers of vibrant papers inspired by the textures and colors of Oaxaca—cobbled streets, woven tapestries, worn architecture, and blooming jacaranda trees. These painted papers become the base materials for your collages, books, or mixed media works.

Stitch Exploration
We’ll integrate hand-stitching techniques to embellish and transform our painted surfaces. Learn how to use thread as a drawing tool and stitch as a narrative element.

Visit with a Master Weaver Family
Travel to a nearby village in the Oaxaca Valley to meet a multi-generation master weaver family – one of the few who exclusively use natural pigments in their rugs – who will demonstrate the entire dyeing and weaving process, introduce you to cochinilla, añil (indigo), cempasuchil and pericón (marigold), granada (pomegranate), and share the cultural elements they incorporate into their designs. The insight into this centuries-old practice will inspire your own creative work with color, pattern, and texture.

Papermaking with a Local Artisan
Visit a local papermaking studio where you’ll learn about the cultural relevance and history of paper, then the process that incorporates Oaxaca-sourced natural fibers, seeds, and flowers. Guided by a passionate, skilled artisan, this session offers a meditative and meaningful way to connect with the natural resources and sustainable traditions of the region.

Collage, Handmade Books, or Artwork Series
As the retreat progresses, you’ll have the option to bring together the elements you’ve created and collected—painted and stitched papers, handmade paper—into personal art books or create artwork that refers to the traditions we experience. These works become an archive of your journey, layered with visual and tactile memories.

Cultural Immersion
This retreat is as much about experiencing Oaxaca as it is about making art. You’ll have time to explore local markets, taste traditional foods, visit artisan studios, and absorb the rhythms of daily life. Optional individual excursions on the day off may include participating in a cooking class, visiting archaeological sites, and shopping at artisan markets.

The REAL Oaxaca is found in the villages and private workspaces, and our field trips also include the Sunday market in Tlacolula, largest of the traditional Zapotec ‘tianguis’ markets, a women’s red clay collective, and a famous art center housed in a renovated textile factory – all mixed in with art instruction and creative play time. We’ll also go on a gallery walk to visit the lesser known independent art spaces.

More than a workshop
This retreat is a soul-nourishing experience where creativity and culture meet. You’ll leave with a collection of meaningful artwork, new techniques, and lasting connections to fellow artists and the inspiring traditions of Oaxaca.

Who should attend this workshop:
~ Artists or makers of all levels, from beginners to professionals
~ Anyone seeking inspiration through travel and culture
~ Those who crave time away to create with purpose and presence

Retreat details:

• 7-day art + culture workshop in the heart of Oaxaca, Mexico
• Group field trips with private van
• Maximum 10 participants
• 9 nights at a charming hotel built in the 16th century, in the heart of the city center
• hotel rooms have private bathrooms, wifi, fans, restaurant next door, courtyard to enjoy breakfast or sip morning coffee
• hotel is 1 block from the Zócalo (town square), everything within walking distance
• art material list provided (you bring your own art supplies)
• list provided of restaurants, museums & galleries, optional tours that you can book for your day off, cool places to visit on your own

Preliminary itinerary (subject to change as needed):

• Day One: arrive in Oaxaca
• Day Two: all day art class, lunch at studio, group welcome dinner
• Day Three: AM field trip to Sunday market; PM studio visit of weavers
• Day Four: all day art class, lunch at studio, PM art gallery walk
• Day Five: AM field trip to papermaking studio & gorgeous art center, PM art class
• Day Six: all day art class, lunch at studio
• Day Seven: day off to explore on your own
• Day Eight: AM art class, trip to Tule (ancient tree), studio visit with women’s red clay collective
• Day Nine: all day art class + art show, lunch at studio, group farewell dinner
• Day Ten: depart Oaxaca

The instructors:

Lisa Pressman’s artistic career is marked by exploration: testing the boundaries of the expressive potential latent in a variety of mediums, among them oil, encaustic, cold wax, and mixed-media collage. Her work is abstract, conceptually based, and process driven. Lisa’s artworks feature marks, forms, colors and patterns that are evocative rather than overt.
Lisa received her BA, Fine Art from Douglass College from Rutgers University, and her MFA in Painting from Bard College. She has been painting for over 40 years. Lisa has exhibited regionally and nationally in solo and group exhibitions at spaces such as the Cape Cod Museum of Art, (Dennis MA) The Holter Museum of Art (Helena, MT,) and Hunterdon Art Museum (Clinton, NJ) and her work is held in numerous private and public collections. Her work is represented by Susan Eley Fine Arts (New York, NY,) Addington Gallery (Chicago, IL) The artist has had two solo exhibitions in New York City at Susan Eley Fine Art in NYC 2022 and at The Painting Center, NY, NY 2023.
A highly respected arts educator, Lisa maintains a vigorous teaching program. She worked on the faculty of the former Art Institute of NY and served as a visiting professor at Pratt Institute and other universities. She has taught workshops in France, Mexico, Italy and the US . Lisa is renowned for her knowledge of encaustic, cold wax processes, concept-based courses, and she presents annually at the International Encaustic Conference in Provincetown, MA and is also a Core instructor for R&F Handmade Paints.
Her specialty centers around everyone’s needs, with focused attention paid to visual editing and critique. Lisa provides personal, one-on-one teaching time to students so to discuss their specific questions and what is happening in their work in a meaningful and personal way!

Susan Stover is a multidisciplinary artist whose work draws from a deep foundation in textile traditions and contemporary painting. Originally from the Midwest, she holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and a Master of Fine Arts from California College of the Arts in Oakland, California—both degrees emphasizing her dual passions for textiles and painting.
With a professional career that spans several decades, Susan has cultivated a unique voice that merges cultural textile practices with modern abstraction. She spent ten years working with Jacquard Products, a leading manufacturer of textile paints and dyes, where she gained technical expertise that continues to inform her practice. In addition to her studio work, Susan has served on the faculty at the University of California, Davis, and on the staff of California College of the Arts. She has taught extensively across the globe with workshops in Australia, India, Italy, France, Mexico, and throughout the United States.
After many years in Northern California’s wine country, Susan recently relocated to the Hudson Valley in New York. Her work is represented by Carrie Haddad Gallery in Hudson, NY, and Cura Contemporary in Morgan Hill, CA.

Workshop location & lodging:

Our hotel in Oaxaca: Hotel Parador San Agustín
We have a block of 10 rooms reserved at Hotel Parador San Agustín, a 16th century building with a traditional courtyard and terrace (each room has either 2 double beds or 1 king bed, and private bathroom). Rooms are charming yet basic, clean and secure, and the hotel is centrally located one block from the zocalo square in the city’s historic center and within walking distance of the huge indoor market, banks/ATMs, museums, galleries, shops and cafes. Amenities: all rooms have private bathroom, TV, & free wifi; airport shuttle is available (w/ surcharge), breakfast at nextdoor restaurant (w/ surcharge), computer station, self-serve laundry facilities; upstairs floors accessible by stairs only, all rooms have fans only (no A/C).

Our art class location in Oaxaca: A private van will pick up the group daily from our hotel to bring you to the “industrial rustic” Talismán Oaxaca art studio, a unique bilingual art space located in a cornfield in Santa Cruz Amilpas, just 15 minutes from city center. You’ll have space to spread out, make a mess, play with materials, and just let loose with your creativity! And you’ll get to see and experience what small town life is like in the Valley of Oaxaca. The art space’s hosts will facilitate the field trips, transportation, and translation during the retreat – Corrie McCluskey is the workshop coordinator.

Our hotel in the historic centro of Oaxaca

Talismán Oaxaca: our art studio in the heart of the Valley, and studio hosts.

Schedule:
arrival: in Oaxaca, Friday, February 27
art classes + field trips: 7 days
day off: (no class or scheduled field trips) Thursday, March 5
departure: Sunday, March 8
airport: Oaxaca Xoxocotlan International airport (OAX)

Trip fee, deadline & cancellation:
$3500 for workshop participants – deadline to register is 10/1/25

• 50% deposit with registration guarantees your space – register early before the workshop sells out.
• Deadline to register & pay deposit is 10/1/25. (Deposits, reservations, and arrangements are made well in advance of the trip, so we need to receive your registration + deposit on time.)
• Balance is due by 12/1/25, or you can pay in full upon registration (deposit + trip fee).
• If there are not enough registrations to run the workshop, your deposit/full payment will be 100% refunded.
• Deadline to register in class is 10/1/25; no deposit or trip fee refund will be given after 10/1/25. No exceptions.
• If you must cancel, contact Corrie, the workshop coordinator, immediately (corrie[at]talismanoaxaca.com). You can transfer your deposit & trip fee to another person, at no charge. If there is a wait list, we will give you the first name on the list to whom you can offer your spot. Otherwise, no refunds will be issued under any circumstances. We encourage you to purchase trip insurance with “Cancel for Any Reason” when you register to cover you for unexpected circumstances.

Registration + payment online:
To register and pay online, click below. Your payment will be processed through PayPal.

Price includes:

• hotel room in our group’s room block (rooms have either 2 double beds or 1 king bed, and private bathroom)
• private van transportation (for field trips & group dinners)
• lunch provided for the 4 days we stay in the art studio (days with no field trips)
• field trips to Sunday outdoor market and ancient tree in Tule; studio visits with weavers, master papermaker & red clay women’s collective
• art instruction with 2 instructors

Not included in price:

• airfare or transportation to/from Oaxaca airport
• all other food & drinks (except for 4 lunches mentioned above)
• art materials (you must bring your own – see materials list)
• personal purchases
• required trip insurance

Required travel insurance: Why you need it: Oaxaca doesn’t have a robust healthcare system like you’re used to, so if you have a serious fall (sidewalks can be treacherous here), get sick, or the taxi you’re in has an accident, it could be very pricey to get you home for treatment. Therefore, we’re requiring everyone to purchase travel insurance for this trip (include medical evacuation of at least $50,000, international accident & health insurance including primary medical coverage, and trip cancellation coverage). There are also trip policies that include COVID cancellations. We recommend that you get PRIMARY medical coverage, not secondary. Proof of insurance must be sent to us at least 45 days before departure.
We encourage you to purchase trip insurance immediately upon registering, with “Cancel for Any Reason” to cover you for unexpected circumstances – buy trip insurance WHEN YOU BOOK YOUR TRIP if you wish to have this extra coverage.
suggested provider: Squaremouth – https://www.squaremouth.com/travel-insurance-quotes More COVID policy info: https://www.squaremouth.com/press-room/travel-insurance-coronavirus
best choices on Squaremouth: – HTH Worldwide, TripProtector Preferred, includes COVID cancellation – Trawick Intl, Safe Travels Voyager, includes COVID cancellation – TinLeg Gold, includes COVID cancellation
another provider: https://www.insuremytrip.com

COVID-19 protocol: We no longer require proof of vaccination, although we highly recommend having the most current booster before traveling to Oaxaca (it still exists here); there is no advanced treatment or special medications available here. If you become ill with Covid during the workshop, we expect you to immediately separate yourself from our group, isolate, and make arrangements to return home. Please add COVID coverage to your travel insurance.

Health & walking, dietary restrictions: Oaxaca is high altitude, at 5100 feet – some people need a few days to acclimate if they are coming from sea level. Can you walk 6,000 steps a day unassisted at 5100 ft? If not, you will be unhappy on this trip, and we only accept travelers who are in good health and can walk uneven cobblestone streets (narrow, with high curbs) and don’t have mobility or breathing issues. Also, dietary restrictions could be tricky, although there are restaurants that have gluten free and vegan options. Corn is a key ingredient of Oaxacan cuisine & culture, and meat will be consumed at most restaurants we visit (there are a few vegetarian & vegan restaurants in the city center). Travelers will need to make personal accommodations and adjustments to meet group needs and schedule.

Oaxaca weather: February/March is in the dry season, averaging 80°F (26.6°C) during the day, and 50°F (10°C) at night. It is generally mild & pleasant, with low chance of rain. We recommend bringing a light jacket for the evenings. Our hotel and the class art studio have fans in all the rooms, but no A/C.

Valid passport: Also, be certain that your passport has at least six months on it before it expires from the date you enter Mexico – if not, you may not be allowed entry into the country by your airline.

Flights & getting to/from the airport:
airport: arrival in Oaxaca Xoxocotlán Intl airport (OAX) on Friday, 2/27/26
Oaxaca City (OAX) is a 45-minute flight from Mexico City (MEX), with many available connecting flights on AeroMexico, United, American, and other carriers. To bypass Mexico City airport: in the US, American has a direct flight from Dallas to Oaxaca, and United has a direct flight from Houston to Oaxaca.
NOTE: if you fly thru Mexico City, book flights that allow at least a 3-hr layover going TO Oaxaca (the line for passport control can be long and you’ll miss your flight), and 1-hr layover coming FROM Oaxaca.
How to arrive info: about a month prior to the workshop, we will send you detailed instructions about how to get from the airport to our hotel, what to bring, how to get cash from ATMs, etc.

Materials & suggestions:

• We don’t supply materials for participants, please bring your own.
• materials list here

If you have questions: For questions regarding workshop logistics, lodging or transportation, contact the workshop coordinator: Corrie McCluskey at studio[at]talismanoaxaca.com

ART CLASSES, WORKSHOPS & RETREATS FOR THE SOUL IN OAXACA, MEXICO
TALISMAN OAXACA: A PLACE TO SEE ART, MAKE ART, EXPLORE YOUR CREATIVE SELF