Singing School was a six-week social practice art series facilitated by Liam Whitworth and taught by Portland Opera singer and multidisciplinary performer Onry H. Hosted weekly at Deep Waters studio, the program invited participants to explore collective voicework as a form of healing and reconnection. Attendance was free and open to the public. Each session emphasized community, embodiment, and the rediscovery of joy through singing together after years of pandemic-era isolation.

The project sought to transform vocal practice into a medium for collective repair. Drawing from traditions of communal song, somatic healing, and queer performance, Singing School treated the act of singing not as entertainment but as ritual and restoration. The series asked how a group of strangers might breathe together, attune to one another’s resonance, and create temporary harmony as a form of mutual regulation.

Participants gathered in a modest upstairs studio in Lower Albina. Each session began with grounding exercises in breath and posture, followed by playful explorations of tone, vowel, and vibration. Onry guided participants in connecting the voice to the body’s energy centers, with particular attention to the throat and heart. Gradually, individuals who began the series shy or hesitant grew into full, unguarded vocal expression. 

Singing School succeeded as a work of social practice art. It reimagined performance as participatory care, replacing spectacle with shared process. Participants described feeling “open,” “lighter,” and “less alone.” Several returned week after week, forming an informal collective that continued to meet after the series ended.
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As an artistic experiment, Singing School demonstrated that creative acts can operate as public health interventions. In the wake of COVID-19, it offered an embodied space for processing collective PTSD and rekindling communal joy. The project advanced Future Prairie’s mission to center working-class queer artists in civic healing work, while deepening Deep Waters’ identity as a site for art that nurtures rather than extracts. We hope to host more events that build community resilience through shared practice.

On 10/17/25, we gathered at the Clackamas Town Center MAX Station for two hours of slow exploration, curiosity, and sensory attention. Our walk group included artists, teachers, care workers, and others interested in how neurodivergent ways of sensing the world can reshape how we move through public space.

Led by Vo Vo, this workshop balanced thoughtful conversation with embodied awareness. Their facilitation style was warm, grounded, and deeply in tune with the body and the moment. The route moved through indoor and outdoor spaces, shifting between textures, sounds, temperatures, and changing light. Participants were invited to notice how their senses guide perception and connection. Vo Vo opened the event with reflections on disability justice and community care, framing neurodivergence as a creative way of engaging the world. That spirit of openness inspired deep sharing among participants around sensory processing and embodiment. Guests called it gentle but transformative, a masterclass in attention, and a reminder that care can change how we experience shared space.

This collaboration between Future Prairie, Clackamas County Arts Alliance, and Vo Vo modeled what it means to reimagine art and accessibility together. The small group size encouraged real connection. We are seeing renewed interest in sensory-centered, inclusive public programming. We’re already excited to plan more walks like this one.

Many of our artists need help with writing grants to fund their projects and community–based organizations. Here is a free printable resource we put together that offers a template for a successful grant proposal. This document is based on an annual workshop we've taught on this topic. 

Our free public forest bathing event, Singing the Forest, drew 34 people out to the Smith and Bybee Wetlands on July 27 for an afternoon of shared movement, breath, and song!

​Led by Onry and Liam Whitworth, this 90-minute wellness walk brought together LGBTQ2SIA+ Oregonians, along with friends and allies, to explore one of the largest urban freshwater wetlands in the country. Shawon Shorter led a yoga class before our walk. Then our group walked in the wetlands, noticing the landscape’s textures, scents, and shifting light. Guided breath work helped everyone arrive fully in the moment before moving into a sensory meditation. As the walk continued, participants learned simple vocal warmups inspired by the calls of birds overhead, the movement of the wind through tall grass, and the gentle rhythm of the water. People who had never met sang together with less and less self-consciousness, listening and blending their voices into something larger than themselves. By the end, there was a shared feeling of connection not just with one another, but with the trees, plants, and sounds of the wetland creatures.

Attendees left with smiles, a deeper relationship to our public land and commons, and a reminder of the joy that comes from gathering in nature to share breath, movement, and song. This event was made possible with Metro funds as part of their Parks and Nature Community-led Programs.

Walking together has always been a way for Future Prairie artists to learn about the world and about ourselves. Walking meditations in Oregon open our senses to sounds, smells, and textures beneath our feet and help us feel connected to the land we live on now. Over time, our founder and Executive Director realized that walking meditation could be more than a personal ritual; it could also be a way to gather LGBTQ2SIA+ and ALAANA (African, Latinx, Asian, Arab, Native American) artists with strangers to start conversations and build a sense of belonging with people who often feel unseen.

We began using walking as a research practice in Portland's neighborhoods, parks, and along our rivers, eventually completing several half marathons along the way. We walk at a slow, meditative pace. When possible, we like to take all day. Together we speak and move gently, stopping to notice moss on a tree trunk or to listen to birdsong echo through the branches. Walking side by side, we shared stories about our lives, dreams, and goals. We often read poetry aloud in these spaces as well.

Forest bathing is a cherished, though not essential, part of this practice. Sensory immersion in nature asks us to leave our phones behind and turn our attention to the living world around us. In a quiet clearing, we sit together, breathing slowly, letting natural light, scent, and sound calm our minds. This shared practice has been healing because we create space to process communal grief and share stories while also practicing deep listening. Our bodies and our souls are part of something larger than any one struggle. Art in nature reminds us of this.

Walking as Research Practice feels urgent right now. Trans and otherwise marginalized people carry histories of exclusion, mistrust in public spaces, and constant vigilance. When we walk together through the forest, we reclaim safety. We practice being known in a world that often tries to make us invisible. We learn to trust one another and to trust the earth as a witness to our worth. In those moments, community becomes a vehicle for care and resistance.

Our inspiration for this practice comes from a desire to bridge boundaries. In bringing strangers together on shared city paths and rural trails, we develop networks of support that flow into galleries, coffee shops, venues, churches, hospitals, and living rooms. Being together in nature is our birthright. In that belonging we find healing, resilience, and hope for a future where everyone has a little more room to breathe.

In 2024, we had the honor of funding creativity across a wide spectrum of art forms ranging from visual art, poetry, and film to music, social practice, and community initiatives. Through direct cash support, mini virtual residencies, and resource sharing, Future Prairie celebrates the voices of underrepresented communities, especially queer and neurodivergent perspectives. We’re providing artists with funding, technical assistance, workspace, mentorship, and community networking.

These artists and projects represent a cross-section of creativity and social activism, spanning disciplines from dance and storytelling to technology and site-specific installations: 

Abby McHale, Akela Jaffi Auer, Amelia Ralston-Okabayashi, Amelia Schroth, Amethyst Rae, Anna Burke, Arcadia Trueheart, Ashlin Aronin, Asher Kondziela of Prism, Aster Olsen, B3NTL3Y (Bentley Anubis), Beck Beverage, Bee Brooklyn Campos, Bishop and Wilde, Brett Brown, Bronwyn Carver, Cal Angus of smoke and mold trans-run journal, Chloe Larson, Chris Noel, Claire Dior, CoHo Productions & CoHo Resource Center, Cultured Magazine, Z Rucker, Drew Harmon, Drunk Church, Ember High, Emily "Emmi" Greer, Erin Wright, Freeform Portland, Gal La Mode, Brianna Spencer, Katherine Morgan, Hannah Glavor, Hannah Krafcik, Hannah Piper Burns, Harlee Case, Adia Gibbs, Ilima Considine, Jax Ko, Jason Lee Cinematica, Jayden Becker, Jenny Xie, Jess Ackerman, Justine Vanderpool, Joyce McNair, Joy Pearson, Kait D of Goldie's Film, Katarina Countiss, KiShawn Thompson, Emmett Preciado, Lene Hopson, Lisa Leard, Lukas Angus, Maddy Court, Matthew Halbert-Howen, Meg Currell, Midori, Nikita Vincent, Nicholas Williams, Portland Indie Game Squad, Queer Social Club, Rachel Smith (Words of Mouth), Renée Yoxon, Saeeda Wright, Sage Nova, Cameron Day O'Connell, Shaun Keylock, Shakir Najieb, Shawon Shorter, Skylyn Booth, Carrot Quinn, Tuck Woodstock, Up Good with Honey Pluton, and Zaji Cox.

Each brings unique perspectives, amplifying the vibrant cultural landscape of Portland and beyond. Future Prairie remains committed to cultivating an inclusive arts community where all identities are celebrated. We believe in the power of collective work to shift narratives, foster resilience, and build lasting community ties. By supporting a diverse cohort of artists and collaborators, we continue to broaden representation in the arts, creating new avenues for visibility and opportunity.

Future Prairie hosted a free public event at Tomorrow Theater to teach City of Portland voters about ranked-choice voting. Here are portraits of some of the voters in attendance!

We are excited to welcome Franco Nieto (He/him) to the Future Prairie collective!

Princess Grace Award winner Franco Nieto was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest. He made the unconventional switch from football to ballet in his teenage years and has now taught and danced in over 10 different countries and performed with the likes of Lady Gaga and Sir Elton John. He spent 10 years as a principal dancer with NW Dance Project in Portland, Oregon, where he toured the world and worked hand in hand with the leading minds in choreography to create and bring to life countless original works. His early training came from the Vancouver School of Arts & Academics and Columbia Dance, and his formative line of choreography was born from his mentorship with Tracey Durbin. He graduated with his BFA in Jazz from Point Park University. Franco brings his big heart to every class at Open Space.

Franco has been helping us with choreography for our upcoming short film, "1955". You can see more of his work at www.openspace.dance.