Shantigar Foundation
in Western Massachusetts
Arts
Meditation
Nature
Jean-Claude van Itallie, Founder
1936 - 2021
Welcome to Shantigar
Joining meditative and artistic practices with the healing power of nature,
we can live more peacefully on our planet.
Summer on the Land
At this time of year, we’re attuned to the healing power of nature at Shantigar—absorbing the scent of the forest, letting soil crumble through our fingers, spying the first fireflies at dusk.
Shantigar’s land is tended with great care. Steven Rice mows the fields and clears our public access trails for visitors. Sarah Hettlinger has planted vegetables and flowers in the raised stone beds behind the movement room.
During Shantigar workshops, you’ll walk these paths and feast from the garden while enjoying our arts and meditation offerings.
Fall 2024 offers a trio of nutrient offerings—Kate Peppard’s popular Yoga & Wellness for Women in Recovery, singer Jonathan Hart Makwaia’s renowned Voice & Music Workshop, and Helena Vallée Dallaire’s intensive weekend of Drawing Shantigar.
Our weekend workshops are small and inclusive. We offer partial scholarships and invite you to learn more: email@shantigar.org.
Throughout the year, we invite you to Shantigar for weekly Chi Kung with John Meyer. Or join online Theatre Conversations with Rosemary Quinn and Meditation Sanghas with Marisa Viola.
Spring at Shantigar
In May, Shantigar was the site for a conference of international experts who discussed financial options for addressing the ecological crisis, including Indigenous-led Finance, Eco-credits, and Nature-based Currencies. Among the questions explored:
How do we ensure that financial resources flow to small groups around the world
doing on-the-ground ecological regeneration?
How do we connect the flows of capital to the flows of life?
To learn more about this work:
ReGen Foundation
Bio-Fi Project
In June, Shantigar and the Franklin Land Trust co-hosted an early morning bird walk. Alex Wahlstrom, FLT’s Land Steward and a passionate birder, guided our eyes and ears as we crossed the big field and walked softly through the woods, listening for fizzy tweets, flute-like songs, and high-pitched calls from hermit thrushes, indigo buntings, scarlet tanagers, and Blackburnian warblers.
Looking forward, Shantigar is poised to join the UMASS Amherst Pollinator Project, a research initiative aimed at improving the health of insect pollinators, especially bumble bees. Pollinators support our worldwide food systems, but pesticides and habitat loss put us at risk for an insect apocalypse. To explore how bee populations can be strengthened, UMASS students will document plant species in our fields, collect specimens for lab analysis, and survey bees and other insect fauna across our habitats.
Our best wishes for a peaceful summer,
The Shantigar Team
Board Members—Connie Childs, Rand Engel, Didi Goldenhar, Deb Katz, Rosemary Quinn
Advisory Board Members—Josh Adler, Michael Schreiber, Marisa Viola
New! Private Group Rentals at Shantigar
https://www.shantigar.org/rentals
Shantigar is ideal for professional convenings, creative work, and meditation gatherings. Get close to what matters while immersed in our natural splendors. We offer space and time to restore, recharge, and engage in essential conversations.
Group rentals are available for a minimum of 3 people staying at least 2 nights. Our farmhouse and cabins can accommodate up to twelve people. For more information, please contact Shantigar co-director Deb Katz at (413)-834-3280 or administrator Peter Columbus: email@shantigar.com.
Grow the Community
Last year, a generous friend helped us launch the Jean-Claude van Itallie Scholarship Fund with a $3000 matching opportunity. Since then, Shantigar has received an additional $1000. Many thanks to all!
Please consider a gift to meet the match. We want to grow a diverse, flourishing community. For the 2024 workshops, we’ve already provided $750 in scholarships. The more we receive, the more we’ll give away.
Share The Shantigar Effect—where creativity, meditation, and nature meet.
Jean-Claude van Itallie
Scholarship Fund
House Repairs
Shantigar's Mission
To engage with the world from a more profound place through transformative workshops, retreats and performances.
Joining meditative and artistic practices with the healing power of nature, we can live more peacefully on our planet.
Jean-Claude van Itallie
Scholarship Fund
House Repairs