Peg Carlson-Hoffman + Chuck Hoffman

Edges, boundaries, and intersections have been at the heart of our artistic expression for more than 20 years. In a world of polarizations, we see boundaries and edges not as divisions, but as places of potential that hold tension and allow something new to rise from struggle. Boundaries and edges are places where we sense spirit moving and creating within and through each other.  

Through our art and workshops, we create a space for community, spirituality and social change. In the face of current world issues, and with our planet Earth in profound peril, we cultivate a place to discover wonder by engaging imagination and creativity. We believe this discovery nurtures seeds of understanding and helps us become more resilient to face a rapidly changing and uncertain world.

Our time spent in places where physical walls divide communities has been particularly formative. Our experience in Belfast, Northern Ireland, over the years is at the core of our inspiration and call to work and live in community.

We lived our life for many years on the boundary of the wilderness frontier in a remote, off-the-grid spiritual community deep within the forest of the Cascade Mountains of Washington State. Through our experiences we have come to believe deeply in the interconnectedness of our relationship with the earth, with each other, and with the Spirit that sustains us.

Peg Carlson-Hoffman + Chuck Hoffman were Co-Executive Directors of Holden Village from 2015–2020. Holden is a remote wilderness education and renewal community in the wilderness of the Cascade Mountains of Washington State.

Peg is a painter, lettering artist and designer. She is a former Creative Director and product developer for Hallmark Cards.

Chuck, a painter and designer, is a former Associate Creative Director for the Walt Disney Company. He received the Art & Innovation Fellowship and the St. Paul Interfaith Scholarship Award from Luther Seminary in Saint Paul, Minnesota, where Chuck completed his MA in Art & Theology.

a word about Genesis+Art impact on the environment + giving back.

Now more than ever we all need to step up efforts to mitigate climate crisis and save our Earth. With every purchase, you make the earth a better place. Through our partnerships with non-profits and other stewards of the planet, we are planting trees, fighting climate crisis and working for social justice by donating 10% of your purchase.

buffalo restoration is a form of reconciliation.

Many plant and animal species in the Wind River and the North American high plains depend on Buffalo for survival. The buffalo help hold the land together – providing fertilizer, spreading native seeds, aerating soil with their hooves, and creating habitat for other small animals. Buffalo wallows (compacted depressions in the ground created by Buffalo rolling on their backs) also hold rainwater during heavy downpours, where plants and insects can thrive.

Tribal Buffalo restoration is about healing. Historically the Buffalo was removed from tribal lands and the lives of the Indigenous People. The Buffalo are beginning to heal the land with their return and are entering the lives of the native people once again. Donations help to restore and protect the Buffalo, reacquire ancestral land, and rekindle the cultural and spiritual connection of Native peoples to Buffalo. We ask that you make a direct donation on our behalf to: Restore the Buffalo

a word about our travel, the environment and carbon neutral
We feel our time on the boundaries and of wilderness has born witness to its peril and its beauty. We derive our inspiration for our art, writings and reflections of the earth has heightened our awareness of wonder and seeing nature as the original sacred text. We find our adventures going beyond the known to explore these landscapes requires travel. With carbon offsets, we can counteract our personal carbon footprint by helping build clean energy and carbon-reducing projects. To offset this impact, we purchase 2% carbon offset credits by calculating usage and impact on Native and support fighting climate change and social injustice.

The earth and our more-than-human world is our priority as we work to make a positive impact and a net negative when it comes to emissions.

As long as we remain faithful to creating art motivated by living in the present, the art, when art does come, will act as a light that illumines not only the existential darkness, but also the world in which we live.