Plan Your Next Event
We welcome corporations and nonprofits for board meetings, weekend planning retreats, team-building events, as well as those seeking a change of scenery to gain new ideas and fresh perspectives. Our varying spaces are perfect for large lectures, conference room board meetings, team retreats, and more. Our spaces can be a blank canvas for you to create the perfect retreat in our urban oasis.
And because demand for corporate creativity increases, we are now offering tailor-made workshops to suit a variety of business and nonprofit needs.We also work with schools to create quality literary programming for elementary, middle, and high school students.
Previously, we’ve worked with Whole Kids Foundation, Book in a Box, McCombs Business School, Austin Monthly, Women Communicators of Austin, DPR Construction, GirlForward, St. Francis School, Literacy First, and more.
Learn more below about our various workshops, lodging options, pricing, and amenities, or schedule a tour of the property.
Creative Roots – Connecting to Self and Community:
In this three-hour workshop, Writing Barn staff will lead the group in a variety of exercises designed to connect with our personal creative core. We will explore ways to connect to our team before we branch out into thinking about our clients and target audience. This workshop will incorporate developing your own “core question,” unearthing the poet within, a nature walk if weather permits (with a writing exercise), and generating community-based narratives where the customer, client, and those who work behind the scenes all remain engaged and connected.
Exploring the F Word – Feelings:
In this six-hour workshop, Writing Barn staff will lead the group in a variety of exercises to take the group from their thinking centers—the brain—to their feeling centers—the heart. We will access childhood memories, giving us the power to play, create vulnerability, and to access emotion to take our businesses/nonprofit team builders to new levels of satisfaction and connection in their blogging, verbal sharing with partners, donors, and more.
School Visits:
Our interactive school visits inspire young writers to embrace their creativity and hone their storytelling skills. These field trips can include:
- Author talk by Writing Barn Founder and Creative Director Bethany Hegedus.
- Presentation on The Grandfather Gandhi series, including Be The Change, a Green Earth Book Award nominee.
- Nature walk and accompanying writing activities that focus on sensory description, using metaphor, sharing work with others, and/or personal narrative.
- Discussions on being part of a writing community and enacting positive change through art.
- Book signing with books purchased from local bookstore BookPeople.
- Closing rock ceremony so students can experience the same celebration as professional writers who visit the Barn.
Amenities vary depending on the buildings rented, but below is a sample list
of what’s typically included in a rental.
- Event chairs and folding tables
- Conference room
- Coffee maker, coffee urn, water kettle
- Various linens and tablecloths
- Buffet plates and wine glasses (additional glasses and plates for rental)
- Various silverware and serving utensils
- Large refrigerators with freezers
- Stove top + microwave (no oven)
- Restrooms
- Dry erase boards
- Projectors (upon request)
- Speakers + Mics (upon request)
- Screened in porch (with two porch heaters, ceiling fans, and party lights)
- Porch furniture (including custom tables, chairs, and benches)
- Courtyard area with picnic tables and hammocks
- Fire pits (upon request)
- On-site parking for 30-40 cars (Additional street parking; possible rental of nearby church lot for shuttling guests.)
And as always, if you have family or friends flying in for the event, or if you’d like to turn your event into a weekend-long celebration, The Writing Barn has various lodging options for you and your guests. The entire property sleeps 17+.
The Writing Barn: Features a floor to ceiling bookshelf filled with poetry, novels, picture books, and craft books. There is a galley kitchen with stove top, microwave, and small refrigerator (larger refrigerator on the porch). The bedroom has a sitting area and a queen-sized bed. The loft area has a comfy, full-sized futon and an over-sized reading chair. The large screened-in porch—dubbed the “party porch”—has autographs from traditionally published authors who have visited the grounds, either attending a literary party, retreating, or facilitating one of our many well-regarded workshops.
The Book House: Features five bedrooms: the Pulitzer, Booker, Newbery, Caldecott, and Printz, each with their own private bath. Retreaters may gather in the common areas of the living room—which features unique book accents—or on the full house wrap-around porch. The modern galley kitchen features all new appliances, including a dishwasher. The Book House sleeps 10 to 14, lap desks are provided for indoor or outdoor writing, and there are yoga mats for peaceful contemplation under the live oaks.
The Cabin: A comfy, quaint hideaway that sleeps 3 to 4, complete with unique lighting and accent furniture, a full tiled bathroom, and a galley kitchen with refrigerator, oven/stove, coffee maker, microwave, etc. There is a small indoor desk, as well as a screened-in porch for outdoor dining and writing. The Cabin is best for good friends, small families, or those on romantic weekend getaways.
Rates vary depending on the season, day of the week, and type of event.
Fill out a form below to inquire about rates and availability.