WHAT DO WE WANT? ArtNOW!
And we are on a mission to re-enchant the world by empowering people with creative tools to tell better stories, live richer lives, and build connected communities. Through immersive storygames, seasonal events, and transformative experiences, we help individuals and groups reshape their narratives and imagine new possibilities—making personal growth playful, community connection meaningful, and change inevitable.
WE BELIEVE that the stories we tell shape our lives. And even more powerfully the stories we tell together shape our world. Our storygames help us tell a better story to live a better life to create a better world.
WE PROVIDE a yearlong story landscape of monthly art installations, storygames, and events. These experiences give us the creative tools to use our imagination – rather than willpower – to build empowered habits for creativity, mindfulness, problem-solving, relationship-building, health, and more. How?
The Secret Storyworld
... is our storygame platform that brings together readers, writers, and creators to change the world through stories.
Whether playing our storygames, participating in our seasonal events, or teaming up for a community adventure; participants are guided through monthly Storyworld themes that provide the structure, community, and encouragement to find our voices, achieve creative goals, and explore new worlds—on and off the page.
Why? Co-opted by commercial interests, the web of stories that shape our world is broken, dividing us rather than uniting us. The Secret Storyworld puts the connective power of story back into the hands of families and communities. Using place-based learning and calendar-driven themes, we combine the power of local storytelling with mobile technology to re-empower how we read, create & share.
Anchoring stories in time and place gives families the power to change lives, communities, and ultimately the world.
The Secret Storyworld serves as a creative hub; hosting, inspiring, nurturing, and connecting creators. Our calendar-themed stories are anchored in growth mindset habits to help us discover and live our best lives. Inclusivity and diversity guide our offerings. Alongside The Secret Storyworld, we have crafted hands-on creativity kits that bring the story powers of wizards, superheroes, gnomes, and more into real life.
Our storygames explore how our thoughts direct our actions, and how our words shape our interactions. We investigate the effects we have on each other’s well-being, and the various characters we play in our community. This is how we Write the World one story at a time.
Ashlandia:
A Mission of Community Storytelling + Civic Imagination
Creating Story Experiences of
Transformational Wonder
Daily, we are immersed in stories that reinforce division, fear, consumerism, and passivity. Rarely are we invited into larger-than-life stories that reawaken our sense of play, wonder, and collective creativity.
Ashlandia is a year round participatory theatre of place that transforms our community into an interactive landscape of adventure, discovery, and connection. Through immersive storytelling, site-specific art, and events, we recast public spaces as realms of possibility—egalitarian, inclusive, and imbued with magic.
A Vision for Ashlandia
We believe that stories shape our lives, and the stories we tell together shape our world. Through Ashlandia, we create a civic experience that is:
✨ Imaginative – Reclaiming the city as a canvas for myth-making and artistic expression.
💫 Inclusive – Welcoming all ages and backgrounds into a shared, participatory world.
🔥 Empowering – Encouraging creativity, agency, and collaboration.
🌍 Place-Based – Rooted in the landscapes, histories, and cultures of Ashland and Southern Oregon.
How We Do It
🎭 Storygames & Live Storytelling – We blend performance, gameplay, and interactive narrative to create an ever-evolving, community-driven experience.
🖌 Public Art & Immersive Installations – Murals, sculptures, and site-specific artworks and events turn our city into a stage for adventure.
📖 A Year of Story Landscapes– Twelve interconnected realms, each with its own mythology, challenges, and quests, invite participants to step inside the story.
🌲 Nature & Place-Based Magic – Ashlandia honors the natural world as a character in our tale, integrating outdoor experiences, conservation, and local history into our creative landscape.
A New Model for Public Life
At a time when so much of our civic space is shaped by commerce and consumption, Ashlandia invites us to reclaim our public spaces as a playground for imagination.
We work in partnership with cities, artists, schools, local businesses, and cultural institutions to create an immersive art experience—a story that we write together.
Ashlandia is not just a place.
Ashlandia is a way of seeing, a way of playing, and a way of imagining a more connected world.
✨ Step inside the story. The adventure begins now. ✨
✨ ArtNow Equity Statement
At ArtNow, we believe everyone belongs in the story.
We are a community of creators celebrating diverse voices, lived experiences, and cultural traditions as essential to the story we are co-creating.
Through Ashlandia and the Secret Storyworld, we build spaces where all people can participate, lead, and thrive. We invite partners, artists, and neighbors to join us in shaping a future where creativity is a shared power, and every story matters.
THE MISSION of the Secret Storyworld is to transform families from passive consumers of stories and products into active creators of their own narratives. This activation creates resilient families who can generate change in their lives and communities.
We help families tell life-changing stories with a storytelling game called the Storyspinner's Journey, a more team-oriented variation of the Hero's Journey that bring stories to real life. Headquartered at TreeHouse Books in Ashland, Oregon, our monthly storytelling games includes reading lists, daily writing prompts, DIY art kits and community events.
A storytelling platform
to help kids & families
tell a better story
to live a better life
to create a better world.
Our project began as a middle reader book club requested by kids that wanted books for ‘real wizards.’ It has evolved into reading and writing games based in the bookstores, libraries, schools and businesses of Ashland, Oregon. Players are guided through the story genres of Science Fiction, Mystery, Fantasy, Fairy Tales and more with our story writing game board and video prompts to read and write a story in 30 days.
Each story genre includes an embedded social skill as part of the community game such as goal setting, positive psychology, fitness, project management, financial literacy and more. Our treasure hunts are organized around businesses and schools to encourage local community to support reading, writing and social change that is initiated through our children.
Monthly storygames begin and end with community parties. We have hosted weekly club meetings and monthly First Friday parties to introduce our reading and writing themes since the bookclub's inception. Monthly curated book lists round off our offerings.
THE CROSSROADS
We currently are testing our project in Ashland, Oregon and then will collaborate with other communities to create Secret Storyworlds and Book Clubs in bookstores and libraries throughout Oregon and beyond.
Your support would help us expand our games and work with local writers, artists, musicians, actors, craftspeople and software developersto bring our storytelling platform to life.
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WHEE THE PEOPLE!
Ashlandia + Secret Storyworld
Story & Community Event Producers: Jane Almquist & Cynthia Salbato of TreeHouse Books have produced 12 storygames and countless community events.
Technology: Dr Daniel DeFreez, Computer Science Professor at SOU, is developing our AI Story Guides, and Dr. Matthew Beers, Principal Developer for Amazon, is building our software in service to children and our community.
Storyramas: Co-owner of River Lane Homes, Inc, Laura Knapp is using her skills as a builder and former Props artisan with Oregon Shakespeare Festival to co-create our monthly Story Diorama scenes. You can see these installations in the windows of Treehouse and other downtown businesses, and as the 'set' for many of our StoryWriting Prompts.
Art Direction: The founder of BookWise Design, Shannon Bodie has specialized in books, publishing and digital media for 20 years.
Most importantly, our community's schools, families and businesses play the heroes of our storytelling project
The Good Ship ArtNow
Art Now is a 501 (c)(3) for purpose multimedia community-based art organization.
Captain: Cynthia Salbato is a producer for regional PBS documentaries and local community events. Titles include Crater Lake Mirror of Heaven, South Road to Oregon, Travel Oregon Scenic Byways, Asante Heartbeats. Events include Ashland's Festival of Light, Children's Halloween Parade, Scienceworks' After Dark series, annual seasonal lantern processions in Lithia Park.
First Mate: Suzanne Mathis McQueen is the founder of 4 Seasons in 4 Weeks (4s4w) a non-technical and symbolic journey through the 28 days of the female hormonal experience.
Treasure Keeper: Laura Knapp is owner and CFO of River Lane Homes, Inc. A former Props artisan with Oregon Shakespeare Festival, when Laura is not counting our treasure she is building our Storyrama Art Installations.
Mapmaker: Jane Almquist , is owner of TreeHouse Books. Jane has created numerous businesses and product lines including Modern Faery, Wizard Apothecary, Tiny Treasures, and Ashlandia.
WE BELIEVE...
...that the stories we tell shape our lives. And that even more powerfully the stories we tell together as a community shape our world. The Secret Storyworld is: a storytelling platform to help kids and families tell a better story to live a better life to create a better world.
🎨 The Origins and Evolution of Artnow → Ashlandia Secret Storyworld
- 2005 – Founded by Artisans
Artnow was born in Ashland, Oregon, created by a passionate crew of artists and artisans from the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.
Mission: To bring the whimsical world of art cars to the streets and culture of Southern Oregon, blending performance, sculpture, and community celebration. - 2010 – Transformation into Secret Storyworld
After five vibrant years of art car magic, Artnow pivoted to focus on deeper personal and community transformation through immersive story games.
The project evolved into Secret Storyworld, an interactive experience blending experiential art, narrative therapy, creative play, and community storytelling. - Core Focus Today:
- 12 monthly Storygames designed for personal and community growth, and narrative revision
- Seasonal and monthly community events and immersive art installations
- An imaginative blend of story, creativity, and connection for individuals, families, and communities
- Key Moments That Shaped the Journey:
- The shift from visual art to immersive experiential art and storygames
- Expanding to include families, educators, and young adults
- Building a place-based and digital platform that unites personal growth with playful experiences
- Producing seasonal celebrations in Lithia Park including Spring Wizard Walk procession, Summer Faery Godmother Tea Party, Autumn Creature Crawl, and Winter Gnomecoming Procession. Events like Wizard School After Dark, Mystery at the Museum, Fairytale Theater, Monster Ball, Witch Camp and other seasonal story experiences
Artnow transforms our communities into an interactive landscape of adventure, discovery, and connection. Through immersive storygames, site-specific art, and public events, Artnow reimagines parks, sidewalks, and city corners as realms of possibility—egalitarian, inclusive, and imbued with magic.
We invite people of all ages and backgrounds into a shared civic experience that is:
✨ Imaginative – Turning the city into a canvas for storytelling and artistic expression
💫 Inclusive – Welcoming diverse voices into a world built by and for the community
🔥 Empowering – Fostering creativity, agency, and collaborative play
🌍 Place-Based – Rooted in the ecology, history, and cultures of Southern Oregon
How We Art NOW:
🎭 Storygames: Interactive quests and performances bring players into an evolving narrative world
🖌 Public Art & Immersive Installations: Site-specific events, murals, and street theatre invite wonder and participation
📖 Seasonal Story Landscapes: A yearlong cycle of twelve themed realms—each with its own characters, challenges, lore, and celebrations.
At a time when civic life is often shaped by screens and transactions, Artnow offers a new model where community spaces become stages for shared imagination.
We collaborate with artists, youth, educators, cultural groups, local businesses, and the city as a way of imagining what’s possible—together.
A Year of Speculative Play and Story-led Imagination
Artnow 2025 Year in Review
This year, Artnow conjured magic across story, place, and community—building bridges between emerging technology, collaborative art, and game-led transformation. We cast spells, led parades, hosted parties, and designed wildly speculative experiences rooted in joy, imagination, and purpose.
We partnered, prototyped, and play-tested across seasons—launching tools for artists, spaces for community, and games for a more connected, creative future.
AI Wizardry and Creative Technology
In partnership with the SOU Computer Science Department, we built our first AI Wizard, a character-infused interface for creativity. The Wizard debuted in a community-wide Equinox Spell, guiding Ashland into spring through collective imagination and intent, then traveled to Brazil, where it won first place in the International Creative Computation Conference.
We joined thought leaders at the AI Summit in March as a panelist in the Art + AI category, showcasing how AI can serve community storytelling.
Seasonal Celebrations & Public Rituals
We embraced the turning of the wheel with artful gatherings, seasonal offerings, and community play:
- Summer Solstice Faery Godmother Tea Party in Lithia Park invited hundreds to gather, sip, and wish under the trees.
- Superhero Bootcamp trained young heroes in collaborative storytelling and fitness
- We vanquished Disconnecto at the Silent Disco through embodied movement and team-led transformation
A Home on Main Street
We found a creative home in 2025, joining White Rabbit at 5 North Main Street. There, Artnow became:
- A Member Den Mother, launching our first member campaign and cultivating deeper creative roots
- The hub for our Marketing, Website & Pitch Cohort, supporting entrepreneurs, technologists, and artists with storytelling, strategy, and support
- A third space for speculative thinking and experimental connection
Story + Game Lab: Worldbuilding Through Play
This fall, we launched the Story + Game Lab, a place to remix narrative, gameplay, and experimental experience design.
- We redesigned 12+ story-games for seasonal, participatory, and transformative use
- We hosted Creature: A Fall Equinox Gathering—a cross-species, cross-realm co-creation event
The Lab is now an incubator for future-facing storytelling, creative prototyping, and interactive ritual.
A Year of Magical Co-Creation
In total, Artnow produced or co-led:
- 100+ weekly labs, collaboratories, cohorts, and events across seasons
- 4 public participatory rituals (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter)
- 1 AI Character Launch, with a collaborative design process
- 5+ artist coaching/cohort offerings
- 1 new creative space and permanent community hub
- 12 redesigned games for collective story engagement
Looking Ahead:
In 2026, Artnow will continue to lead with play, worldbuilding, and creative care. From the Time Travel Hotel to Care of Creatures, from Wizard School to Superhero Bootcamp, from Monster Ball to Gnome for the Holidays, we’re spinning stories, supporting artists, and designing portals into future we most want to see in our lives and world.
We hope you’ll keep playing with us.
With spark and wonder,
The Artnow Team
Hello, I’m Cynthia
Event Creator. Experience Architect. Community Builder.
In my work as Artnow, I design immersive storyworlds, seasonal events, and interactive experiences that spark imagination, build community, and inspire transformation.
Transformational
I believe art is a tool for transformation. My work blends art, narrative, and place-based design to create participatory events and installations that help people feel seen, inspired, and connected — to themselves, each other, and the world around them.
Collaborative
My approach centers on listening deeply and co-creating boldly. Whether we’re designing a community event, a youth storytelling program, or a town-wide treasure hunt, I build alongside community members, creatives, educators, and partners to ensure the magic is real and rooted.
Experiential
I create interactive experiences that are participatory. From processions and pop-ups to crafting nights and story quests, every project invites people to step inside an emergent story where they are the main character.
Recent Storyworld Projects
Ashlandia Immersive Experience
An ongoing immersive storygame and community arts initiative featuring crafting nights, seasonal processions, and place-based storytelling experiences. Thousands of participants have helped shape this magical version of Ashland, Oregon.
Wizard of Ashlandia Walk, Fairy Godmother Tea Party, Creature Crawl, and Gnomecoming
Annual seasonal community events that bring neighbors together to celebrate the turn of the season. Featuring costumes, lanterns, music, and collaborative storytelling.
Secret Storyworld
A yearlong, gamified personal and community growth platform that combines narrative therapy, creative prompts, art activities, and live events to help people rewrite the stories that shape their lives.
Services
- Event & Experience Design
- Creative Community Building
- Seasonal Programming & Installation Planning
- Youth + Family Storytelling Projects
Let’s Imagine Together
I am here to help you make real your inspired idea. Share your project with me and we will discover how we can collaborate.
