Step into a new way of seeing space, material, and human flourishing.
In this immersive session, sculptural artist and sanctuary builder Valerie Østvik invites you into a world where dwelling is sacred, earth is a living partner, and natural materials rekindle resilience from the ground up.

Drawing from her lived experience crafting sacred ceremonial roundhouses and working within ancestral earthen building traditions, Valerie shares how working with clay, stone, wood, and embodied artistry does more than build beautiful structures—it shapes cultures of belonging, vitality, and enduring wholeness.

Attendees will leave with renewed inspiration, a deepened connection to the sensory intelligence of materials, and a vision for how their own craft can become an act of cultural restoration.

AIA-CEU

This session explores how natural materials and ancestral building traditions cultivate resilience—supporting health, belonging, and cultural restoration—while shaping spaces as living vessels of healing and wholeness,

Prerequisite Knowledge:
None required.

HSW Justification:
This course emphasizes Health by showing how natural, non-toxic materials and durable, time-tested earthen and timber practices work together to support well-being, regulate the nervous system, and ensure safety. It advances Welfare by encouraging cultural restoration, ecological responsibility, and the creation of spaces that cultivate belonging and human flourishing.

Learning Objective 1:
Recognize how natural materials such as clay, stone, and wood foster resilience by supporting both structural integrity and human well-being.

Learning Objective 2:
Explore how texture, form, and embodied artistry regulate the nervous system and enhance occupants’ sense of belonging and vitality.

Learning Objective 3:
Examine how sacred and ancestral building traditions cultivate cultural restoration, community connection, and enduring wholeness.

Learning Objective 4:
Apply principles of natural building to envision spaces as vessels of healing and cultural thriving, beyond their ecological and structural benefits.

Valerie Østvik is an artist and cultural architect devoted to crafting sculptural ceremonial dwellings from earth, stone, timber, and spirit.

Through her studio, TerraTheta, she creates sacred roundhouses—earthen sanctuaries rooted in natural materials, ancestral wisdom, and sensory engagement—designed to nourish the human spirit.

Blending ancient building techniques with expressive, organic design, her work shapes living vessels for ritual, rest, and reconnection.

You can explore more at TerraTheta.co or on Instagram @mudwithval and @terratheta.works