Creative Flowers Initiative
Finding environments that are supportive and prioritize retaining Black women's leadership is not easy. That’s why Creative Flowers, an initiative of Unlock Creative, seeks to address the specific needs and challenges of Black women creatives. Creative Flowers focuses specifically on growing, nurturing, and keeping Black women in leadership within the creative sector, including the non-profit arts and entertainment industry. We want to build a mutual aid network of Black women creatives who can support one another to work within organizations throughout the sector and independently.
Our signature offering of Creative Flowers programs is our Professional Sistah Circle. The professional Sistah Circle is a cohort building program where women in an intimate virtual or physical space meet to build relationships with one another and explore aspects of the creative sector. The Sistah Circle has a core curriculum, but is meant to be tailored to best serve each individual cohort. Sistah Circles show up across locations and disciplines. Creative Flowers are even customized in partnership with organizations and collectives. We are building a movement from the ground up. Join Us.
Afro Futuro Creative Flowers Professional Sistah Circle
San, Juan PR
October 2-6, 2025
For Black Women Creatives
The cohort meets weekly via zoom for one month. The following is an overview of the program.
As a continuation of the YEAR OF BLACK WEALTH & AFROFUTURISM, Unlock Creative Enterprises is taking us back to the motherland to dream about our futures. We will co-host our second in-person Creative Flowers Sistah Circle retreat in partnership with The Afro Futuro Project.
The Afro Futuro Project is in collaboration with Creative Flowers Sistah Circle to create a transformative retreat experience for Black women. Our Black Women’s Retreat in Puerto Rico offers an immersive, culturally enriched experience designed to provide Black women with a transformative space for connection, personal growth, and holistic healing.Rooted in storytelling, cultural preservation, wellness, and the healing arts, this retreat fosters a deep sense of community and renewal. Set against the backdrop of Puerto Rico’s vibrant landscapes, the retreat blends the therapeutic power of nature with powerful ancestral connections, creating a sanctuary for rest, reflection, and reconnection.
Retreat Mission
To empower Black women by offering a space for healing, self-expression, and community building through cultural engagement, wellness practices, and the arts. By honoring ancestral wisdom and integrating modern wellness techniques, our retreat creates an atmosphere that celebrates the richness of Black womanhood, fosters personal growth, and promotes lasting transformation.
AfroFuturo (n.) is the historical, mythological, and contemporary realities of Black women in the Americas (especially South America and the U.S. South) Caribbean, and Africa
Cohort Mentors, Shaina Simmons and Chayanne Marcano, will host the retreat and create space for black and brown women from around the world to share valuable lessons learned and build personal connections with one another. We will be joined by a host of Creative Flower alumni, facilitators, and artists sharing in the experience.
Since the inception of Creative Flowers in 2020, there have been over 100 women who have passed through the program over 10 cohorts. This program seeks to provide a nurturing and intergenerational brave space for women from 18-100+ years old to explore the creative sector and build relationships with one another.
The goals of the program are as follows:
To offer Black women a nonjudgmental place where they can be their whole-self, ask hard, racially-based, and sometimes even embarrassing questions to further enhance the knowledge of the entire sister circle acumen of the creative sector.
To offer a nurturing and supportive space that is also free from anti-blackness.
To build community with one another and develop relations with peers so each woman knows she is not alone.
Expand the network of participant peers at various stages of their careers and identify mentors. The Sistah Circle will gain practical resources to further learn about segments of the creative sectors and where to go for support.
Who Should Join the Circle?
As an open and loving place, we will let you identify if you feel the program is right for you. The creative sector includes the nonprofit, fine arts, and entertainment industry and is inclusive but not limited to visual arts, theater, dance, film, graphic design, animation, producing, composing, songwriting, sound engineering, museum management, costume design, lighting design, opera, and technical direction. To learn and curate as eclectic of a group as possible with the broadest network, we welcome all Black women creatives.
The program is being crafted for Black & Brown women who:
Are interested in exploring and/or entering the creative sector
Identify as an artist or arts administrator
Have a passion for creativity, including artists, writers, musicians, designers, and individuals involved in any form of artistic expression
Have a career in the Creative Sector in US and internationally
Curious to connect and engage in an intimate sister circle with other black & brown women to share learning
Have a keen interest in travel, eager to explore new destinations and immerse themselves in different cultures and landscapes
Seek excitement and adventure, whether through physical activities, cultural exploration, or pushing the boundaries of their creative pursuits
Are open-minded, willing to engage in diverse conversations, and build connections with like-minded individuals from various backgrounds
Value the power of community and seek to build meaningful connections with fellow creatives and travel enthusiasts.
Are on a journey of self-exploration, looking to discover new aspects of themselves, their creativity, and the world around them in a safe and uplifting environment.
Program Design & Dates
The cohort will meet in person in PR and ahead of time via zoom to prep for the trip together. The following is an overview of the program design. Individually, each participant will be supported to develop a Self-Investment Plan as part of their personal and professional development journey.
Thursday, October 2nd
Arrive at San Juan Airport (SJU) in Puerto Rico and check into the accommodation. Organizers will be on site to greet you, and provide recommendations for places to eat and visit before the official start of the retreat.
Meals and transportation not included.
Friday, October 3rd
9:30 am Welcome Breakfast & Opening Ceremony
Meet and connect with your fellow travelers over breakfast. During the opening ceremony, we will collectively reflect on the theme, offer up a land acknowledgment to the islands of Puerto Rico (she’s an archipelago!), and call on the names and spirits of our ancestors to cover us for the weekend as we heal, restore, and play.
12:00pm Lunch
1:00pm Depart to Loiza
We will travel to Loiza, a town known in Puerto Rico as the “Capital of Tradition” and the birthplace of Bomba.
2:00pm Bomba Workshop #1
Experience a bomba workshop on the beach led by Sheila Osorio of Taller Bomba N’Zambi.
5:00pm Return to Accommodation
7:00pm Dinner
Saturday, October 4th
8:30am Morning Meditation
9:00am Breakfast & Check-in
An opportunity to share reflections at the top of the day over breakfast.
10:00am Bomba Workshop #2
We meet with Jannira Roman of SanArte Bomba for a dance workshop delving into the history and six rhythms of bomba.
11:30am Break
12:00pm Lunch
Track 1
A Creative Afternoon (Outside)
Track 2
A Creative Afternoon (Inside)
1:00pm
Depart to Loiza
1:00pm–4:00pm
Creative offerings facilitated by Unlock Creative team
2:00pm
Visit Casa Afro to meet artist, activist, scholar and institution builder Dr. Marta Moreno Vega.
3:00pm
Visit Samuel Lind’s studio and gallery to meet the artist depicting and preserving Afro-Puerto Rican traditions through painting, sculpture, and printmaking.
4:00pm
Return to Accommodation
5:30pm Dinner
Sunday, October 5th
8:30am Morning Meditation
9:00am Breakfast & Check-in
10:00am Depart to Santurce
We will travel to Santurce, a town founded by free and fugitive Africans escaping enslavement from nearby Caribbean islands.
11:00am Bomba Workshop #3
Our third and final workshop together will be at the first school established for the study of bomba, founded and led by
members of the renowned Cepeda family.
12:30pm Time for Exploration
A break in the itinerary for us all to enjoy a free afternoon on our own terms and by our own rhythms.
6:00pm Farewell Dinner & Closing Bombazo
Monday, October 6th
Check-out and depart the accommodation. Transportation to the airport is provided in the form of two trips, e.g. one trip for early flights & one trip for late flights.
Some meals included.
Conference & Retreat Hotel: Casa Costera Apartments by Marriott Isla Verde Beach
Pricing Options
Book your hotel with our group rate
Approximately Single Rooming: $1,000
Approximately Double Rooming: $1,200 ($600 per person)
*Partners, friends, mates, etc are welcome as part of the rooming accommodations. Sistah Circle sessions are for the participants.