Wish you could paint watercolor? You can! Learn how to use watercolor brushes, paints, and papers. Explore basic techniques, color theory, principles of mixing color, design, and composition. Paint from personal photographs and still-life setups and learn how to make a painting successful. This class is designed for beginners, but all levels are welcome. $

Do you have an old box or chest that is missing some hardware? Maybe you’re a woodworker who makes boxes and would like to learn to make hinges and handles for them. Come explore the process for creating hinges, handles, latches, and other box and chest hardware. Bring a box to work on or–with advanced notice–your instructor can provide a chest/box for you to purchase and finish. All levels welcome.

Don’t know what to do with that beautiful piece of hand-dyed fabric, vintage table runner, or skein of yarn that needs a new life? Discover the art doll as a means of creative expression for textile and fiber lovers. Learn the basics of constructing a cloth doll and explore design principles, inspiration, and methods for adapting various materials to create a one-of-a-kind figure. Experienced students will have the option to take on more advanced techniques. Basic sewing skills are required.

Create narrative pots using handbuilding techniques such as slab building, coiling, pinching, and bisque molds. Develop the storry of your critter by attaching sculptural elements that extend off the surface of the form. Paint and carve on the surface building up colorful imagery and patterns through layers of underglaze, slip, and transfers. Learn strategies to develop ideas and build confidence in drawing on clay. Approach making with playfulness and curiosity! Bisque fire as time allows.

Join this unique week of instruction for both mountain and hammered dulcimer players. Enjoy personalized and intimate group instruction from four experienced instructors; for novice, confident beginner, intermediate, and advanced musicians. Throughout the day practice skill-level appropriate technique and repertoire, review back-up chords, harmonies, and more. With the larger group, put those techniques into practice and expand on arrangement possibilities.

Learn centuries-old green woodworking skills to transform a fresh log, branch, or hunk of wood into functional spoons and a bowl. Starting with spoons, focus on wood movement, grain pattern and orientation, and proper carving techniques. Move to bowl work midweek, including blank selection, layout, and design. Learn to use your tools safely, and wrap up the week discussing finishing processes for your dried carvings. Moderate hand and upper-body strength are needed.

Introduce your taste buds to the many facets of Italian cuisine. Move beyond pasta and explore home cooking the Italian way: simple, healthy, and beautiful! Create and enjoy complete meals including antipasti, insalata, i primi, i secondi, and i dolci. Students with dietary restrictions should contact the instructor prior to registration. All levels welcome.

Weave a willow pack basket using traditional wicker (stake and strand) weaving techniques. Focus on weaving oval bases, twinning, waling, and randing, and discuss all steps of the basketry process from sourcing and preparing willow to attaching straps to your pack. This class will require average to moderate hand strength; prior basketry experience is helpful but not required. $

Work with a blend of paraffin and local beeswax to create multilayered batik fabric and garments of your own invention. Use methods that are easy to recreate in your home studio, garage, or anywhere. Indian wood blocks, Malaysian metal stamps, Indonesian and Vietnamese tjanting tools, and paintbrushes can all be used to make resist designs on cloth. First, we wax them, then we dye them! Learn about fabric preparation, dye chemistry, layering your colors, and wax removal. All levels welcome.

Have fun exploring the many possibilities water soluble oil pastels have to offer–either on their own or in combination with other mediums. Subject matter is your own choice; work from photos, life, or your wildest imagination. All levels welcome; some drawing and/or painting experience helpful.

Like cloth, written language can be found everywhere. Yet the intrinsic power of words–their ability to transcend basic “information sharing” to express ideas and convey sentiment–adds immeasurably to their appeal as patterns on the page. With the goal to inspire weavers to expand their repertoire of decorative approaches, this class will provide step-by-step instruction for using inlay to weave letters and words in cloth. Should be able to warp and weave independently.

Enrich and enliven your creative practice through exploring the unlimited possibilities of textile collage in your mixed-media surface design work. Explore embellished textile techniques, appliqué, quilting, thread and bead embroidery, and photographic images, and learn how to incorporate these new skills into your own projects. Explore composition and design, how to communicate through textile art, and ideas for presenting your finished pieces.

Join an instructor inspired by Mayan men in Guatemala to give this versatile form of fiber art a try. Start with a large hook, two wool yarns, and loose single crochet stitches and progress to tapestry crocheting a bag with a beaded design to be felted in class. Build on new skills, create a cylindrical basket using a smaller hook, beaded cotton thread, and tight stitches, then tapestry crochet a flat piece with your own or your instructors motif. Beginner through advanced levels welcome. 

Learn essential concepts in woodturning design and process by creating small functional and decorative objects. Begin the week mastering the basics with weed pots and small vases, then move on to crafting wooden bowls and explore further with wood stem wine glasses and hummingbird houses. Continue with projects of your choice, enhancing your skills and broadening your creative expression. Both beginner and intermediate students are welcome. $

Create whimsical and elegant sculptures that hang in your garden using copper tubing, sheet, wire, and found objects. Scale up basic jewelry-making techniques like coiling, sawing, soldering, and cold connections to create rain chains, tree dangles, and mobiles. Add extra whimsy and personality to your hangings by incorporating upcycled glass or metal “charms” into the links. All levels welcome, but good hand strength is a must. $

Forge a custom, steel table base to be paired with a beautiful hardwood top in this dynamic blacksmithing class. Choose between two guided designs–one beginner-friendly and the other incorporating traditional joinery techniques for intermediate level students. Leave with a functional, heirloom-quality table that reflects both your skills and dedication to craft. Designed for intermediate students; also welcomes motivated beginners ready to learn, work hard, and grow their skills. $

Louisiana-style cooking combines elements from West African, French, Spanish, and Native American cuisines and pairs them with ingredients readily available in the American South-resources like rice, okra, and crawfish. Explore the flavors and techniques used in traditional dishes. Learn to brown meat, whisk up a roux, make gravy, and prepare gumbo. If time and weather allow, we may also do some outdoor cooking in the traditional Louisiana style. $

Bring your voice, instrument, or both as we explore the musical traditions of Southern Appalachia together. Learn songs and tunes with fun melodies, harmonies, and accompaniment. All stringed instruments welcome! Make good music in a friendly atmosphere and take away a treasure-trove of string band music from a wide variety of sources. This class is accessible for confident beginners and also has plenty of challenges for more advanced musicians and singers.