Discover the perfect basket for your outdoor adventures! Whether you’re hiking through the forest or gathering treasures from your garden, this handwoven basket is ideal for fiddleheads, mushrooms, herbs, and other small finds.

With a compact yet functional design, this basket measures approximately 4"W x 8"H x 10"L, making it lightweight and easy to carry. Perfect for nature lovers, gardeners, and anyone who appreciates the art of basket weaving, this is a must-have addition to your collection.

What to Expect in Class

• This is a 5-hour hand-on workshop suitable for beginners and those with weaving experience.
• You'll learn basket weaving techniques and compelte your own foraging basket by the end of the session.
• All materials and tools are provided

Accessibility Information

We aim to make this class as inclusive as possible:

• Location: The venue is wheelchair accessible, with accessible restrooms.
• Seating and Workspace: Tables and chairs are provided
• Physical Effort: Participants will use their hands for weaving and light assembly. If you have mobility or dextrerity concerns, please reach out to discuss more details.
• Visual Guidance: Intructions will be provided verbally and visually.

About the Instructor

Wood Thrush Wilderness is an outdoor guiding and educational business that helps people connect more deeply with themselves and the natural world. As Licensed Recreation Maine Guides, we offer guided canoe expeditions throughout the state of Maine. We also offer classes and training in outdoor education, wilderness medicine, and traditional crafts such as basketry. 

Website: https://www.woodthrushwilderness.com/

Get Up Close with Bird Anatomy

Have you ever wanted to see the serrated bill of a merganser, feel the powerful foot of a falcon, or discover what an owl looks like beneath all those feathers? This hands-on program invites you to explore the Maine Master Naturalist Program's incredible collection of bird specimens, learning about bird anatomy, feathers, skeletons, bills, and feet - plus some basic identification skills.

Master Naturalists Cheryl Ring, Sue Kistenmacher, and Andrea Lani will introduce the specimens before guiding participants through interactive stations where you can examine whole birds, bones, and feathers in stunning detail. 

This program is open to all ages, but advance registration is required for each attendee. Children must be accompanied by a registered adult. 

Celebrate the Arrival of Spring with a Day of Community at Viles Arboretum!

Enjoy nature-inspired activities for all ages, lend a hand with an Earth Day project, explore our vernal pool, and snap a photo with a floppy eared friend! This event is the perfect way to kick off spring with joy and purpose!

The Spring Celebration is FREE for everyone to attend but some activities may require a fee to participate and/or advance registration.

Click Here for a Full Schedule of Event

• Meet the Easter Bunny ($)
• Vernal Pool Exploration
• EcoCraft: Upcycled Seed Starting
• Native Egg Hunt: Discover the Birds of the Northeast
• Spring Magnified: View Nature Under a Microscope
• Soil Sensory Bin
• Earth Day Volunteer Opportunities
• Shakedown Treats & Sweets food truck
• Of Maine Origin food truck

During registration, you'll be asked to provide some optional demographic information. Your responses are confidential and will not be shared with anyone. This information helps the Arboretum better understand our community, improve our programs, ensure we are offering inclusive and accessible experiences for all, and helps with securing funding opportunities to enhance our work.

Join us at our Spring into Nature Celebration on April 19th, 2025 from 10am-2pm. 

We are looking for food trucks. This is an all ages event.

Attendees will; enjoy nature-inspired activities, lend a hand with an Earth Day project, explore our vernal pool, and have the opportunity to meet the Easter Bunny! 

Dive into the wonders of nature as it wakes from its winter nap at Viles Arboretum Discovery Camp! This spring session of day camp, designed for ages 7-14, will have kids exploring the world as it comes back to life

Campers will explore diverse ecosystems, hike scenic trails, investigate wildlife, and engage in hands-on science, art, and outdoor skills. This three day camp will feature an overview of the amazing ecosystems at Viles Arboretum, with a particular focus on how nature renews itself and comes to flourishing life in the spring.

Led by experienced educators, our program fosters a sense of wonder, teamwork, and a deep connection to the environment.

Have you ever wanted to make delicious meals over a fire? This hands-on class is perfect for outdoor enthusiasts and aspiring backcountry chefs! Together, we’ll explore a variety of cooking techniques and recipes that will elevate your outdoor cooking skills.

What You'll Learn

• Cooking with a Dutch oven: hearty meals and baked goods made easy.
• Using pie irons for creative and tasty dishes.
• Grilling over an open fire and cooking with simple wood sticks.
• Mastering camp stove cooking for a variety of meals.
• Baking cookies in a Coleman oven—yes, you can bake outdoors!

This class includes a feast of food, so be sure to bring your appetite! You’ll leave with new skills, favorite recipes, and the confidence to create gourmet meals under the stars.

What to Expect

• A fun, interactive class with plenty of hands-on opportunities.
• All tools, ingredients, and equipment will be provided.
• Recipes and techniques are designed for beginners and seasoned campers alike

Accessibility Information

We aim to make this class enjoyable and welcoming for all:

• Location: The venue is wheelchair accessible, with accessible restrooms.
• Physical activity: Participants will be standing and moving around, with some lifting and handling of cooking tools. Chairs will be available to all participants. Please reach out to discuss accommodations if needed. 
• Dietary considerations: Let us know of any dietary restrictions or allergies, and we’ll do our best to accommodate.

About the Instructor

Wood Thrush Wilderness is an outdoor guiding and educational business that helps people connect more deeply with themselves and the natural world. As Licensed Recreation Maine Guides, we offer guided canoe expeditions throughout the state of Maine. We also offer classes and training in outdoor education, wilderness medicine, and traditional crafts such as basketry. 

Website: https://www.woodthrushwilderness.com/

Join Viles Arboretum and Maine Public Health Association for an insightful event exploring how rewilding your yard -planting native species, reducing lawn space, and creating habitat for pollinators- can benefit both the environment and your well-being.

Part of the MPHA's regional Pollinator Series, this gathering brings together students, community members, and public health professionals to connect and learn. Enjoy a short talk, networking with refreshments, and guided walks through the Arboretum to see rewilding in action. 

A 4 Class Series Led by Local Artists

• May 15th – Cassie Sano
• May 20th – Nancy Keenan Barron
• June 12th – Ed McCartan
• June 26th – Lauren Kircheis

Vincent van Gogh once wrote, “Many painters are afraid of the blank canvas, but the blank canvas is afraid of the painter who dares and who has broken the spell of 'you can't' once and for all.”

Our Sketching Nature Series invites your to break that spell with guidance from four artists who find inspiration in the natural world. Over the course of four classes (spread across eight week), each artist will share their unique approach to starting a nature sketch, helping you build confidence in observing and capturing the world around you.

Classes may be held indoors and/or outdoors, weather permitting.

Participants must bring their own sketchpad and pencils.

About the Artists

Cassie Sano is a realist painter living in Augusta. She enjoys painting outdoors, when the weather permits, and loves to paint in both oil and watercolor. 

Cassie also writes and illustrates picture story books through Maine Authors Publishing and regularly participates in author events throughout Maine. She is the organizer of the Kennebec Valley Plein Air Painters, a member of the River Arts Gallery, the Maine Art Gallery, Boothbay Regional Art Foundation, and the Red Barn Art Gallery in Port Clyde. Her books may be purchased online and, in several locations, including Viles Arboretum’s gift shop. 

She says, “From the time I first held a crayon, I felt a connection to art that was so powerful it was as if my creative spirit had a life of its own.

Nancy Keenan Barron is a lifelong Maine artist, born and raised in Farmingdale, Maine. As early as she can remember she has been a maker. She didn’t call it art. She called it drawing, painting, playing.  It was her go-to activity.

Nancy considers herself a student of the arts with “classes” starting on the closet walls of her childhood bedroom that became a spaceship with the help of a crayon. A formal education followed with art lessons in Mrs. McGrail’s basement. For two hours on Saturday mornings, she would get lost with pastels, paint and charcoal.  Later, while at the University of Southern Maine Nancy learned that all the fun she had had for years drawing and painting had its own language. 

Words like gesture, mood, line, color, contrast and undulation are some of the ideas she works on developing in her art and tries to convey such ideas in practice.  Nancy currently works her craft, painting, making mixed media works and assemblage sculptures at her home studio in South Gardiner.

Ed McCartan is an accomplished artist whose studio is nestled in the historic Bath Memorial Hospital on Park Street in Bath.

Having retired as a teacher, Ed's passion for art has only intensified. With an MFA from SUNY Albany and graduate degrees in philosophy, theology, and art education, his expertise shines through in every brushstroke.

Ed's artwork graces the permanent collections of multiple museums and adorns corporate and private collections alike. Despite his retirement from formal teaching, he continues to share his knowledge through art history courses at Midcoast Senior College and occasional workshops hosted in his studio.

Lauren Kircheis is the Land Steward at Viles Arboretum and doesn’t really consider herself “an artist.” However, she has drawn pictures for as long as she can remember. A self-taught artist whose skill and understanding stems from her passion for birds and botanicals, Lauren started out pencil sketching and then started incorporating the use of acrylics. During the Covid pandemic, she also started using watercolors. 

Lauren, whose college degree is in Wildlife Conservation, takes a highly observational and scientific approach to her work. Her bird sketches are hyper realistic and based not just on observation but on handling birds. Her close examinations help her understand patterns, color and shapes. Lauren’s work is available on note cards and stickers in the Viles Arboretum gift shop.