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Classes and Workshops
The Outdoor Chef: A New Look at Outdoor Cooking and Baking
with Wood Thrush Wilderness
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.
Rewilding Your Yard
with Maine Public Health
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.
Sketching Nature: An Artist-Led Series
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.
Fairy Basket Workshop
with Wood Thrush Wilderness
Join us for a whimsical and creative basket-weaving experience! In this hands-on class, we’ll craft a small fairy pack basket—the perfect size for a tiny fairy or for adding a bit of charm to your decor. You’ll also learn about the history of pack baskets and the traditional materials that have been used to make them.
What You'll Learn
- The history and evolution of pack baskets.
- How to weave with reed to create a fairy-sized basket, approximately 5” tall.
- Step-by-step instructions on shaping, weaving, and finishing your basket
By the end of the class, you’ll walk away with your own finished fairy basket and the skills to create future baskets on your own.
What to Expect
- A hands-on, step-by-step workshop designed for beginners and experienced weavers.
- All materials and tools will be provided, with guidance to ensure each participant completes their basket.
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.
Medicinal Plant Walks
with Debra Bluth
Join herbalist, homeopath, and flower essence practitioner Debra Bluth for a guided walk through Viles Arboretum, where you'll meet a variety of medicinal plants and trees along the way. Discover key identifying features, folklore, and traditional uses of these plants from herbal, homeopathic, and flower essence perspectives. Ages 16+
Each walk will feature different plants, so you're welcome to join one or all three for a unique experience every time. Wear sturdy shoes that can handle a bit of dirt!
Potential Plants for Each Walk (subject to change):
Walk #1: Plantain, burdock, dandelion, sumac, yarrow, elder, lungwort, white oak, bloodroot, violet,Solomon seal
Walk #2: Red clover, ginkgo, iris, Japanese knotweed, hawthorn, rose, comfrey, horse chestnut, catalpa,poison ivy, lesser cinquefoil
Walk #3: elecampane, mugwort, lesser periwinkle, goldenrod, Queen Anne’s lace, boneset, gravel root,jewelweed, blue vervain, white cedar, white pine
Register for all 3 walks and use promo code THREE to save 10%
Harvest Wine, Meads, and Hard Cider Workshop
with Wood Thrush Wilderness
All students must be 21+ ID will be required to attend.
Are you interested in learning how to brew your own mead, wine, or hard cider? This class is the perfect introduction to brewing and fermentation! We will guide you through the entire process, from selecting ingredients to bottling your own one-gallon batch of mead.
What You'll Learn
- The ingredients and equipment used in brewing mead, wine, and hard cider.
- The step-by-step process of making mead, including how to measure sugar levels to determine alcohol content.
- How to properly sterilize and bottle your creations.
- The fermentation process and how it affects the final product.
By the end of the class, you’ll have hands-on experience and your own batch of mead to continue the fermentation process at home.
What to Expect
- A fun and informative class designed for beginners in brewing and fermentation.
- All materials and equipment will be provided.
- Step-by-step guidance from an instructor, ensuring everyone leaves with a completed one-gallon batch of mead.
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 be standing and moving around, with some light lifting and handling of equipment. Please reach out if you have mobility concerns or need accommodations.
- 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.
Writing Landscape, Writing Self: A 6-Week Workshop on Writing Poetry in Response to the Natural World
with Meghan Sterling
Register early and save! Only $250 if you sign up by April 15th—price increases to $275 on April 16th.
Members recieve a 10% discount on this program!
Click here to become a member!
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Sit in the grass. Trace raindrops down a windowpane. Examine a tree. Take a walk.Watch the light reflect off stone sculptures. Observe. Immerse. Beauty is everywhere.
In this 6-week workshop, held at Viles Arboretum either outdoors or indoors dependingon the weather, we will write poetry in response to the landscape by using observational journaling and fresh poetic techniques.
If you love learning about nature and learning new tools to expand your poetry practice, this workshop is for you. Go out into a field, agrove, a barn, and write poems about what is all around you, and how you are part of itall. From romantic poetry to ecopoetry, this workshop will inspire poetry that, as Joseph Campbell says, “to make your heartbeat match the beat of the universe, to match yournature with Nature."
Workshop Schedule
5/21 - Week 1—Seeing. Craft technique: Imagery.Welcome, Introduction, free write, craft lesson, nature writing. HW: complete poem.
5/28 - Week 2—Listening. Craft technique: Anaphora.Introduction, free write, craft lesson, nature writing. HW: complete poem.
6/4 - Week 3—Feeling. Craft technique: Syntax. Introduction, free write, craft lesson, nature writing. HW: complete poem.
6/11 - Week 4—Remembering. Craft technique: Still Life poems. Introduction, free write, craft lesson, nature writing. HW: complete poem.
6/18 - Week 5—Desiring. Craft technique: Portrait poems. Introduction, free write, craft lesson, nature writing. HW: complete poem.
6/25 - Week 6—Imagining. Craft technique: Modern sonnets. Introduction, free write, craft lesson, nature writing. Share favorite poem written.
About the Instructor
Meghan Sterling lives in Gardiner, Maine with her family. Her work has been published or is forthcoming in Rhino Poetry, The Los Angeles Review, Rattle, Colorado Review, Pinch Journal, Radar Poetry, Rust & Moth, SWIMM, The West Review, Pirene’s Fountain, the Inflectionist Review, Rise Up Review, the Mom Egg Review and many others. Her chapbook, How We Drift, was published by Blue Lyra Press. She was Featured Poet in Frost Meadow Review’s Spring 2020 issue, a Dibner Fellow at the 2020 Black Fly Writer’s Retreat, and a Hewnoaks Artists’ Colony Resident in 2019 and 2021. She was co-editor of the anthology, A Dangerous New World: Maine Voices on the Climate Crisis, published by Littoral Books. Her debut full-length poetry collection, These Few Seeds (Terrapin Books) came out in 2021 and was shortlisted for the Eric Offer Grand Prize Award. Her second full-length collection, View from a Borrowed Field, won Lily Poetry Review’s Paul Nemser Book Prize and came out in March 2023. Her chapbook, Self-Portrait with Ghosts of the Diaspora (Harbor Editions) came out in April 2023. Her third full-length collection, Comfort the Mourners (Everybody Press) came out summer 2023. You Are Here to Break Apart (Lily Poetry Review Press), is forthcoming in 2025 and Sick Poems from the Lovebed (Harbor Editions) is forthcoming in 2026. When she isn’t writing poetry, being a mom or swimming, she teaches workshops and works as a professional writer.
Dandelion: Food and Tea Workshop
with Wood Thrush Wilderness
Dandelions aren’t just weeds—they’re a powerhouse of flavor and nutrition! In this hands-on workshop, we’ll explore the many ways you can use dandelions to create delicious dishes and refreshing teas. Join us to learn how to collect, process, and cook with this amazing plant, from roots to greens to flowers.
What You’ll Learn
- How to collect and process dandelion greens for delicious recipes.
- Using dandelion flowers to make jams, teas, and wines.
- The beneficial properties of dandelion roots and how to incorporate them into your meals.
- A variety of recipes, from savory dishes to sweet treats.
In this interactive class, we’ll taste, create, and make some truly delicious dishes featuring dandelions!
What to Expect
- A fun and educational class designed for beginners and food enthusiasts.
- All materials and ingredients will be provided, along with recipe cards to take home.
- Step-by-step guidance from an instructor to help you create tasty dandelion-based dishes and drinks.
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 be standing and moving around, with some light lifting and handling of equipment. Please reach out if you have mobility concerns or need accommodations.
- 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.