Events

Do you wish to express yourself more? Are you looking for inspiration? Join us for this three-hour self-expression workshop. Participants will use prompts to discuss and engage creatively with one another and a life coach. Projects will include combining images and objects into a 3-D creation using pictures, paper, and clear gems.

Get your hands dirty working with clay in this immersive workshop. Learn hand-building techniques to create tiles, pinch pots, and more. Then, decorate the surface of your piece by pressing leaves, flowers, and lace into the clay. Show off your resulting creation to your friends and family. Beginners welcome! No experience needed.

For thousands of years, music and craftsmanship have been intertwined, serving as a powerful form of communication and self-expression. In this hands-on workshop, you’ll embark on a journey through time, exploring the ancient musical traditions of Central and South America while creating your own unique clay instrument. Reconnect with nature through the tactile experience of working with clay. Awaken your creativity by shaping and designing a traditional rattle. Experience the joy of sound and music-making, no matter your skill level. Guided by the expert instruction of teaching artist, Melissa Hyatt Foss, you’ll learn about the history and significance of these ancient instruments and craft your own functional clay rattle—a piece of history you can play! All materials, supplies, and firing are included, and no prior experience with clay, instruments, or music is necessary. Step into the past, create in the present, and leave with a one-of-a-kind musical treasure.

Learn the ins and outs of preparing your artwork to be shipped. This workshop includes various demonstrations on how to wrap and package your art for transport. Melissa Burley, a Montpelier Arts Center resident artist and professional art handler, will walk you through various steps and processes to ensure your work arrives safely at its destination!

Musical instruments have helped us communicate and express ourselves since the dawn of human culture. Learning about the musical instruments of the ancient Americas and building and playing our own unique instruments helps us to awaken the memory of our connection to nature, cultivate presence through working with clay, and experience joy through sound and music-making. In this hands-on workshop we will learn about ceramic musical instruments that have been made across Central and South America for thousands of years and learn to build and tune our own working clay flutes. Guided by the expert instruction of teaching artist, Melissa Hyatt Foss, you’ll learn about the history and significance of these ancient instruments! All materials, supplies and firing are included. No previous experience with clay, instruments, or music is needed!

Resident artist Bao Yen Nguyen will lead a workshop on image transfers on canvas using acrylic gel medium. Participants will learn to master the gel transfer technique, a process that allows artists to apply photographic imagery and other media to a wide variety of surfaces. All materials will be provided.

In the three-hour Altered Book Workshop, participants will choose from a list of prompts discussing emotional regulation skills and emotional naming. In response to these prompts, participants will create altered books and engage in discussions with a life coach and each other. Altered books are created by taking thrifted or donated hardback books and upcycling them into an art journal. The participants will prepare the books by strategically removing and/or gluing pages. Next, they will create art within the pages and on the cover. In an altered book, any medium can be used to make any type of art, such as collage, painting, drawing, found poetry, etc. These altered books offer a safe space to use art as an outlet for self-expression and processing emotions.

Through art making and storytelling, this workshop aims to redefine shelter as a space of security, warmth, safe space, and family, fostering empathy and understanding. Resident artist Nikki Brooks will lead participants in guided meditation, an art activity, and open conversations about home, neighborhood dynamics, gentrification, and family tradition, sparking deep reflections and meaningful exchanges.

Jewelry is more than adornment—it’s a reflection of history, culture, and identity. This hands-on workshop invites participants to explore the artistry of jewelry-making while connecting with the rich traditions of the Basotho people in Southern Africa. Attendees will gain hands-on experience in crafting unique pieces, while also exploring the historical and cultural significance behind various jewelry designs and materials.

Experience the transformative power of Hawaiian hula. We invite older adults to engage with this Polynesian art form and connect with Hawaii’s rich heritage through graceful movements, music, and captivating storytelling. With gentle exercise benefits, cognitive stimulation, and social connection, hula nourishes both body and soul.

Led by resident artist Racquel Keller, this dynamic, hands-on collage workshop is designed to inspire creativity and facilitate the exploration of this versatile art form. Listen to music (the rock) as you dive into the world of collage (the paper and scissors), creating unique pieces using a wide range of materials while learning the history and techniques behind the medium.

Artist Sookkyung Park will lead participants in creating small lamps inspired by the lotus flower. Participants will explore the cultural and historical significance of the lotus while learning craft skills. Attendees will make their lotus lamps, symbolizing purity and enlightenment. This experience offers a creative and therapeutic activity, providing time for personal reflection. The fee includes all materials.