classes // workshops // events
FARM TOURS + HANDS-ON EDUCATION
We offer educational farm tours for families, schools, and organizations.
ALUMNI WEEK
Craigardan’s alumni return to the Adirondacks in the spring for some fun, camaraderie, and rest — but they also help us open the campus for the residency season!
FIBER ARTS CIRCLE
Whether you’re sewing a quilt, knitting a hat, or creating something else entirely, bring your project and work in good company!
VOLUNTEER ON THE FARM
Join us on the farm any or every Tuesday from May 7 through October 7. During volunteer hours you will have the hands-on experience of working on our small-scale, diversified farm!
FREE FOOD FRIDGE
Offered in solidarity, not charity and available 24/7 on the front porch of the Farm Store, no questions asked. Take what you need and/or donate what you can.
COMMUNITY FLOWER PLANTING DAY
Help us plant our flower garden! Share in the joy that comes from planting seeds.
SEE, THINK and MAKE LIKE a FILMMAKER with Fanxi Sun
Join 2024 Teaching Fellow Fanxi Sun for a fun introductory course about filmmaking!
TUESDAY BEGINNER MTB RIDES with Mark Nassan
Join us at Blueberry Hill Trails in Elizabethtown every Tuesday evening (weather permitting) for group mountain bike rides with local guru Mark Nassan. This is geared towards beginners but all levels are welcome for this fun, supportive, laid back group ride.
POTTERY ON THE WHEEL with Lanse Stover and Michele Drozd: Tuesday Evenings
Join us in the clay studio this summer for this all-levels, 5-week pottery class. We’ll get our hands dirty and make great pots!
MEN’S GROUP with Jeremiah Reiner
Men's Group is a powerful space for fostering connection, growth, and support among men. Free and open to the public.
POTTERY ON THE WHEEL with Lanse Stover and Michele Drozd: Thursday Mornings
Join us in the clay studio this summer for this all-levels, 5-week pottery class. We’ll get our hands dirty and make great pots!
COMPOST it!
In this workshop you will learn how to compost food scraps, leaf litter, and more in your own backyard. We’ll cover different methods, dealing with wildlife, and how to make good quality compost that your plants will love.
WIC'N PICK SERIES
We’ve partnered with Essex County Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) to offer educational on-farm experiences for families enrolled in the county WIC program.
MORE THAN PRETTY WORDS: WHAT DO POEMS DO? With Michele Parker Randall
Join 2024 Teaching Fellow Michele Parker Randall for a unique and engaging poetry workshop.
APPLEBARN TALKS: Michele Parker Randall, Juliet Phillips, Susan Hutner
Free and open to the public
APPLEBARN TALKS: Katherine Orfinger, Fanxi Sun, Emilia Gonzalez
Free and open to the public
PROJECT SOW - Seeds of Wonder
Calling all High School students! Join CCE and Craigardan on the farm this summer.
APPLEBARN TALKS: Sue Ellen Herne, Bessie Mbadugha, Fran Hoepfner
Free and open to the public
APPLEBARN TALKS: Emily Caris, Christie Gardiner, Beth Reitmeyer
Free and open to the public
(2nd) ANNUAL SUMMER FIRING CELEBRATION
Join us for our annual summer event! We’ll celebrate the fire that brings us together, the summer harvest, and the community of artists, scholars, and creatives all around us.
UNCERTAINTY ACADEMY: Adirondacks
In collaboration with artist Tal Beery and scholar Joshua Moses, Uncertainty Academy: Adirondacks is a unique residency program and roundtable discussion series at Craigardan exploring responses to the uncertainties—both material and psychic—arising from the climate crisis and other cascading crises.
EXPERIENCING CLAY with Kiki Liu
Join 2024 Teaching Fellow Kiki Liu for a beginners course to hand building with clay.
APPLEBARN TALKS: Kiki Liu, Hendree Milward, Emily Sullivan Smith
Free and open to the public
BACKYARD BEES
This introduction to beekeeping with novice beekeepers Michele, Sam, and Laura may just inspire you to maintain a hive or two of your own - if we can do it, so can you! Pre-registration is appreciated, but not necessary.
APPLEBARN TALKS: Audrey Blood, Jessica Mendoza, Emily Olick Llano
Free and open to the public
APPLEBARN TALKS: Michiko Theurer, Karina Yanes, Jennifer Steil
Free and open to the public
GROUNDS for CREATION: With Allison Dobbs and Leanne Rabesa
Join 2024 Teaching Fellows Allison Dobbs and Leanne Rabesa for two hours of live music, art, and the common grounds between them.
APPLEBARN TALKS: Samuel Bowser, Michael Heyman, Harri Nourse
Free and open to the public
BUILDING A ROCKET KILN with Lisa Orr
We’re hosting potter Lisa Orr on campus this week to build a quick-firing kiln that is fueled with wood (but not a wood-fired kiln!).
EMPTY BOWL, FULL HEART MAKERS DAYS IN THE CLAY STUDIO
Come join Craigardan and Empty Bowl Full Heart in creating bowls for the 2024 fundraiser to support local food pantries. No experience is necessary! This is a fun event for adults and teens 12 and older.
APPLEBARN TALKS: Molly Hurley, Betsy Power, Chad Michael Lange
Free and open to the public
EMPTY BOWL, FULL HEART MAKERS DAYS IN THE CLAY STUDIO
Come join Craigardan and Empty Bowl Full Heart in creating bowls for the 2024 fundraiser to support local food pantries. No experience is necessary! This is a fun event for adults and teens 12 and older.
APPLIED POETICS of PUPPETRY, PERFORMANCE, and VOGUE with Theresa-Xuan Bui
Come explore different gestures of movement through the lens of puppetry, performance, and vogue with Theresa-Xuan Bui as a means of understanding one’s relationship to self and how we move about the world.
WOOD KILN FIRING + COMMUNITY POTLUCK
Stop by the kiln house any time on Wednesday (5am - 10pm) to experience the wood kiln firing - a centuries-old mix of science and art!
APPLEBARN TALKS: Virginia Chang, Linda Pagani, Chauna Craig
Free and open to the public
TRAIL WORK DAY
Craigardan’s 320 acre campus is a patchwork of new fields and previously logged forest navigated on a network of skidder tracks and new trails. We need your help clearing debris, stabilizing soils, and creating paths to open up new possibilities for walking, skiing, biking, and exploring the property.
APPLEBARN TALKS: Elissa Lash, Lauren McElroy, Elise Jeanmaire
Free and open to the public
APPLEBARN TALKS: Dr. Lise Deguire, Carly Marie DeMento, Hannah Plummer
Free and open to the public
WASSAIL
Join us for a fun-filled tradition of waking our fruit trees for the coming season.
BICYCLE MAINTENANCE
Join us and learn to fix your bicycle with Mark Nassan of Leepoff Cycles!
Fruit Tree Care and Pruning
Join us on Saturday, March 16th for a free educational workshop on fruit tree care with local arborist Peter Landau.
Empty Bowl, Full Heart Fundraiser
Join us for the annual Empty Bowl fundraiser at Keene Central School. All proceeds go toward fighting hunger locally.
TRAIL-WORK WEEKEND
Craigardan’s 320 acre campus is a patchwork of new fields and previously logged forest navigated on a network of skidder tracks and new trails. We need your help clearing debris, stabilizing soils, and creating paths to open up new possibilities for walking, skiing, biking, and exploring the property.
BOOKGARDAN 2023-24: GROW YOUR BOOK
For Women! Grow your book project to its fullest flowering in this year-long program of intense one-on-one literary mentorship and online group workshops, bracketed by two fall residencies at Craigardan.
COMMUNITY HARVEST DAY
What is better than the harvest season?! All of our work leads up to this time of celebration and bounty. In May we invite you to join us in planting some of what we will be harvesting months later during our Fall harvest.
APPLEBARN TALKS: Michael “Yoko” Amos, Gregory Jeffers, + Lawrence MacDevitt
Free and open to the public
AN EVENING OF STORYTELLING with Michael “Yoko” Amos
Join us for two beautiful fall evenings of informal storytelling and sharing with Yoko. Refreshments provided. Pre-registration is appreciated, but not necessary.
EMPTY BOWL, FULL HEART MAKERS DAYS IN THE CLAY STUDIO
Come join Craigardan and Empty Bowl Full Heart in creating bowls for the 2024 fundraiser to support local food pantries. No experience is necessary! This is a fun event for adults and teens 12 and older.
APPLEBARN TALKS: Tereza Nesnidalova + Katharine Wyatt + Natasha D’Souza
Free and open to the public
AN EVENING OF STORYTELLING with Michael “Yoko” Amos
Join us for two beautiful fall evenings of informal storytelling and sharing with Yoko. Refreshments provided. Pre-registration is appreciated, but not necessary.
EMPTY BOWL, FULL HEART MAKERS DAYS IN THE CLAY STUDIO
Come join Craigardan and Empty Bowl Full Heart in creating bowls for the 2024 fundraiser to support local food pantries. No experience is necessary! This is a fun event for adults and teens 12 and older.
APPLEBARN TALKS: Gayle Burnett + Elise Jeanmaire + Himanee Gupta-Carlson
Free and open to the public
APPLEBARN TALKS: Marisha Falkovich + Christina Rivera + Tal Beery
Free and open to the public
GARDAN SHARE: SIX WEEKS OF FREE VEGETABLES
This program is intended for families who do not have easy access to affordable, local food. Participants pick-up free farm shares of seasonal produce along with nutritional information, tips, and recipes every Thursday from September 7th to October 12th at the farm.
COMPOST it!
In this workshop you will learn how to compost food scraps, leaf litter, and more in your own backyard. We’ll cover different methods, dealing with wildlife, and how to make good quality compost that your plants will love.
APPLEBARN TALKS: Max Gray + Donelle Wedderburn + Claire Cox
Free and open to the public
DONNALDSON BROWN: AUTHOR OF BECAUSE I LOVED YOU IN CONVERSATION with Kate Moses
Donnaldson Brown will be in conversation with Kate Moses and will read from her debut novel Because I Loved You (published Spring ’23).
APPLEBARN TALKS: Carolyn Bardos + Khanh Pham + Sarah Mock + Rachel Reichenbach
Free and open to the public
APPLEBARN TALKS: Kristen Tauer + Howard Fishman + Kalika Kulukundis
Free and open to the public
HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT: LEARNING THE CONNIE CONVERSE LESSON with Howard Fishman
In the first segment of this two-part class, Fishman will talk about his work as a biographer and literary detective, and about why he became obsessed with Connie Converse’s life and work. Attendees will then be given an assignment that will inform the workshop’s second session, when the general public will be invited to engage with and celebrate the fruit of their endeavors. This is a two session course offered from 6 pm - 8 pm on August 17 + 24.
BRINGING OUR MOST EFFECTIVE SELVES TO OUR COLLECTIVE LIBERATION: THE ROLE OF AWARENESS AND ACCEPTANCE with Rachael Reichenbach
In this course we will explore one pathway towards becoming effective liberation workers - the development of a liberatory consciousness through awareness, acceptance, analysis, action, and accountability. This is a two session course offered from 6PM - 8pm, August 15 + 22.
LIVING LANDSCAPE: HOW SHEEP, CHICKENS, AND PIGS PLAY A ROLE
Come learn how we care for and manage our livestock, how these animals fit into an integrated living landscape, and how they really strengthen and provide for all of us. Pre-registration is appreciated, but not necessary.
APPLEBARN TALKS: Michele Parker Randall + Michael Prior + Gloria Browne-Marshall + Dennis Delay
Free and open to the public
APPLEBARN TALKS: William Camponovo + Brad Shingleton + Mia Vodanovich + Melissa Dickey
Free and open to the public
THE PRACTICE OF BEING TOGETHER with Theresa-Xuan Bui
The poet and performance artist, Theresa-Xuan Bui (they/them), will deliver a three-part series exploring how the nuances of our nation provide an opportunity to understand the complexity of our individual narratives. This is a three session course offered from 6 pm - 7 pm, July 27, August 3rd + 10th.
BACKYARD BEES
This introduction to beekeeping with novice beekeepers Michele, Sam, and Laura may just inspire you to maintain a hive or two of your own - if we can do it, so can you! Pre-registration is appreciated, but not necessary.
APPLEBARN TALKS: Jenny Cosgrove + Angela Cho + Dane Mainella
Free and open to the public
HISTORY + MAKERS with Dr. Loren Michael Mortimer: (RE)MAKING THE ADIRONDACKS THROUGH CREATIVE NON-FICTION
Join historian Dr. Loren Michael Mortimer for an immersive place-based workshop at Craigardan that invites writers, podcasters, and storytellers of all kinds to return to these Romantic-era narratives of the Adirondacks. This is the third class of his three part series History + Makers. You may choose to attend one or all three classes.