Villages Folk School
Villages of Van Buren, Iowa
In southeast Iowa, the Villages of Van Buren are 11 quaint communities scattered along the Des Moines River where visitors will find antique shops, art galleries, artisan studios and Amish communities selling all sorts of handmade and handcrafted goods.
The Villages Folk School is a collective of artists and artisans who open the doors to their personal studios and private homes to showcase their work and show students the tricks of their trades.
“The county is our campus,” said Mel Stockwell, Villages Folk School director. “When you come here, there’s not a classroom; our artists are our residents here year-round, and they open up their personal creative workspaces.”
The school can arrange for a variety of group classes and workshops. Guests can learn how to make a small, coaster-size weaving at a rug-weaving studio, assemble a stained-glass window or make container candles. The school can arrange for painting classes in pastels and watercolors or even schedule plein-air painting classes. There’s an instructor for every 10 students, and participants work outdoors in rose gardens, at the pioneer museum or at the riverbanks painting old bridges.
At Stockwell’s own letterpress print shop, visitors can see historic presses that she has saved and restored and try their hand at printing their names. The school can also arrange for blacksmithing, weaving and pottery studio demonstrations.
Indiana’s Amish Country
Elkhart County, Indiana
Elkhart County, Indiana, is better known as Amish country, and the Amish, of course, are known for their skilled handiwork.
Groups can learn the secrets of Amish handmade goods from the Amish themselves. At Sonshine Baskets, guests can watch an in-person demonstration as the owner and her daughter weave reed baskets, said Sonya Nash, director of group and experiential sales and marketing for the Elkhart County Convention and Visitors Bureau. New in 2018, Sonshine Baskets will offer an optional hands-on component. Visitors can finish weaving a partially made reed basket and choose their own stain color. The owners will apply the stain, and groups can either pick up their baskets later or have them shipped.
At Silver Star Leather, the shop owners demonstrate how to make leather belts, purses, wallets and other goods.
Groups can also arrange for in-home experiences. Groups learn how to make cinnamon rolls or an Amish’s family broccoli-cauliflower salad during in-home cooking classes or sit down to an Amish family-style dinner followed by a buggy ride.
Pewabic
Detroit
A Tudor-style building in Detroit houses one of the most well-known ceramic studios in the nation. Artist Mary Chase Perry Stratton founded the Pewabic Pottery in 1903, and her experiments with glazes changed the face of contemporary ceramics.
The studio today uses outreach and education to make ceramics accessible to people of all ages and skill levels. That includes offering hands-on workshops, behind-the-scenes tours and open houses, said education director Annie Dennis.
During a two-hour hands-on workshop, a docent leads a tour of Pewabic’s pottery, sharing the history of the pottery and the current fabrication processes. Afterward, visitors go to the Workshop Studio where they learn how to make a piece, usually a tile or a vase. After a few weeks, the studio will fire and glaze the pieces, which can then be picked up or shipped. Pewabic usually caps each workshop at about 25 students but can split up larger groups.
Behind-the-scenes experiences include a guided informational tour about the historic studio that covers the store, the gallery, the education areas and the fabrication spaces, where guests can watch artisans at work.
