Franklin Park Conservatory
Columbus, Ohio
“There are several different ways people can integrate experiential programs into a tour,” said Kingston.

“The most popular is an opportunity to blow your own glass in our live glassblowing shop. You usually make a specific project; it’s very popular around holiday time, with ornaments that are really easy for beginners.”

The pizza-cooking class evolved from a four-acre community garden campus the conservatory opened three years ago. “The concept was to be a resource for community gardeners to see and learn,” said Kingston. “It has become a place housing a lot of educational programs.

“One feature is a live fire cooking theater, a plaza with five different ways food is prepared over wood. One is a wood[-fired] pizza oven. You choose toppings and flavors right from the garden.”

Groups make dough and sauce from scratch, learn how to make and stretch fresh mozzarella, cut and prepare toppings, and bake their creations in the wood-fired oven.

Other hands-on options for groups include the basics of floral design, in which they create a flower arrangement to take home, build a two-gallon terrarium, design a living wreath of drought-tolerant succulent plants and make a container garden.

Kingston said there are several immersion programs for larger groups, one of which is a program on the care of orchids. “Sometimes it can be arranged to pot or repot orchids,” she said. “We have a bonsai collection that we can interpret, and we have an art tour. We have a lot of public art, and the docent-led tours go through the indoor and outdoor spaces.”

www.fpconservatory.org