Join us for Open Studio at Green Door, the first Wednesday of each month. Use our studio space with tables, chairs, focused lighting, and wide-open floors. Settle in with flowing coffee and tea, or take your work outside among the gardens, goat farm, handmade trails, and outdoor seating.
Join us for Open Studio at Green Door, the first Wednesday of each month. Use our studio space with tables, chairs, focused lighting, and wide-open floors. Settle in with flowing coffee and tea, or take your work outside among the gardens, goat farm, handmade trails, and outdoor seating.
Join us for Open Studio at Green Door, the first Wednesday of each month. Use our studio space with tables, chairs, focused lighting, and wide-open floors. Settle in with flowing coffee and tea, or take your work outside among the gardens, goat farm, handmade trails, and outdoor seating.
Join us for Open Studio at Green Door, the first Wednesday of each month. Use our studio space with tables, chairs, focused lighting, and wide-open floors. Settle in with flowing coffee and tea, or take your work outside among the gardens, goat farm, handmade trails, and outdoor seating.
Don’t leave your homemade costume to the last minute! Bring your costume components to open studio to rig up your costume in community. We will have many varieties of glue, string, tape, and scissors; sewing materials, including scrap fabric and a sewing machine; and basic hand tools and fasteners.
Spread out on our wide open floors, tables, and benches, or even take your work outside among the gardens and goat farm, weather permitting.
Grab your traveling sketchbook bags for a mixed-media outdoor adventure that combines exploration, observation, research, detailed drawing, and writing. This workshop, called Field Notes, is rooted in the Field Study tradition and encourages you to be curious and dedicate time to building a library of inspiration. It serves as a platform for grounding yourself in the moment, documenting your surroundings, and engaging in play and experimentation.
Key components of the workshop include:
Exploring the natural world around you
Creating the perfect travel-sized field notes toolbox
Experimenting with different materials and techniques
Developing and maintaining a mobile creative habit
Connecting with a community that challenges you and shares your interests
We will start each session at a casual pace, spending our time exploring trails, forests, bogs, or prairies. Remember to bring snacks, dress for the weather, and wear sensible shoes. Most importantly, arrive curious and open to challenges and new experiences.
Your instructor provides:
Mixed-media Hardcover Sketchbook
Drawing Set ( HB Pencil, Ink Pen, Smudge Stick, Flexible Ruler, and Kneadable Eraser)
Pocket Microscope
Students Bring:
BYO-preferred portable art supplies (no oil paints)
Dress appropriately for the weather conditions
Bring a refillable water bottle and snacks
Lightweight blanket or sitting pad
Jessica Turtle is an interdisciplinary artist and educator who founded Treehaus Studio at The Acreage. This art and ecology studio seeks to foster a deeper connection between land and water in the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway through adventure, knowledge sharing, and creative expression. Through her art and teaching, Jessica encourages us to appreciate the beauty and magic of the natural world while fostering a deeper understanding of our role within it.
Jessica Turtle has a BFA in Studio Arts from the University of Wisconsin. She studied Object-based learning with the N.W. Harris Learning Collection in Chicago and at the Bell Museum in Minnesota.
What happens after I book the class? After you book, we will send you a confirmation email that you are IN! A week out from the class, we will send you an email with more details about our meeting locations and some housekeeping items.
If you love to walk in the woods, pay attention to detail, or are looking for analog ways to remember and record your life, this is the class for you!
Take a closer look at where our food comes from and find reverence for the processes involved in bringing food to the table.
Spend a day on the farm experiencing the entire agricultural process of cheesemaking from the pasture to the plate. Time in the barn with the alpine dairy goats and miniature cattle will feature the ins and outs of hand-milking, and participants will have an opportunity to observe the process. We will start with the simplest and most tasty of goat cheeses. The 48-hour process will be set up in stages, so that participants can experience it all from start to finish. We will also have our hand at fresh mozzarella and ice cream. The day will end with a shared meal from “farm to table,” highlighting our delights from the day.
Itinerary:
Morning: We’ll start the day by gathering at J2 Farms for some brief introductions before heading out for a walk around the grounds with a herd of French Alpine Dairy Goats. As we walk, we’ll observe the goats and their grazing behaviors before getting into the basics of hand-milking. Students will observe the process, before moving onto the farmhouse where you’ll learn the process of cheese making!
Break for Lunch
Afternoon: In the barn, students will continue to observe and experience each stage of a 48 hour process of making delicious goat cheese. Other goat-milk processes will be explored, including mozzarella and ice-cream before wrapping up and preparing a meal. Gathered around the table, students will have the opportunity to connect in closing reflection while enjoying delicious results from the day’s working and learning.
What You Get:
Julie Botsford
A recently retired hospital pharmacist, Julie has been a dairy goat owner for 8 years, and a gardener and farmer for her entire life. She and her husband believe that enhancing the soil and regenerating the land is a noble cause and they are the lucky recipients of resultant beauty, amazing food, and loving community.
In this field-based illustration and watercolor course, students will find inspiration from the beautiful subjects growing all around us from studying the Michigan botanicals we find around the property. We will focus on observational drawing, illustrative practices, and watercolor techniques in this class. Designed for nature loving artists and curious beginners we will learn more about plants and mushrooms and how we can capture the details in our drawings and paintings. Students will leave with a new appreciation for these earthly beings & a couple of artworks.
Our paintings start with an inspiring hike or a memory based around a time spent in Michigan nature. We will forage and collect pieces of nature to honor in our watercolor observational studies with the goal of connecting us with these simple yet complex life forms so we can recognize the beauty in ourselves and in each other.
Madison Memering
Madison Memering is an instructor, published illustrator and artist from Grand Rapids, MI. She shares her detailed nature-inspired artworks out of the deep love she has for the outdoors. With a focus on subjects that stand out to her while hiking & mushroom hunting, she often features underappreciated fungi, flora, & lepidoptera. Her dream is that her paintings allow the viewer to slow down, find beauty, & appreciate the little things growing all around us. This admiration deepens love for the outdoors & possibly each other. She hopes her work sparks education & inspiration to strengthen our connection to earthly beings & conservation of the magical outdoors.
Class Details:
Location: Green Door Folk School (2312 E Kasson Rd Cedar, MI 49621)
Date/Time: August 23 @10:30am – 4:30pm
Prerequisites | Skill Level | Age Requirements:
Tyler Davidson is a board-certified holistic health coach, nutritional therapist, and detox specialist with a focus in reversing chronic disease and medicinal mushrooms. He ties his deep knowledge of holistic healing into the world of fungi for physical, mental, and spiritual wellbeing. In his offerings he intertwines research-backed medicinal use as well as hands-on experience covering foraging knowledge. Tyler crafts his wild-foraged mushroom extracts from forest to bottle through his company Elden Medicinals for those that wish to begin their mushroom healing journeys.
Class Details:
Location: Green Door Folk School – 2312 E Kasson Rd, Cedar, MI
Date | Time: August 29th @ 10:30 am – 4:30 pm
Prerequisites | Skill Level | Age Requirements:
What happens after I book the class? After you book, we will send you a confirmation email that you are IN! A week out from the class, we will send you an email with more details about our meeting locations and some housekeeping items.
Go for it! If you like to walk in the woods, enjoy eating mushrooms, or are looking to grow closer to the land around you, this is the class for you!
Tuesday, September 22, 6 PM – 8 PM. Beginner Lesson at 5:30 PM
10051 Lake Leelanau Drive, Traverse City, MI 49684
Join us outdoors at Farm Club for an evening of lively music and traditional contra and square dancing under the stars! Sway, spin, and step your way through contra and square dances to live music provided by Laurel Premo and Michael Beauchamp-Cohen with grass underfoot. Drinks and snacks will be available for purchase at the outdoor bar or market.
Whether you’re a seasoned dancer or brand new to the field, all are welcome. Instruction before each dance and live calling will be provided by Pat Reeser of the Bayside Travellers.
No experience or partner necessary—just bring your enthusiasm and dancing feet!
Suggested donation: $10–$20 to help support our musicians. Everyone is welcome, regardless of ability to pay.
Let us know if you’re coming! RSVP below.
Field Dance FAQs
What is contra dancing?
Contra is a traditional folk partner dance, similar to square dancing in many ways (and we usually throw in a square dance or two!)
Are beginners welcome?
All levels of dance experience are welcome. If you can walk to a beat, you can contra dance. We teach the basics to get you started, and after that, you can make it as simple or as intricate as you like! Join us at 5:30 PM for a beginner lesson covering the basic steps.
What should I bring?
Wear shoes and clothes suitable for frolicking in the field. A cash or Venmo donation of $10-$20 to cover the musicians’ and venue costs is suggested but not required. Come with your friends, family, or a big group—the more the merrier.
What if it rains?
We will update this webpage with a rainout location or information about rescheduling. If you’d like to be notified about any event changes directly, RSVP below.
Do you have a sewing machine that you don’t know how to use? Bring it to class and I’ll teach you!
This class is for complete beginners. We’ll go over the basics of turning your machine on, threading it, learning how to use different stitches, and basic sewing machine troubleshooting and maintenance. In this class, you’ll learn the main tools needed for sewing and foundational skills to take into your home sewing practice. To practice the machine, we’ll make a simple tote bag.
We will approach sewing with an anti-perfectionist mindset and stay curious and enjoy the process of learning a skill that will open the door to making and repairing your own clothes. We will have tools on hand to borrow during class and will email a list of what you’ll need to bring with you.
You’ll leave class with a finished tote bag, an instructional guide and the knowledge of how to use your sewing machine.
Meghan Navoy
Meghan is multimedia artist currently focused on textiles and plant dyeing based in Detroit. The main focus of her work is telling the story about the land with the purpose to achieve environmental justice and community building. She is an arts educator who is passionate about sharing traditional crafts with the community. Meghan teach classes out of her studio in Hamtramck and at various art centers around the country.
Class Details:
Location: Green Door Folk School – 2312 E Kasson Rd, Cedar, MI
Date/Time: September 26 @ 9:30 am – 1:30 pm
Prerequisites | Skill Level | Age Requirements:
No prior experience required.
Must bring your own working sewing machine
Ages 18+
Chainsaw milling is a budget-friendly way to create your own lumber virtually anywhere you can find a log.
In this class, students will learn how to utilize a chainsaw with a mill attachment to create lumber from logs of all sizes and shapes. We will cover the necessary tools, useful add-ons, safety considerations, and how best to utilize the materials on hand. There will be two saws to display both a budget-friendly option and a more robust setup optimized for heavy use.
Students will walk away with hands-on milling experience and the understanding of a mill set up, wood grain considerations, and wood drying techniques.
Brian Cone
Brian works and creates with wood in a variety of forms for his business Cone Furnishings. From custom wood furniture, to wood boxes, spoons, and artisan products, Brian’s process begins with fallen local trees that he mills and dries as lumber for his products. Brian enjoys focusing on unique, one-of-a-kind logs, lumber, and finished pieces. He is also a climbing tree worker a couple of days a week. He enjoys sharing this love for woodworking with others!
Class Details:
Location: Green Door Folk School – 2312 E Kasson Rd, Cedar, MI
Date/Time: September 27 @ 10:30 am – 4:30
Prerequisites | Skill Level | Age Requirements:
No prior experience required. General chainsaw knowledge is a plus, but not necessary. Must have the ability to complete manual work .
Ages 18+
Join us for Open Studio at Green Door, the first Wednesday of each month. Use our studio space with tables, chairs, focused lighting, and wide-open floors. Settle in with flowing coffee and tea, or take your work outside among the gardens, goat farm, handmade trails, and outdoor seating.
Have you ever been curious what your land is trying to teach you about itself? Are you curious about learning the language of your wild spaces you interact with whether your backyard, acreage, farm, or just the places you hike and walk? Megan Gilger of Perma Studio will be teaching just how to wander and learn about your land through the patterns, form, trees, plants, mushrooms, and even the patterns of animals in this class. Though she uses these skills to design landscapes that work with the land in the most holistic way, you can learn them as well to do the same or just to be more aware of the natural world that exists around you.
Itinerary: During the class, plan to come dressed for the elements on a hike to observe and pay attention to the land in the height of fall. Class will begin indoors and end with time to discuss and transfer this info to an application that works for you. Plan to be in nature for at least 1.5-2 hours learning about the rhythms and patterns.
Meet Your Instructor: Megan Gilger
Megan is a certified Permaculture Designer from Cornell University and creates net-positive landscapes in the northern Michigan region at Perma Studio. As a local to the area, Megan understands the nature of micro-climates, seasonal rhythms, and the way they encourage us to connect with the wild spaces we call home in the region.
This free community event pairs attendees with skilled volunteers who help repair household items from electronics and clothing to bicycles and furniture. You bring the item. We provide the tools. Our volunteers bring the know-how.
Bring items for repair: Come with anything from a pair of ripped jeans to a broken plate or an old bike.
Get paired with a fixer: Check in and get matched with a skilled fixer who will help repair your item.
Repair your item: Learn how to repair it with guidance from a volunteer and all the tools you need for basic repairs.
This event is staffed by skilled volunteers who are knowledgeable handy-people, but not experts. Not all repairs can be completed due to time constraints and complexity. Volunteers reserve the right to turn away time-intensive or overly complicated repairs and will provide books, online resources, or expert repair recommendations.
This event places learning at the forefront. Repairs made at the café are not meant to be a mere transaction. The intent is for patrons to learn and participate in the fixing of their item so they (hopefully) know how to repair it again in the future.
Join us for Open Studio at Green Door, the first Wednesday of each month. Use our studio space with tables, chairs, focused lighting, and wide-open floors. Settle in with flowing coffee and tea, or take your work outside among the gardens, goat farm, handmade trails, and outdoor seating.
Join us for Open Studio at Green Door, the first Wednesday of each month. Use our studio space with tables, chairs, focused lighting, and wide-open floors. Settle in with flowing coffee and tea, or take your work outside among the gardens, goat farm, handmade trails, and outdoor seating.
Join us for Open Studio at Green Door, the first Wednesday of each month. Use our studio space with tables, chairs, focused lighting, and wide-open floors. Settle in with flowing coffee and tea, or take your work outside among the gardens, goat farm, handmade trails, and outdoor seating.
Join us for Open Studio at Green Door, the first Wednesday of each month. Use our studio space with tables, chairs, focused lighting, and wide-open floors. Settle in with flowing coffee and tea, or take your work outside among the gardens, goat farm, handmade trails, and outdoor seating.
Join us for Open Studio at Green Door, the first Wednesday of each month. Use our studio space with tables, chairs, focused lighting, and wide-open floors. Settle in with flowing coffee and tea, or take your work outside among the gardens, goat farm, handmade trails, and outdoor seating.
There is nothing better than a cozy pair of wool socks to warm your toes during a Northern Michigan winter, especially when you have made those cozy socks yourself! In this workshop, you’ll learn how to knit cuff-down socks using the Magic Loop method.
We’ll work through each step of sock construction together, from cuff and leg to heel, gusset, foot, and toe, while building confidence in knitting small circumferences in the round. You’ll also learn how to take accurate foot measurements to achieve a comfortable, well-fitting sock. By the end of the workshop, you’ll have completed one full sock and have all the skills needed to finish the second on your own.
Sock knitting is one of the earliest documented forms of knitting, with a rich history that stretches back centuries. As you knit, you’re connecting with a craft that has been passed down through generations.
Whether you’ve always wanted to knit socks or are looking to build on your circular knitting skills, this workshop will give you the knowledge and confidence to keep making socks long after the class ends.
Note: All tools and materials will be provided. Yarn options will be solid or gradient/ombre.
Jaimie Mendoes
Jaimie Mendoes is a passionate sock knitter and experienced educator who loves helping students build confidence with their knitting. With many years of experience teaching English as a Second/Foreign language, she brings a clear, supportive, and step-by-step approach to instruction that makes even complex techniques feel approachable. Jaimie also has a background in classical music performance, which has shaped her patience, attention to detail, and careful approach to teaching. Just as in music, she believes knitting is both a technical skill and a creative practice that becomes more rewarding with thoughtful guidance and practice.
Location: Green Door Folk School – 2312 E Kasson Rd, Cedar, MI
Date/Time: October 10th – 11th @ 10:30 am – 4:30 pm each day
Prerequisites/Skill Level/Age Requirements:
Students should already be comfortable with knitting and purling.
Ages 18+
Celebrate the season with cozy stitches in this festive stranded colorwork sock knitting class! In this workshop, you’ll learn how to knit a Christmas-themed sock featuring charming gingerbread man motifs in stranded colorwork.
This class builds on foundational sock knitting skills, focusing on techniques specific to stranded colorwork. You’ll practice working with two colors at once, managing yarn tension, reading colorwork charts, and carrying floats neatly on the inside of your work. Along the way, we’ll cover tips for maintaining even stitches, avoiding puckering, and creating crisp, eye-catching patterns.
Meet Your Instructor:
Jaimie Mendoes
Jaimie Mendoes is a passionate sock knitter and experienced educator who loves helping students build confidence with their knitting. With many years of experience teaching English as a Second/Foreign language, she brings a clear, supportive, and step-by-step approach to instruction that makes even complex techniques feel approachable. Jaimie also has a background in classical music performance, which has shaped her patience, attention to detail, and careful approach to teaching. Just as in music, she believes knitting is both a technical skill and a creative practice that becomes more rewarding with thoughtful guidance and practice.
Location: Green Door Folk School – 2312 E Kasson Rd, Cedar, MI
Date/Time: December 5th-6th @ 10:30 am – 4:30 pm each day
Prerequisites/Skill Level/Age Requirements:
This is an intermediate class. Prior knitting experience is required.
Ages 18+
The vision of a space that feeds the whole ecosystem and yourself is a dream for many. Plucking apples from trees that grow amongst berries, flowers, and plants that feed the soil microbes below so the process is simpler, easier, and more holistic. Come learn just how to create a space that does just that whether you have a big swath of land or a tiny backyard, a food forest is not only an option for how to use your landscape, but a possible endeavor with the guidance of instructor, Megan Gilger. Megan is a certified Permaculture Designer from Cornell University and regularly designs and helps implement food forests with farmers, homeowners, and hobby farmers across the region. Megan will help you learn about how to build guilds, polycultures, observe your land, and create whole system designs that close the loops so nothing goes to waste and keeps the work down as the creator and tender of your food forest. Spend 2 days with Megan and walk away with a full design and a plan for implementation.
Day 1: The first day will be focused on learning about food forests, the plants, polycultures, and a guild. We will also talk about whole system design.
Day 2: We’ll return to plan and design the systems on your property!
Prior to the class, students have the opportunity to schedule a personal walkthrough of their property with Megan, offered at a discounted rate.
Megan Gilger
Megan is a certified Permaculture Designer from Cornell University and creates net-positive landscapes in the northern Michigan region at Perma Studio. As a local to the area, Megan understands the nature of micro-climates, seasonal rhythms, and the way they encourage us to connect with the wild spaces we call home in the region.
Location: Green Door Folk School – 2312 E Kasson Rd, Cedar, MI
Date/Time: February 27th and 28th @ 10:30am – 4:30pm each day
Prerequisites/Skill Level/Age Requirements:
No prior experience required.
Ages 18+
Basketry is an ancient craft, dating back thousands of years. Weaving willow is meditative, soothing and gratifying and invites relationship with the material. It is a somatic experience, connecting us to ancient feelings and ways of knowing.
In this one-day course, we will make a large, lipped tray suitable for multiple uses. You can choose to make either a traditional Irish skib used for draining and serving boiled potatoes) or an herb drying basket or serving platter, or just make a large, lipped tray for your own creative use! You will learn basic techniques that can be used for future baskets as well.
You will walk away with:
A beautiful, handwoven basket you made yourself
The skills to make additional baskets on your own at home
Hands-on experience with creating bases, twining, waling, and borders
The confidence to try again!
Beth Bridgeman
Beth Bridgeman is a willow basketmaker and traditional skills instructor residing in Southwest Ohio. A former professor of sustainable practice at Antioch College and before that an Extension Educator with The Ohio State University, Beth is passionate about somatic learning ( “the Great Remembering”), reskilling, and connecting community, culture and craft
Beth came to this practice through an ivy basket workshop at an ethnobotany conference in British Columbia, which was taught by Salish and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh teachers. Later she became interested in working with willow, and was fortunate to find an Appalachian willow mentor, Talcon Quinn, who has mentored her over several years.
No prior experience required.
Ages 18+
Moderate hand strength is recommended for this workshop
Basketry is an ancient craft, going back thousands of years. Weaving willow is meditative, soothing, and gratifying. Willow invites a relationship with the material. It is a somatic experience that connects us to ancient feelings and ways of knowing.
In this two-day workshop, you will learn to work with willow, making a stake and strand foraging bag that you can use for many years. On the first day, you will learn how to make an oval base, insert stakes, weave the upsett, and begin weaving the sides, using the French rand method. On the second day, you will continue the weaving, working to the top of the bag, completing a border and adding a leather carrying strap.
You’ll Walk Away With:
Beth Bridgeman
Beth Bridgeman is a willow basketmaker and traditional skills instructor residing in Southwest Ohio. A former professor of sustainable practice at Antioch College and before that an Extension Educator with The Ohio State University, Beth is passionate about somatic learning ( “the Great Remembering”), reskilling, and connecting community, culture and craft
Beth came to this practice through an ivy basket workshop at an ethnobotany conference in British Columbia, which was taught by Salish and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh teachers. Later she became interested in working with willow, and was fortunate to find an Appalachian willow mentor, Talcon Quinn, who has mentored her over several years
Location: Green Door Folk School – 2312 E Kasson Rd, Cedar, MI
Date/Time: April 3-4, 2027 10:30 am -4:30 pm both days
As the earth begins to thaw, and your mind turns to imagining your spring and summer gardens let Megan Gilger’s expertise in permaculture and regenerative garden design help guide your garden plan. This popular course is a practical hands-on exploration of native and locally adaptive plants that create vibrant and productive gardens and ecosystems. Leading with permaculture and regenerative garden design principles, Megan guides this three day retreat to culminate with you completing a garden plan of your own creation for your specific space or property, no matter the size. Soil, sun, pest control, and garden yields will be discussed to enhance your garden’s success.
Prior to the retreat, students have the opportunity to schedule a personal walkthrough of their property with Megan, offered at a discounted rate.
Lunch throughout the retreat, as well as a happy hour on the final day will be provided by a local chef.
Megan Gilger
Megan is a certified Permaculture Designer from Cornell University and creates net-positive landscapes in the northern Michigan region at Perma Studio. As a local to the area, Megan understands the nature of micro-climates, seasonal rhythms, and the way they encourage us to connect with the wild spaces we call home in the region.
Location: Green Door Folk School – 2312 E Kasson Rd, Cedar, MI
Date/Time: April 16th, 17th, and 18th @ 10:30 am – 4:30 pm each day
Cost: includes all materials necessary for the class, one evening of happy hour appetizers, and three farm-to-table lunches
Prerequisites/Skill Level/Age Requirements:
No prior experience required.
Ages 18+
Are you excited about Community Singing? Would you like to help gather people in your home community to twine voices and hearts in this all-voices-welcomed way? Are you intrigued about the possibility of helping to lead songs yourself?
Join Liz Rog, Annie Schlaefer, and Megan Eberhardt to learn and practice together the tools of community songleading in partnership with NoMi Song Circles. We will touch on many of the skills involved in successfully getting other folks singing, including: teaching in a clear call & echo style, picking the right song for the moment, finding a good starting pitch, showing the rhythm and melody in your body, building confidence, and modeling joyful and welcoming humility.
At this workshop, you will find connection to 27 other emerging songleaders; a chance to practice among supportive peers; songs and resources galore; and encouragement to go home and continue on the path!
We’ll talk about the history and culture of community singing. We’ll consider the singing wounds of our society and how we can be part of the healing. We’ll prepare to offer and receive hospitality through singing in community!
We can learn to serve in brave, humble, and collaborative leadership. This weekend is a time to begin, using the simple tools of song, conversation, slow-time, and good food.
I have something to offer: how do I prepare myself to hold space?
What practical and spiritual tools do I need?
How can my leadership empower others?
How do I listen well to the voices around me even as I am asking for their listening?
When is it time to rest?
We’ll gather around these questions, and the form we use is songleading. We’ll stand as witnesses to each other’s stepping up, celebrating the different strengths and styles of each and all. The tools we practice can be used in everyday settings: around a kitchen table, in houses of worship, in healing spaces, in movements for change. Our workshop is a circle of belonging, and each person returns home with their own version of what it means to hold space with grace, energy, and ever-growing skill. This is the beginning.
If you feel called to begin or continue learning how to lead others in song and can hold a tune and rhythm reasonably well, this is for you. You don’t need to be a school-trained singer/musician, but even if you are, there is still plenty for you to learn at this workshop.
Those curious about how to bring group singing into the spaces where your local communities gather.
Those who have already stepped into leading singing in community.
Those who are seasoned song carriers.
Whether your gift to song and community is through bringing simple singing into your neighborhood or family, or you are leaning toward becoming one of the traveling bards who carry seeds of friendship and music across the land, this class is for you!
Friday, October 16 — Community Sing — location TBD in Grand Traverse or Leelanau County (optional, but highly recommended!)
Saturday, October 17 & 18 — Song Carrier Leadership with songs, discussion, improvisation, and play — 9:00 am-4:30 pm each day (give or take)
Meals: Lunch on Saturday and Sunday and dinner on Saturday are included in the fee.
Location: Green Door Folk School – 2312 E Kasson Rd, Cedar, MI
Date/Time: October 17-18, 9:00 – 4:30 each day
Prerequisites/Skill Level/Age Requirements:
No prior experience required.
Ages 18+
On-site guest suites, camping, and home-stays are available.
Home-Stay – Volunteers with the NoMi Song Circle will work to pair participants with local hosts and will do our best to meet every request (we are optimistic!) Participants will be sent a home-stay form after registering.
Camping – Rustic tent camping is available around the fire ring behind the classroom for $15/night. Use of the classroom toilet and sink is available, but no shower. Please inquire about camping by emailing juliebotsford@gmail.com.
Farm-Stay Guest Suite – Request a discounted farm stay on the Green Door Folk School property at Cedar North here: https://greendoorfolkschool.com/student-housing/
Wheatland Scholarship Fund
Students may also be eligible for scholarship support through Wheatland Music Organization:
https://www.wheatlandmusic.org/Online/Online/Scholarships/Available-Scholarships.aspx
Liz Rog: Songleader Liz Rog believes that singing together is a simple and powerful tool for restoring our sense of belonging and connection in community. She sings with all ages, teaching simple songs that can be woven into everyday life, into the seasons of the year, and into the changes and challenges of our lives. Liz delights in helping folks rediscover their ancestral birthright of group singing to nurture collective joy, courage, and healing. She and her husband Daniel Rotto raised two daughters in the Driftless of Northeast Iowa and are part of the international movement to re-seed communities with songs for connection, care, and renewal.
Megan Eberhardt: Megan Eberhardt is a community songleader and facilitator based out of Chicago, Illinois. She spent a decade of her adult life living in Northern California where she dove deeply into the study of nature connection and cultural regenerative arts. It was there she apprenticed with an astronomer for 9 years and began teaching the stars, studied with thinker and author Martin Prechtel, and began organizing community song circles and grief rituals. Now returned to her roots here in the Midwest, Megan leads singing at the Old Town School of Folk Music and in Kinship Community Choir. She facilitates regular community grief rituals, and teaches the stars under dark skies wherever she can. At the heart of her work is her devotion to fostering aliveness, belonging, and connection in and among us and with the natural world.
A hands-on, multi-day retreat for quilters, artists, and anyone interested in exploring how quilts can hold stories, memory, and history. Guided by Cody Cook-Parrott, you’ll spend time sewing, learning, and discussing the quilt as a living archive — how it documents time, care, and community.
Cody has long had a dream of teaching Quilt Camp, like a summer camp for grown-ups. Cody envisioned multiple days devoted to quilting, with time not only for crafting, but for connecting. Just as the pieces of the quilt are stitched together, the hope is that learning and crafting alongside one another will imbue the retreat with shared stories, discovery of who we are, and understanding of the ways in which we are shaped by collective experiences.
Campfires, hikes, beach visits, all meals, and all quilting materials are included. Housing is not included in the retreat cost.
Friday :
6 pm: Greetings and Dinner
7 pm: Orientation in the classroom
Saturday:
9 am: Breakfast
10 am - 12 pm: Sewing: Getting to know our machines, the spaces, and our patchwork shapes
12 am: Lunch
1 pm - 3 pm Sewing : Open sewing time, exploring new terrain
3 pm - 6 pm: Choose your own adventure - Treat Farm Trail Hike with Cody or open sewing time
6 pm: Dinner
Classroom stays open for continued sewing time
Sunday:
9 am: Breakfast
10 am - 12 pm: Artist Talk + Sewing with saylem
12 pm - 2 pm: Lunch and walk around
2 pm - 5 pm: Sewing: Open sewing time, asking questions, putting together layers, ripping things apart
5 pm - 6 pm: Break and prepare to head to the beach
6 pm: Dinner at the beach
Classroom stays open for continued sewing time
Monday:
9 am: Breakfast
10 am - 12 pm: Show and tell and goodbyes
Cody Cook-Parrott
Cody Cook-Parrott is a writer and artist living on the Leelanau Peninsula in Northern Michigan. They facilitate a weekly writing group called Landscapes and teach classes about writing, quilting, and creative practice. Cody has a BFA in Dance from the University of Michigan and is an MFA candidate at the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at Naropa University. Their work has been featured in The New York Times, Vanity Fair, Dance Magazine, The Huffington Post, and more.
saylem m. celeste
saylem m. celeste (they/themme) is a Detroit-born and based Freedom Worker who utilizes art, conversation and sound for collective liberation and healing. saylem embraces quilting in their practice as a core methodology to circumvent symptoms of Western carceral cultures and as a means to access liberation and freedom for traditionally misrepresented communities. saylem has 5+ years of experience with facilitation centered around misrepresented communities, with participants of all ages, backgrounds, and experiences. They identify as Black, Trans, Queer, and Disabled.
Location
Green Door Folk School - 2312 E. Kasson Rd, Cedar, MI
Dates & Times
September 11, 6:00 PM arrival
September 14, 12:00 PM departure
Cost: Camp fees include 8 meals -Friday dinner through Monday breakfast- and all necessary tools and materials
Skill Level
All levels welcome. No prior experience required.
Age Requirement
Ages 18+
On-site guest suites, camping, and home-stays are available.
Camping – Rustic tent camping is available around the fire ring behind the classroom for $15/night. Use of the classroom toilet and sink is available, but no shower. Please inquire about camping by emailing juliebotsford@gmail.com.
Farm-Stay Guest Suite – Request a discounted farm stay on the Green Door Folk School property at Cedar North here: https://greendoorfolkschool.com/student-housing/
BIPOC Scholarships
BIPOC students are encouraged to apply for a full-ride scholarship to quilt camp! Two seats are being reserved for scholarship students, so please apply even if the course is sold out. The deadline to apply is July 7, and notification emails will go out on August 7. Apply here: https://forms.gle/sqjtsPHqLNummFWQ6
Wheatland Scholarship Fund
Students may also be eligible for scholarship support through Wheatland Music Organization:
https://www.wheatlandmusic.org/Online/Online/Scholarships/Available-Scholarships.aspx
Free Community Event!
Register Your Quilt in the Michigan Quilt Index
Every quilt carries a story, and this is your chance to have yours documented, honored, and preserved for generations to come. Add your family heirlooms or recently made quilts to the rich textile heritage of Michigan’s Quilt Index hosted in cooperation with the Michigan Traditional Arts Program at Michigan State University. Bring a handmade quilt to be examined, photographed, and documented by textile experts, quilt historians, and folklorists working to preserve the stories woven into Michigan’s quilting tradition.
This event is open to quilt owners from anywhere in the state and coincides with our September Quilt Camp.
What To Expect:
An opportunity to have your quilt examined and documented by textile experts and historians
A chance to register your quilt’s history in the Quilt Index for future generations
Time spent alongside folklorists and documentarians who care deeply about preserving handmade traditions
Time in community with others passionate about the craft of quilt making
Before You Arrive: To make the most of your time with our documentarians, we recommend completing the quilt information form ahead of your visit and providing as much detail as you can about your quilt’s history.
THE QUILT INDEX FORM-AS A FILLABLE PDF
THE QUILT INDEX FORM (as a word document)
Join practicing plant and seed scientist, Grace Fleming, from Michigan State University, in exploring the science and practice of seed saving. Armed the the latest research from the longest running seed saving study ever conducted, attendees will explore questions such as:
Why do we save some seeds and not others?
What are the best seed cleaning techniques?
Seed storage techniques?
What data is important to record?
What do you need to consider when collecting wild seeds?
Who owns the germplasm?
What resources are available if you’re interested in native seeds or good seed sources?
Why does the locale where the mother plant grew matter?
How can you best establish a native garden from seed?
How can you identify your plants confidently?
Touring the grounds of Green Door Folk School we will harvest a variety of plants and practice seed collection techniques and viability tests. Students will leave with a clear understanding of the basic principles of seed saving, ideas of seed sources (including the kitchen!) and resources for exploring more nuanced issues on their own.
Grace Fleming
I am a maker and a plant scientist. I know that art and science are just two sides of the same coin. Textile arts are my jam and for me weaving is queen; my science focuses on seed longevity. I use question-based discussions to work through big ideas, lectures to spit hot facts and get everyone up to speed, and hands-on doing to get everyone the experience that helps you really learn.
Location: Green Door Folk School – 2312 E Kasson Rd, Cedar, MI
Date/Time: September 20, 2026@ 10:30 am – 4:30 pm
No prior experience required.
Ages 18+
Moderate mobilitiy is recommended for this workshop
Discover the timeless art of band weaving in this immersive one-day workshop designed for beginners. Using a rigid heddle backstrap loom, participants will learn the foundational techniques of weaving narrow bands that have been used for centuries to create functional and decorative textiles such as belts, straps, and trims. These beautiful bands can be used for much more including ribbons, bookmarks, and even custom shoelaces!
This hands-on course covers the basics of loom setup, warping, and weaving with a focus on achieving even tension and clean patterns. You’ll gain a solid understanding of how the rigid heddle functions, how to use the backstrap for body-tensioned weaving, and how to create simple yet beautiful patterns in your band.
By the end of the day, each student will leave with a completed woven band and the knowledge and confidence to continue weaving independently. All materials and equipment will be provided, and no prior weaving experience is necessary. All participants get to keep their rigid heddle to continue weaving after the course.
Itinerary: During the class, we’ll explore basic weaving terminology and tools, setting up a rigid heddle backstrap loom, warping techniques and tensioning, weaving with a heddle and shuttle, and finishing techniques for narrow bands. We’ll gather in the morning, pause for a lunch break, and end the day with reflection and closing by 4:30pm.
Kristina Nichols
Artist. Maker. Serial learner. Advocate of slow. Kristina Nichols is a textile artist based in Traverse City, Michigan. Utilizing traditional textile techniques, she creates heirloom quality textiles for the body and the home. A weaver and hand-dyer since 1994, her focus is on excellent craftsmanship to create pieces that are both beautiful and highly functional. Her one of a kind pieces and micro-collections are inspired by colors and textures in nature.
Class Details:
Location: Green Door Folk School – 2312 E Kasson Rd, Cedar, MI
Prerequisites/Skill Level/Age Requirements:
No prior experience required.
Ages 18+
In this class you will learn to: apply patterns, choose glass, cut, grind, foil, solder, and patina your very own suncatcher, using the traditional Tiffany style stained glass method. Students will have the option of choosing one of the instructor’s own designs in the form of Michigan mushrooms and animals as their project for this class.
Brooke Brewster
Brooke is queer artist living in Northern Michigan, known for using traditional stained glass methods to create whimsical works of art. They began their glass journey while teaching high school art, and a co-worker handed down all their tools and supplies. From there Brooke’s business Broken Glass Co. was created.
Location: Green Door Folk School – 2312 E Kasson Rd, Cedar, MI
Date/Time: December 12th, 9:00am-1:00pm
Prerequisites/Skill Level/Age Requirements:
This is a beginning class and no prior experience is required. Though lead-free solder is used, pregnant individuals may wish to consider the risks associated with this process.
Ages 18+
In this class you will learn to: apply patterns, choose glass, cut, grind, foil, solder, and patina your very own suncatcher, using the traditional Tiffany style stained glass method. Students will have the option of choosing one of the instructor’s own designs in the form of Michigan mushrooms and animals as their project for this class.
Brooke Brewster
Brooke is queer artist living in Northern Michigan, known for using traditional stained glass methods to create whimsical works of art. They began their glass journey while teaching high school art, and a co-worker handed down all their tools and supplies. From there Brooke’s business Broken Glass Co. was created.
Location: Green Door Folk School – 2312 E Kasson Rd, Cedar, MI
Date/Time: December 12th, 1:30pm-5:30pm
Prerequisites/Skill Level/Age Requirements:
This is a beginning class and no prior experience is required. Though lead-free solder is used, pregnant individuals may wish to consider the risks associated with this process.
Ages 18+
Policies:
Image by: Lil-Jes Photography
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