Upcoming Workshops & Events
The West Kortright Center offers a diverse blend of high quality performances, learning opportunities and visual arts exhibits, while preserving its historic landmark church building and bringing together an evolving rural community.
Make Your Own Eco-Printed Table Runner $125
Come learn the slow textile technique of Botanical Printing while also designing and making your own table runner. Each attendee will explore this unique natural dyeing technique that allows one to capture the fingerprint of Mother Nature onto fiber. Everyone will leave with their own cotton table runner adorned with seasonal and local plants – just in time to dress up your table feasts for Harvest Season!
Seeing the Landscape in Black & White & Color $150
Students will be painting and drawing using as subject matter the fabulous vistas around the West Kortright Center. Kathmann and Firmin will demonstrate before each session. Each artist has a unique approach to depicting landscape.
Restoring Historical Stone Walls w. Patrick Ryan $200
Students will work together to restore a historic cemetery wall at Delaware County Historical Association. Participants will learn the basics of building and restoring free-standing dry-laid stone walls under the instruction of a stone wall professional with over 20 years experience.
Carve a Spoon w. Scott Hill $50
Carving is practical, useful, creative, fun, meditative, and artistic! Learn to carve a simple spoon that you can use, admire and proudly display. For beginners! If you have never carved a spoon before, you will learn how to create the basic rough shape with a hatchet, then refine and finish with a knife.
Round Baskets: Intro to Willow Basketry $300
During this weekend course students will create beautiful round baskets from willow. Learn to construct a traditional basket with a circular base, rounded or sharp angled upsett, a choice of side weaves and a woven border. Time permitting, students can weave a complementary handle.
Fiction Writing w. Mermer Blakeslee $200
This popular longstanding workshop is returning this year though just with one series (rather than two). Bring a piece to read that you are working on, up to 6 or 8 pages. We’ll listen as a group and respond with honesty, engagement, and respect. We’ll discuss elements of fiction— voice, character, point of view, plot, imagery— as well as different processes that help bring a story forth
Kids Workshop: Introduction to Acting [Waitlist]
Actors will focus on character development, stagecraft basics, movement, stage presence, music, and improvisational skills, all while developing a strong sense of tribe and passion for theater. The workshop will culminate in two performances on August 2 & 3 (rain or shine) as part of the annual Shakespeare in the Valley productions.
Teen Workshop: Tech for Shakespeare $315/$350
The Tech Workshop is for anyone ages 13-19 with an interest in art, performance, lighting, leadership, sound effects, building, or just plain fun. Participants will learn about, and participate in, all aspects of producing a play, from designing sets, lighting, props, and sounds, to building and painting scenery, creating and sourcing props, and finally to working on stage and with actors and directors to rehearse and run the play.
Teen Workshop: Costumes for Shakespeare $315/$350
The As You Like It Costume Workshop will be led by artist/stylist Helen Quinn. Participants will be involved in the planning, production, dressing, and make up for the entire cast. For this production, we will embrace bright colors and patterns.
Teen Workshop: Music for Shakespeare $315/$350
Open to singers and musicians of all types. Instrumental musicians will be responsible for having their own instruments and should have at least a basic proficiency with them. The workshop will form the band for Shakespeare in the Valley’s production on August 2 and 3, and will play and sing the score for the show.
Kids Workshop: Theater Games $180 [Waitlist]
Theater Games will introduce kids (6-9) to the most essential aspect of acting and performance: Play! In this one week workshop, we will explore acting fundamentals such as improv games and movement exercises. Using these games as a foundation we will create a devised performance for parents and friends!
Teen Workshop: Acting for Shakespeare $720/$800
Students will learn how to understand, interpret, and ultimately perform Shakespeare’s text. Instructor Lillian Meredith combines in-depth text analysis and verse study with more contemporary approaches like Viewpoints and Michael Chekhov character development techniques to help students develop a deep understanding of the play and introduce them to the craft of acting.
Teen Workshop: Filmmaking Workshop $720/$800
The Young People’s Filmmaking Workshop introduces teen filmmakers to the process of movie-making in the beautiful hills and valleys of East Meredith, NY. Teens will collaborate on a comprehensive, collaborative filmmaking process from start to finish, culminating in a screening of a final 20-30 minute original film project.
Plant Foraging Identification Walk and Wild Food Tasting $20
Join Wild Foods Forager and Plant Medicine person Marguerite Uhlmann-Bower for a fun and informative wild foods foraging walk at the West Kortright Center in East Meredith, NY. Identify Plants and Trees easily for their food, qualities, crafts and traditional folk remedies in how they benefit humans, animals, land and place.
Kassi Valazza
There is a cult-like fascination growing around Kassi Valazza following the self-release of her 2019 debut album Dear Dead Days and her surprise 2022 EP Highway Sounds.
Wet Plate Tintype Photo w. Kevin Q. Gray $125
In this hands-on workshop, students will learn the process of 19th century wet plate photography, specifically tintypes or photographs printed on metal. Instructor Kevin Q.
La Perla
La Perla is one of the most exciting projects happening in the Bogotá scene! The Colombian trio creates bombastic, percussive music with tight vocal harmonies. Their music is inspired by Caribbean traditional sounds paying homage to cultural legacies and yet fully representing the new sounds of Colombian music.