Edible Bugs! Exploring the Winter Habits of River Bugs
Have you ever wondered what happens to all the river bugs in winter? Join us for a cozy day of baking warm bread while learning about the fascinating bugs of the St. Croix River! Each participant will receive their own bread dough to shape and roll into a bug friend that they can eat.
Winter Clay Camp
Get ready for an unforgettable adventure at our youth hand-building winter camp! Perfect for kids ages 5 and up, this dynamic series of five workshops is all about unleashing imagination, making friends, and experiencing the magic of clay. Every session is packed with hands-on fun as we experiment with pinch, coil, and slab techniques to create unique two- and three-dimensional masterpieces. But the real excitement comes from exploring, getting gloriously messy, and letting creativity run wild!
Silent Walk & Reflective Writing
Join Treehaus Studio and Better Place Forests for a new series of guided silent winter walks dedicated to healing and remembrance. These walks will take place along either the Willow Trail at The Acreage, featuring a 3.5-mile loop in January and February, or the Northern Loop Trail which encircles the St. Croix Valley Forest, offering a 1.5-mile loop in April.
Open Studio
Creating art in a studio environment is a wonderful way to unlock your creativity, and it can be a fulfilling experience for everyone, regardless of skill level. You don’t need to be an artist to enjoy your time in the studio. This enjoyable and stress-free atmosphere provides an opportunity to practice your skills while connecting with others.
Cut Paper Painting
Join us in the studio for a fun and enjoyable workshop where we will turn ordinary scraps of paper into captivating images full of depth, texture, and personal stories. This collage method is easy to learn and accessible, even if you have limited space, and it repurposes scrap paper. If you're looking for a way to relax and unleash your creativity, this workshop is perfect for you.
Bindle Lantern Making and Lantern walk
Join us at the Treehaus Studio for a workshop where creativity blossoms as we craft unique bindle lanterns, celebrating the return of light and the refreshing spirit of renewal that heralds the arrival of spring. Each participant will be guided through the intricate stages of design, construction, and finishing, allowing you to create a one-of-a-kind bindle lantern that beautifully reflects your personal connection to the natural world.
Field Notes: Winter
This course is designed to push your winter weather boundaries! Bundle up and grab your traveling sketchbook bags for a mixed-media outdoor adventure that combines exploration, observation, research, detailed drawing, and writing.
Silent Walk & Reflective Writing
Join Treehaus Studio and Better Place Forests for a new series of guided silent winter walks dedicated to healing and remembrance. These walks will take place along either the Willow Trail at The Acreage, featuring a 3.5-mile loop in January and February, or the Northern Loop Trail which encircles the St. Croix Valley Forest, offering a 1.5-mile loop in April.
Tile-stamping Workshop
Join Treehaus Studio at Hansen Park in New Brighton, MN, for ceramic tile-stamping workshops! You can drop in to create one or two tiles or stay longer to explore your creativity. We will have pre-made tiles available, along with a variety of stamps and tools for you to use.
The tiles you create will be incorporated into a public art installation promoting an ADA-accessible quiet space in the shape of a giant wood duck, scheduled for installation at Hansen Park in 2026.
Open Studio
Creating art in a studio environment is a wonderful way to unlock your creativity, and it can be a fulfilling experience for everyone, regardless of skill level. You don’t need to be an artist to enjoy your time in the studio. This stress-free atmosphere provides an opportunity to practice your skills while connecting with others.
We will explore both outdoor and indoor spaces and learn each other. While working on-site, we will offer encouragement, constructive critique, and knowledge sharing to ensure you don't feel lost or uncertain about what to do. You'll benefit from the comfort of being around other creative individuals.
The Artist's Garden
In this exploratory class, Jen Anderson, of Jen Anderson Studio & Garden, invites you into the world of the Artist’s Garden; a space where plants become partners in the creative process. Drawing from her own creative process, pigment and flower gardens, flower-pressing practice, and experience as a garden consultant, Jen will share how the garden can inspire, inform, and supply your art.
Creating sacred spaces
Join Treehaus Studio and Better Place Forests for a two-part ceramic workshop designed to guide you in creating a sacred space for healing rituals. The goal is to establish a physical location where healing is embraced rather than avoided.
In this workshop, you will design and hand-build your own altar, which will serve as the focal point of your sacred space. Before you begin crafting your altar, choose a quiet, clean area in your home or studio where it can remain undisturbed, such as a corner or a small table. Bring measurements of your space so we can design our altars to fit seamlessly into your designated area.
Tile-stamping Workshop
Join Treehaus Studio at Hansen Park in New Brighton, MN, for ceramic tile-stamping workshops! You can drop in to create one or two tiles or stay longer to explore your creativity. We will have pre-made tiles available, along with a variety of stamps and tools for you to use.
The tiles you create will be incorporated into a public art installation promoting an ADA-accessible quiet space in the shape of a giant wood duck, scheduled for installation at Hansen Park in 2026.
Creative Practice
Join us in the studio each week for a series of creative workshops designed for both beginners and experienced artists. Participants will have the opportunity to explore the work of various artists, art-making processes, materials, and tools. Enjoy a relaxed studio environment while connecting with friends and neighbors.
Silent Walk & Reflective Writing
Join Treehaus Studio and Better Place Forests for a new series of guided silent winter walks dedicated to healing and remembrance. These walks will take place along either the Willow Trail at The Acreage, featuring a 3.5-mile loop in January and February, or the Northern Loop Trail which encircles the St. Croix Valley Forest, offering a 1.5-mile loop in April.
Kite Building
Come play, build, and fly in this joyful kite-making workshop for youths, families, and curious adults. Together, we’ll explore the universal joy of kite flying, an art form and activity shared by cultures around the world.
Participants will learn how to build simple, beautiful kites using lightweight materials and customize their own designs. As we craft together, we’ll also explore how kites have connected people to the sky, to stories, and to one another for centuries. Along the way, we’ll touch on the science of flight, including how the structure of a kite helps it fly, how wind lifts it, how airflow creates lift, and why kites soar when pushed against the wind.
Kite Building for kids
Come play, build, and fly in this joyful kite-making workshop for youths, families, and curious adults. Together, we’ll explore the universal joy of kite flying, an art form and activity shared by cultures around the world.
Participants will learn how to build simple, beautiful kites using lightweight materials and customize their own designs. As we craft together, we’ll also explore how kites have connected people to the sky, to stories, and to one another for centuries. Along the way, we’ll touch on the science of flight, including how the structure of a kite helps it fly, how wind lifts it, how airflow creates lift, and why kites soar when pushed against the wind.
Open Studio
Creating art in a studio environment is a wonderful way to unlock your creativity, and it can be a fulfilling experience for everyone, regardless of skill level. You don’t need to be an artist to enjoy your time in the studio. This enjoyable and stress-free atmosphere provides an opportunity to practice your skills while connecting with others.
The Haunted Stump
Come celebrate the fall season with a handmade puppet performance by Treehaus Studio and the River Valley Forest School of Little Witch Hazel by Phoebe Wahl and her enchanting story from the forest “The Haunted Stump.”
Ceramic Curio Shelf
In this hand-building ceramic workshop, we’ll use slabs and coils to create curiosity shelves, which provide a beautiful display for small, treasured nature collectibles.
Fall Paint & Paddle - St. Croix River
Join us for a beautiful paddle down the St. Croix River with artist and naturalist Amy Mester and enjoy a day dedicated to slow observation, sketching, and watercolor activities.
Intro to Paintbrush Making
Join us for an exciting workshop that explores the artistry of traditional brush making! Discover both time-honored and modern techniques for crafting brushes using natural materials such as deer tail, human hair and horsehair.
Field Notes: Fall
Pack your sketchbook bags; this mixed-media outdoor adventure combines exploration, detailed sketching, research, and writing. Field Notes encourages you to dedicate time to building a library of inspiration from outdoor exploration and observation. It serves as a platform to capture nature, document your surroundings, and engage in play and experimentation.
Intuitive Paint and Stitch (Copy)
Join us for a class that focuses on creating and enhancing painting surfaces using textiles. We will begin by drawing inspiration from our surroundings and observing the colors, lines, forms, and movements around us. Then, you can explore acrylic paint in a relaxed environment, painting freely and loosely on canvas. As the class progresses, you will incorporate textiles into your paintings.
Land Art: ALa Andy Goldsworthy
Andy Goldsworthy is one of our most well-known environmental artists. He has been engaged in outdoor art-making since the 1970s. His decades of practice have fostered a humble and sensitive attention to form, light, color, condition, and temporality. Like many land artists, he exclusively uses natural materials found at the site of his creations, avoiding glue, rope, or other artificial tools. This approach allows him to understand the intrinsic qualities of the natural materials.
Plein Air - Walk and Weave
We will begin the evening by constructing a loom frame using branches and twine. After learning some basic weaving techniques and examining various examples, we will pack into a Paddlefish Adventures van and head to Standing Cedars Land Conservancy to collect natural materials to create plein air weaving while walking along the beautiful paths. Long grasses, fallen twigs, colorful leaves, and textured bark will form a lovely composition. We will conclude back at Treehaus Studio with a fun show-and-tell, where we can share our unique, ephemeral weavings.
Sumac Branch Weaving
This introductory class on experimental weaving transforms ordinary sumac branches into looms. Participants will learn fundamental weaving techniques using up-cycled materials and found objects.