Programs & Events
Creative Nature Programs
Fostering wonder, curiosity, and care for nature through art.
Watershed Workshops
for teens & adults
Monthly on Saturdays, 2–5 PM May–October 2026
What creative activities can help us reconnect with the non-human members of our watershed —from red oaks to asters to ospreys? How can imagination inspire us to become better stewards of our local nature?
Join regional artists engaged with ecological themes for monthly workshops featuring artist talks, guided nature walks, hands-on art projects, and group discussions. No art experience is needed—just curiosity and a willingness to explore.
Registration fees are pay what you can ($10 suggested), to help offset materials costs. If this fee is a barrier, please get in touch—we want everyone who is interested to be able to participate.
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October 3 | Finding Magic in an Acorn with Joan Sommers
An introduction to the magical boxes of Joseph Cornell (1903-1972), participants will play with juxtaposing the natural and the man-made, focusing on symbolic, metaphorical, or emotional connections to create small sculptural assemblages.
Wild Foraging Series
for teens & adults
July 18, August 15 & October 17, 1–6 PM
Join artist-forager Rachel Alexandrou for seasonal foraging excursions at Langlais and nearby Georges River Land Trust preserves. These five-hour experiences begin with a slow walk to observe, identify, and responsibly harvest edible and useful plants while learning about each landscape’s ecology. Back in the Teaching Studio, a guest craftsperson will demonstrate creative uses of wild materials—such as plant fiber, clay, salt, or acorns—followed by a live cooking demonstration and a shared Wild Food Picnic among the sculptures, inspired by the day’s discoveries.
$125 per session, includes ticket to Wild Food Picnic.
Revenue from the Wild Foraging Series directly supports our free Creative Nature programs, helping us offer accessible, arts- and nature-based experiences for children, families, and our broader community.
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July 18 | Flowers & Clay with Joshua Clukey
A guided foraging walk exploring summer flora and glacial marine clay, followed by a wild clay processing demonstration, and a shared Wild Food Picnic featuring clay-baked and floral inspired foods.
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August 15 | Seaside Foraging & Weaving with Gabrielle Brown
An exploration of the edible and fiber producing plants of the coastal shoreline followed by a cattail-basket weaving workshop and a Wild Food Picnic featuring Rachel’s foraged coastal delicacies.
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October 17 | Mushrooms, Acorns & Sea Salt with Usha Beaudoin
A sea salt-boiling demonstration and a guided forest walk focused on October foraging staples like mushrooms and acorns will culminate in a Wild Food Picnic featuring fall savories and sweets.
Events
Saving Walden’s World
A documentary film exploring real-world solutions for planetary healing
Screening co-hosted by the Cushing Historical Society and the Langlais Art Preserve, followed by a Q&A with filmmaker Jim Merkel
Saturday, September 12, 5-7 PM
Admission is free and open to the public.
This acclaimed documentary film follows Jim Merkel, a former military engineer turned sustainability activist, as he raises his son, Walden, on an off-grid homestead in Maine and travels to Kerala (India), Cuba, and Slovenia to document women-led solutions that have successfully bypassed the growth trap of the West. By prioritizing literacy, healthcare, and reproductive freedom, these societies have built stability and equity without sacrificing quality of life, a counterpoint to the high-consumption model that is pushing the planet toward collapse.
This screening follows the film's official acceptance for national distribution on PBS via NETA, a milestone for this Maine-based independent documentary that has screened at 23 international film festivals and won 14 awards. The screening is part of the 100 Rooms. 1 Story. campaign, Saving Walden's World's worldwide screening tour bringing the film to local communities across New England and beyond, with the goal of hosting 100 screenings over the next twelve months.
A Q&A session with director Jim Merkel will follow the screening, offering the audience a direct conversation with the filmmaker about the film's vision of planetary healing, local sovereignty, and the practical alternatives being built right now by communities around the world.
Wild Food Picnics
fun & delicious for all!
July 18, August 15 & October 17, 4–6 PM
An evening among the sculptures featuring imaginative small plates designed and prepared by local forager Rachel Alexandrou using wild edible ingredients.
$35 per person, BYOB + picnic blanket. Some picnic tables available.
Revenue from Wild Food Picnics directly supports our free Creative Nature programs, helping us offer accessible, arts- and nature-based experiences for children, families, and our broader community.
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July 18 | Flowers & Clay
Featuring clay-baked foods and edible flowers in multiple forms, including fritters, sodas, salads, and sweets.
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August 15 | Seaside Foraging
Taste Maine’s finest coastal treats, like sea radish pickles, seaweed snacks, and wild beach green spanakopita.
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October 17 | Mushrooms, Acorns & Sea Salt
Enjoy savory and sweet preparations centered on acorns and wild mushrooms and featuring sea salts from Matinicus Salt Farm.
Watershed Workshop: Tree Withness with Gina Siepel
“Witness trees” are trees recognized for their presence at significant human events. While they connect us to history on an arboreal clock, this concept remains human-centered. What if we shifted focus to the trees themselves —witnessing their long, quietly dramatic lives? Led by interdisciplinary artist and woodworker Gina Siepel, this workshop begins with a presentation on witness trees, followed by playful activities that turn our attention tree-ward. We'll meet the Langlais Preserve’s charismatic trees, exploring who they are, how they live, and imagining their past, present, and future through walking, writing, and discussion.
This workshop will include about 60 minutes of slow-paced walking on the Langlais Woodland Trail.
About Gina: www.ginasiepel.com
Watershed Workshop: Amplifying the Senses: A guided walk with Karen McCoy
Sculptor and land artist Karen McCoy will lead us on a walk designed to heighten our awareness of sound and sharpen our observation of the environment. By slowing our pace, we’ll invite deeper sensory perception. Each participant will carry and learn to use a hand-carved wooden listening and sighting horn and a viewing lens. Engaging in this focused listening and looking becomes a way of assembling sound and sight into a “sensory map,” offering a richer understanding of the landscape.
The entirety of this workshop will involve slow-paced walking on the Langlais Woodland Trail.
About Karen: https://www.karen-mccoy.com/
Sown Sculptures with Rachel Alexandrou
Interdisciplinary artist and forager Rachel Alexandrou will guide a walk around the Langlais Preserve to explore local plant ecology and its connection to landscape change. We'll then shift to a creative session using Presumpscot Formation Clay—the geological foundation of Maine’s landscape—and native seeds. Using simple techniques like molding, modeling, and texturing, participants will create sculptures that can be displayed indoors or planted outdoors to become part of the landscape itself.
About Rachel: https://rachelalexandrou.com/
Watershed Workshop: Practices for Seeing with Allison Cekala
WAIT LIST ONLY
Explore the natural world from a new lens. Inter- disciplinary artist and educator Allison Cekala will begin with a talk about her creative practice. Participants will then head outdoors and be guided through meditative, observational, and artistic prompts, culminating in a series of painted studies inspired by the Langlais Preserve landscape. This workshop invites you to slow down, look closely, and discover new ways of seeing and engaging with the environment.
About Allison: www.allisoncekala.com
Watershed Workshop: How to Fall in Love with a Flower with Bri Bowman
WAIT LIST ONLY
Artist and herbalist Bri Bowman will immerse us in the world of plants through science, sensory awareness, and creative expression. The workshop includes discussions on plant communication, meditative deep listening exercises, formulation of personalized flower essences, and co-creation of a sound performance inspired by the natural world. Participants will leave with a custom essence and a renewed connection to their environment.
This workshop will involve slow-paced walking on the Langlais Woodland Trail.
About Bri: https://waterthroughstone.com
Watershed Workshop: Mapping the Unmappable with Elaine Ng
What does it mean to know a place? Artist Elaine Ng will help us explore different approaches to mapping and how we consider our relationship to our material surroundings. We will begin with an artist talk and brief introduction to different strategies from historic cartography to deep mapping. Participants will then have an opportunity to walk about the Langlais Preserve, apply these ideas and create their own responses with guided exercises using the materials at hand.
About Elaine: www.elainekng.com