Join us for our free 2024 “kick-off” event celebrating a new season! Celebrate the start of WheatonArts’ creative season with this free kick-off event highlighting our many daily offerings and hands-on programming! Explore thought-provoking exhibits in the Museum of American Glass and Down Jersey Folklife Center, showcasing glass collections and the complexities and values of traditional arts through modern-day times. Experience various artist demonstrations throughout the campus, including glassmaking, pottery, paper art, large-scale murals, and more. Discover a series of free hands-on projects to create across campus, and discounted glass-fused projects in the Education Studio. Enjoy a bite to eat from food vendors and listen to live music. Wheaton Springs offers every visitor the chance to explore, experience, and create across a campus that inspires and heals the senses. Admission to all WheatonArts exhibits and artist studio demonstrations are FREE and open to the public, part of “Family Days! Presented by PNC Arts Alive!”

Explore the art, symbolism, and joy in creating pysanky, a springtime Ukrainian tradition of decorating real eggshells. Students will learn the age-old method of applying hot beeswax to an emptied eggshell using a stylus, over a succession of dye baths. When the pattern is completed, the wax is removed over a candle flame, revealing the colors and pattern. This pysanka, or Ukrainian Easter egg, can then be displayed on a stand or hung as an ornament. Materials, supplies, and instruction will be provided to complete one or two eggs. Kits and finished works by the instructor will also be available for purchase so that students can continue the craft at home. Seats are limited and booked on a first-come, first-reserve basis. Besides an auto-generated email receipt, you will receive a confirmation email from the Director of Education and Artist Services, Pamela Weichmann. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us at 856.825.6800 ext. 112 or by emailing pweichmann@wheatonarts.org.

In this ceramic workshop, you will learn to make handmade habitats or custom feeders for our native birds! You will learn the art of handbuilding while transforming a pre-thrown clay bottle into a one-of-a-kind refuge for birds. Guided by Ceramic Artist, Phyllis Seidner-Vesely you will explore a variety of additive and subtractive methods, molding the clay into a birdhouse or a practical feeder. The choice is yours! Seats are limited and booked on a first-come, first-reserve basis. Besides an auto-generated email receipt, you will receive a confirmation email from the Director of Education and Artist Services, Pamela Weichmann. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us at 856.825.6800 ext. 112 or by emailing pweichmann@wheatonarts.org.

Our 2nd Annual Storybook Festival has entertainment provided by Mystic Realms Theater Group. Meet your favorite storybook characters, including Mother Goose! Enter the Dragon Lair to choose your free book. Train rides, merchants, vendors, and food trucks.

Benefits the Warren & Reba Lummis Library