Programs & Workshops
Fun with Clay: A Homeschool Program
During Fun with Clay, we will give each child a big hunk of air dry clay that they can either use for one large sculpture or for multiple smaller sculptures. Since air dry clay takes 2-3 days to dry thoroughly, children will need to leave their creations at Rivertown and pick them up later. (During their next visit, they can paint their sculptures with acrylic paint, which dries quickly enough that they should be able to bring them home that day.)
This program is free for Rivertown members; non-members can participate in this program by buying a Day Pass for $5 per child (also gives them access to studios and supplies for the day).
This is a drop-in program; registration not required. Children 10 and under must be accompanied by an adult guardian.
Abstract Painting: Exploring Color
In this Abstract Painting workshop with Scott Voisine, participants will learn basic color theory and have the opportunity to experiment with various color combinations.
This workshop is free for Rivertown members. Non-members can participate in this program by buying a Day Pass for $10 (also gives them access to studios and supplies for the day). All supplies are provided for no additional charge.
Register for this workshop by clicking here. This workshop is limited to 8 participants.
Intro to Watercolor
Always wanted to paint with watercolors but didn’t know where to start? Learn some of the basics in this intro workshop with Jocelyn Saucier! Jocelyn will go over numerous different techniques, such as dry-on-dry, wet-on-wet, alcohol, salt,
This workshop is free for Rivertown members. Non-members can participate in this program by buying a Day Pass for $10 (also gives them access to studios and supplies for the day). All supplies are provided for no additional charge.
This class fills up fast! Guarantee your spot by registering here.
Face Painting with Sophie
We’re thrilled to welcome Sophie Ouellette of Spruce Routes Art for a fun morning of face painting!
Sophie uses high-quality face paint sourced from reputable body art suppliers to ensure the safety and satisfaction of our clients.
She takes cleanliness seriously. All brushes, sponges, and paints are thoroughly cleaned and sanitized before each use to maintain the highest standards of hygiene.
She is fully insured for your peace of mind and protection.
She loves to get creative and can come up with unique designs on the spot, adding an extra element of surprise and delight for kids.
Children who are members of Rivertown can have their faces painted for free. Otherwise, it costs $5 per child.
This is a first-come, first-served program; registration not required. Children must be accompanied by an adult guardian.
Tealight Trees with Kelley Marquis
This class is full! Please send us an email at rivertowncac@gmail.com if you’d like to be notified of the next Tealight Trees workshop.
It’s time to play with clay! During this workshop with Kelley Marquis, participants will hand-sculpt tealight trees, just in time for the holiday/winter season. They will need some time to dry before painting and firing; subsequent “finishing” sessions will be scheduled with dates to be determined.
This workshop is free for Rivertown members. Non-members can participate in this program by buying a Day Pass for $10 (also gives them access to studios and supplies for the day). All supplies are provided for no additional charge.
Tealight Trees with Kelley Marquis
This class is full! Please send us an email at rivertowncac@gmail.com if you’d like to be notified of our next Tealight Trees class.
It’s time to play with clay! During this workshop with Kelley Marquis, participants will hand-sculpt tealight trees, just in time for the holiday/winter season. They will need some time to dry before painting and firing; subsequent “finishing” sessions will be scheduled with dates to be determined.
This workshop is free for Rivertown members. Non-members can participate in this program by buying a Day Pass for $10 (also gives them access to studios and supplies for the day). All supplies are provided for no additional charge.
Building with Cardboard for Homeschoolers
Using MakeDo tools and with a mega-supply for cardboard, kids can build robots, armor, forts, furniture, whatever their brains dream up! This activity is perfect for strengthening engineering, design, coordination, and construction skills for kids of all ages.
Makedo is a series of safe cardboard construction tools purposely designed for kids to imagine and build the world they want to see.
This workshop is free for Rivertown members. Non-members can participate in this program by buying a Day Pass for $5 (also gives them access to studios and supplies for the day).
This is a drop-in program; registration not required. Children must be accompanied by an adult guardian.
Short Story Writing: Workshop # 2
This class with Johanna Fickett is the second of a three-part workshop series covering the basics of writing and revising a short story. In this class, participants will discuss some of the revisions they’ve made to their short story drafts.
This workshop is free for Rivertown members. Non-members can participate in this program by buying a Day Pass for $10 (also gives them access to studios and supplies for the day). All supplies are provided for no additional charge.
Fun with Clay: Kids Program
During Fun with Clay, we will give each child a big hunk of air dry clay that they can either use for one large sculpture or for multiple smaller sculptures. Since air dry clay takes 2-3 days to dry thoroughly, children will need to leave their creations at Rivertown and pick them up later. (During their next visit, they can paint their sculptures with acrylic paint, which dries quickly enough that they should be able to bring them home that day.)
This program is free for Rivertown members; non-members can participate in this program by buying a Day Pass for $5 per child (also gives them access to studios and supplies for the day).
This is a drop-in program; registration not required. Children 10 and under must be accompanied by an adult guardian.
Book Club: The Berry Pickers, by Amanda Peters
This club meeting is free to attend! Get together with fellow book nerds, and discuss the in’s and out’s of The Berry Pickers, by Amanda Peters. There will also be an opportunity to vote on the next Book Club book.
To find a copy of the book, check: the Fort Kent Public Library, UMFK’s Blake Library, Bogan Books, or support an independent bookstore of your choice by purchasing a copy on bookshop.org.
You’re welcome to drop in to the gathering, but if you’d like to register, please do so by clicking here.
"A stunning debut about love, race, brutality and the balm of forgiveness." —People, A Best New Book
"Peters skillfully manages to hold the reader’s attention from the first page to the last . . . The Berry Pickers isn’t a mystery, it’s a truth telling by characters you can reach out and touch—characters whose misfortunes, regrets, feelings, and redemption most readers will relate to." —Diane Lechleitner, New York Journal of Books
About the Book:
July 1962. Following in the tradition of Indigenous workers from Nova Scotia, a Mi’kmaq family arrives in Maine to pick blueberries for the summer. Weeks later, four-year-old Ruthie, the family’s youngest child, vanishes. She is last seen by her six-year-old brother, Joe, sitting on a favorite rock at the edge of a berry field. Joe will remain distraught by his sister’s disappearance for years to come.
In Maine, a young girl named Norma grows up as the only child of an affluent family. Her father is emotionally distant, her mother frustratingly overprotective. Norma is often troubled by recurring dreams and visions that seem more like memories than imagination. As she grows older, Norma slowly comes to realize there is something her parents aren’t telling her. Unwilling to abandon her intuition, she will spend decades trying to uncover this family secret.
“An unforgettable exploration of grief, love, and kin,” (The Boston Globe), this show stopping debut by a vibrant new voice in fiction is a riveting novel about the search for truth, the shadow of trauma, and the persistence of love across time.
AMANDA PETERS is a writer of Mi’kmaq and settler ancestry. Her debut novel, The Berry Pickers, was the winner of the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction and the 2023 Barnes & Noble Discover Prize, and was a finalist for the Atwood Gibson Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize and the Amazon First Novel Award. Peters is a graduate of the master of fine arts program at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and has a certificate in creative writing from the University of Toronto. She lives and writes in the Annapolis Valley Nova Scotia where she is an Associate Professor in English and Theatre at Acadia University.
Short Story Writing: Workshop # 3
This class with Johanna Fickett is the second of a three-part workshop series covering the basics of writing and revising a short story. In this class, participants will discuss some of the revisions they’ve made to their short story drafts.
This workshop is free for Rivertown members. Non-members can participate in this program by buying a Day Pass for $10 (also gives them access to studios and supplies for the day). All supplies are provided for no additional charge.
Intro to Hand Embroidery
Embroidery hoop + embroidery thread + fabric + time + patience + maybe a pattern/maybe freestyle + probably your reading glasses = Hand embroidery!
Lo Taggett will guide participants in the basic skills of hand embroidery and get your started on a beginners embroidery project.
This workshop is free for Rivertown members. Non-members can participate in this program by buying a Day Pass for $10 (also gives them access to studios and supplies for the day). All supplies are provided for no additional charge.
Register for this workshop by clicking here.
Herbs for Stress & Anxiety
Jill Nadeau of White Pine Botanicals will lead this program that focuses on which herbs help relieve stress and anxiety, and the ways they can be used to support health and wellbeing. Participants will make a room/linen spray and an essential oil roller.
This workshop is free for Rivertown members. Non-members can participate in this program by buying a Day Pass for $10 (also gives them access to studios and supplies for the day). All supplies are provided for no additional charge.
Register for this workshop by clicking here.
Playdough Day!
Playdough Day is going to be so much fun! We’ll be making Playdough, using cookie cutters on our homemade Playdough to create fun shapes, rolling our dough into balls to make little planets, and more. Undirected play and artistry is also encouraged!
This workshop is free for Rivertown members. Non-members can participate in this program by buying a Day Pass for $5 (also gives them access to studios and supplies for the day).
This is a drop-in program; registration not required. Children must be accompanied by an adult guardian.
Word and Image
In this creative writing workshop with Geraldine Cannon Becker, participants will explore the interplay between words and images, with a focus on broadsides, including a history of the broadside and how it is used in poetry today.
This workshop is free for Rivertown members. Non-members can participate in this program by buying a Day Pass for $10 (also gives them access to studios and supplies for the day). All supplies are provided for no additional charge.
Register for this workshop by clicking here.
Short Story Writing: Workshop # 1
This class with Johanna Fickett kicks off a three-part workshop series covering the basics of writing and revising a short story. In this class, participants will learn about the elements of a short story and discuss examples from classic and contemporary literature.
This workshop is free for Rivertown members. Non-members can participate in this program by buying a Day Pass for $10 (also gives them access to studios and supplies for the day). All supplies are provided for no additional charge.
Register for this workshop series by clicking here. Registering for this one program will automatically register you for Classes 2 and 3 on November 26 and December 10 at 6pm.
Weaving a Japanese-Style Leaf Scoop Basket
Let's make a Japanese Leaf Scoop! Great class for beginners. All tools and supplies provided as well as dyed reed for that personal touch!
The class is free for Rivertown members or you can purchase a Day Pass for $10/adult (also gives you access to the studios and art supplies for the day).
To register, please visit: https://forms.gle/Wy2WPn25NXC9RK8k6
Space is limited to 12 participants.
Herbs for Stress & Anxiety
Jill Nadeau of White Pine Botanicals will lead this program that focuses on which herbs help relieve stress and anxiety, and the ways they can be used to support health and wellbeing. Participants will make a room/linen spray and an essential oil roller.
This workshop is free for Rivertown members. Non-members can participate in this program by buying a Day Pass for $10 (also gives them access to studios and supplies for the day). All supplies are provided for no additional charge.
Register for this workshop by clicking here.
Paper Luminaries
For this Saturday morning kids program, we’ll be using paper bags and paper punches to make luminaries, complete with a fake flame tealight.
This workshop is free for Rivertown members. Non-members can participate in this program by buying a Day Pass for $5 (also gives them access to studios and supplies for the day).
This is a drop-in program; registration not required. Children must be accompanied by an adult guardian.
Faux Calligraphy with Lo Taggett
A perfect skill to learn before writing your holiday cards, that can be used all year long for elevating your handwriting!
This workshop is free for Rivertown members. Non-members can participate in this program by buying a Day Pass for $10 (also gives them access to studios and supplies for the day). All supplies are provided for no additional charge.
Register for this workshop by clicking here.
Abstract Painting: Learning by Looking
In this Abstract Painting workshop with Scott Voisine, participants will learn by looking, going from reality to abstraction. Everyone will have multiple opportunities to practice and will complete a painting during the workshop.
This workshop is free for Rivertown members. Non-members can participate in this program by buying a Day Pass for $10 (also gives them access to studios and supplies for the day). All supplies are provided for no additional charge.
Register for this workshop by clicking here. This workshop is limited to 8 participants.
Super Stellar Space Art: A Homeschool Program
We’ll be making some superstellar space art during this homeschool program - planets, stars, comets, rockets, maybe an astronaut or two, and at least one space turtle.
This program is free for Rivertown members; non-members can participate in this program by buying a Day Pass for $5 per child (also gives them access to studios and supplies for the day).
This is a drop-in program; registration not required. Children 10 and under must be accompanied by an adult guardian.
Sewing for Beginners
This program has reached capacity! We will offer another Sewing for Beginners program in the future.
Always wanted to learn how to sew but intimidated by a sewing machine? Kellie Tardif of kellie j. designs and Lilli & Yve will show you the basics of how to set up a sewing machine and guide you as you practice with a sewing project!
This workshop is free for Rivertown members. Non-members can participate in this program by buying a Day Pass for $10 (also gives them access to studios and supplies for the day). All supplies are provided for no additional charge.
Feel free to bring your own sewing machine if you have one, however, there are sewing machines available at Rivertown if you need one.
Pine Cone Gnomes
How cute are these?! Come on down to Rivertown on Saturday morning with your little ones and make some pine cone gnomes!
This workshop is free for Rivertown members. Non-members can participate in this program by buying a Day Pass for $5 (also gives them access to studios and supplies for the day).
This is a drop-in program; registration not required. Children must be accompanied by an adult guardian.
Book Club: Our Missing Hearts, by Celeste Ng
This club meeting is free to attend! Get together with fellow book nerds, and discuss the in’s and out’s of Our Missing Hearts, by Celeste Ng. There will also be an opportunity to vote on the next Book Club book.
There are two copies of Our Missing Hearts available to borrow from Fort Kent Public Library, and interlibrary loans are available through UMFK’s Blake Library. You can also support an independent bookstore by purchasing a copy on bookshop.org (you have the option to select which bookstore you’d like to support with your purchase).
You’re welcome to drop in to the gathering, but if you’d like to register, please do so by clicking here.
**INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER**
From the number one bestselling author of Little Fires Everywhere, a deeply suspenseful and heartrending novel about the unbreakable love between a mother and child in a society consumed by fear
Twelve-year-old Bird Gardner lives a quiet existence with his loving but broken father, a former linguist who now shelves books in a university library. Bird knows to not ask too many questions, stand out too much, or stray too far. For a decade, their lives have been governed by laws written to preserve “American culture” in the wake of years of economic instability and violence. To keep the peace and restore prosperity, the authorities are now allowed to relocate children of dissidents, especially those of Asian origin, and libraries have been forced to remove books seen as unpatriotic—including the work of Bird’s mother, Margaret, a Chinese American poet who left the family when he was nine years old.
Bird has grown up disavowing his mother and her poems; he doesn’t know her work or what happened to her, and he knows he shouldn’t wonder. But when he receives a mysterious letter containing only a cryptic drawing, he is drawn into a quest to find her. His journey will take him back to the many folktales she poured into his head as a child, through the ranks of an underground network of librarians, into the lives of the children who have been taken, and finally to New York City, where a new act of defiance may be the beginning of much-needed change.
Our Missing Hearts is an old story made new, of the ways supposedly civilized communities can pretend to ignore the most searing injustice. It’s a story about the power—and limitations—of art to create change, the lessons and legacies we pass on to our children, and how any of us can survive a broken world with our hearts intact.
How to Draw Trees: An All-Ages Art Class for Homeschoolers
This all-ages art class focuses on drawing trees - younger kids will learn the basic parts and shapes of a tree, and older kids will learn more complex skills.
This program is free for Rivertown members; non-members can participate in this program by buying a Day Pass for $5 per child (also gives them access to studios and supplies for the day).
This is a drop-in program; registration not required. Children 10 and under must be accompanied by an adult guardian.
Kids Costume Fashion Show
We are hosting a Costume Fashion Show for Kids! They’ll be able to check out other kids’ costumes before “the big day” and, after the fashion show, we will make a special Halloween craft that they can bring Trunk/Trick or Treating.
This workshop is free for Rivertown members. Non-members can participate in this program by buying a Day Pass for $5 (also gives them access to studios and supplies for the day).
This is a drop-in program; registration not required. Children must be accompanied by an adult guardian.
Intro to Knitting
Always wanted to learn how to knit but didn’t know where to start? Learn some of the basics in this intro workshop with Lo Taggett!
This workshop is free for Rivertown members. Non-members can participate in this program by buying a Day Pass for $10 (also gives them access to studios and supplies for the day). All supplies are provided for no additional charge.
Register for this workshop by clicking here.
Abstract Painting: Getting Started
This workshop will kick off an Abstract Painting series with Scott Voisine; subsequent workshops are scheduled for November 5 and November 19 at 6pm.
This initial workshop will focus on “getting started,” and explore formalism versus expressionism.
This workshop is free for Rivertown members. Non-members can participate in this program by buying a Day Pass for $10 (also gives them access to studios and supplies for the day). All supplies are provided for no additional charge.
Register for this workshop by clicking here. This workshop is limited to 8 participants.
Business Planning for Makers and Artists
In this free workshop, Ruth Feldman, CEI Northeast Women’s Business Center Program Director and Business Advisor, will provide an overview of their no-cost, confidential resources for women, and focus in on some business planning essentials for “right brainers” to think about planning / sustaining their business.
There is no charge to attend. You’re welcome to drop in, but if you would like to guarantee your seat, please register here.
Woolly Bears and Winter: A Collaborative Research Project for Homeschoolers
Lots of things go viral, including seemingly harmless and also very cool charts involving woolly bear caterpillars! Some say it’s true - you can tell how harsh a winter will be by the width of a woolly bear’s bands - others say it isn’t. Let’s put it to the test!
Maine is known for its long and cold winters, so let’s see if woolly bears know all. Homeschoolers will collaborate on a research project by “hunting” woolly bear caterpillars and tracking their markings, and making hypotheses about the outcome. At the end of the year, once the weather reports are in, we will see if there is merit to the charts floating around, and discuss how tricky it can be to navigate everything that’s on the internet, plus ways you can, and should, dig around to find the truth.
This project will be lead by Jill Mango Day and is free to participate in. (To use art supplies in the studios while you’re visiting Rivertown that day, please buy a Day Pass for $5/child; studio access is free for Rivertown members.)
This is a drop-in program; registration not required. Children 10 and under must be accompanied by an adult guardian.
Bulb Swap and Bulb Planting Tips
Join us for a bulb swap! We’ll have garlic and tulip bulbs for you to take home. Bring along any bulbs you’d like to swap and trade with other participants. We’ll also share our bulb planting tips for growing in our area (Zone 3).
This event is free to attend.
Family Pumpkin Painting
Paint a pumpkin that you can display year after year! How? Because it’s made out of styrofoam! Jill Mango Day will lead this fun family-friendly pumpkin painting program.
This workshop is free for Rivertown members. Non-members can participate in this program by purchasing a Day Pass for $10/adult or $5/child.
Walk-ins are welcome, but you can guarantee we have a pumpkin for you by clicking here.
Hand-Sewing: A Kids Program
“Sewing for Beginners: A Kids Class with Kellie Tardif” was originally scheduled on this date, but will now take place at a later date.
“Hand-Sewing: A Kids Class” is a program for children ages 4-12 that will guide them in all things needle and thread!
The younger kids will work with tapestry needles (not sharp) and styrofoam plates, sewing shapes in colorful embroidery thread. Older children will use real needles and fabric to work on a sewing project to bring home.
Hand-sewing is a great skill to have! Even after learning how to use a sewing machine, some parts of a project may still involve hand-sewing.
This workshop is free for Rivertown members. Non-members can participate in this program by buying a Day Pass for $5 (also gives them access to studios and supplies for the day). All supplies are provided for no additional charge.
Register for this workshop by clicking here.
Intro to Watercolor
We have reached the registration cap for this program - Don’t worry, we will offer it again!
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Always wanted to paint with watercolors but didn’t know where to start? Learn some of the basics in this intro workshop with Jocelyn Saucier!
This workshop is free for Rivertown members. Non-members can participate in this program by buying a Day Pass for $10 (also gives them access to studios and supplies for the day). All supplies are provided for no additional charge.
Begin a Drawing Project
With a few basic drawing skills in your “creative toolbox,” now it’s time to begin a drawing project! Johanna Fickett will guide you in how to start. Fickett has BA degrees in theater performance and literature concentrated in writing, but she also privately trained as a fine artist for 12 years, and graduated high school with a commercial arts major certificate.
This workshop is free for Rivertown members. Non-members can participate in this program by buying a Day Pass for $10 (also gives them access to studios and supplies for the day). All supplies are provided for no additional charge.
Building with Cardboard: A Program for Kids
Using MakeDo tools and with a mega-supply for cardboard, kids can build robots, armor, forts, furniture, whatever their brains dream up!
Makedo is a series of safe cardboard construction tools purposely designed for kids to imagine and build the world they want to see.
This workshop is free for Rivertown members. Non-members can participate in this program by buying a Day Pass for $5 (also gives them access to studios and supplies for the day).
This is a drop-in program; registration not required. Children must be accompanied by an adult guardian.
Witches: A Presentation by Jessica Boynton (Ages 18+)
In this presentation for ages 18+, Jessica Boynton will discuss witches in literature and film, such as Harry Potter, fairy tales, "Young Goodman Brown," William Shakespeare's work, and The Wizard of Oz. She will also talk about the history of witches, more specifically, in New England (Salem, Massachusetts in particular), and discuss current places in Salem that played roles in the witch trials, including: The House of The Seven Gables, The Witch Dungeon Museum, The Salem Witch Trials Memorial, The Salem Witch Museum, The Rebecca Nurse Homestead, and The Witch House.
This event is free for Rivertown members. Non-members can attend by buying a Day Pass for $10/adult (also gives you access to studios and supplies for the day).
Register for this workshop by clicking here.
Intro to Drawing
Always wanted to draw but didn’t know how to start? Learn some of the basics in this intro workshop with Johanna Fickett! Johanna has BA degrees in theater performance and literature concentrated in writing, but she also privately trained as a fine artist for 12 years, and graduated high school with a commercial arts major certificate.
This workshop is free for Rivertown members. Non-members can participate in this program by buying a Day Pass for $10 (also gives them access to studios and supplies for the day). All supplies are provided for no additional charge.
Register for this workshop by clicking here.
Show ‘n Tell and Storytelling for Homeschoolers
In this homeschool program, kids will have the opportunity to show other kids something they find really interesting or cool, like something they found while out on a nature walk. We'll also be telling stories to each other, while others practice their listening skills!
This project is free to attend. (To use art supplies in the studios while you’re visiting Rivertown that day, please buy a Day Pass for $5/child; studio access is free for Rivertown members.)
This is a drop-in program; registration not required. Children must be accompanied by an adult guardian.
Part 2: Decoupage a Ghost Tealight
In Part 2, decoupage the ghost tealight(s) you made out of clay on Tuesday, the 1st! All materials will be provided.
Register for Part 1 of this workshop by clicking here.