Artworth for Adults
2026 Program
For twenty years, Artworth has connected local artists and nature creatives with children and youth in Trent Hills.
Artworth’s vision is to grow a creative, earth-loving culture and a deep sense of belonging to one another, to the lands and waters, and to all life.
In 2024, we launched Artworth for Adults, with support from Community Power Northumberland and the Whole Learning Alliance. Artworth for Adults provides educational and creative cultural programming through annual talks and workshops.
Registration Is Open
The 2026 program is coming soon
For more information or to volunteer, mentor or teach please write to artworthcamp@gmail.com
Earth Loving Talks
A series that pairs nature-based talks with artist presentations.
Sponsored by the Community Foundation of Campbellford, Seymour and Northumberland.
Details:
September 16th, October 14th and November 11th
Aron Theatre Co-op, Campbellford, 7:00-9:00 pm
Pay what you can at the door.
Register here to save your seat
Talk 1:
Permaculture and Land Art
DJ Lewis + Nell Tenhaaf
Wednesday, September 16, 2026 | 7 pm-9 pm
DJ Lewis
DJ Lewis was raised on a small hobby farm that was striving for self-sufficiency in South Australia. A lasting impression was left that formed the foundation for his passion for Permaculture Living. With the help of his wife and two young children, this passion is lived every day on their 2.5-acre homestead on the outskirts of Campbellford. Growing good things, by living and practicing Permaculture using sustainably resilient methods that align with the base Ethics and Principles of Permaculture.
DJ will present and talk you through the basic Ethics and Principles of Permaculture and how they form the basis of a holistic approach to soil health, land management and sustainable living. These principles are based on ecological patterns, aiming to create sustainable, resilient, and regenerative systems. Rooted in ethics of Earth Care, People Care, and Fair Share, these principles help design homes, gardens, and communities that produce no waste, maximize natural resources, and function in harmony with nature.
Nell Tenhaaf
Nell Tenhaaf is an electronic media artist and writer who has lived in Trent Hills for the past decade. She has exhibited her work in Canada and internationally, and is in several public collections including the National Gallery of Canada. Her practice is focused on interrelations between humans and our digital technologies.
Nell will look at some iconic works of land art from about fifty years ago that were part of the Conceptual Art movement, artists who rebelled against the way art is institutionalized both in museums and as a commodity. The visibility of women artists was given a boost in this genre of work, after centuries of underrepresentation. The artworld has become more open to social issues, and some recent art that uses the land makes a more overt environmental statement. These artworks are deliberately conscious about our interconnections with Earth and the natural world.
Talk 2:
Zooming out and Zooming in.
Jan Thornhill + Dimitri Papatheodorou
Wednesday, October 14 | 7 pm-9 pm
Dimitri Papatheodorou
Dimitri Papatheodorou is a visual artist, musician, and architect whose practice moves fluidly between sound, form, and narrative. Based in Warkworth, Ontario, Dimitri is the founder of The Periphery, a collaborative studio and gallery that serves as both workspace and cultural node, fostering dialogue across disciplines. His current musical project, The NorthLumberlads, continues this ethos of collaboration, bringing together musicians in a shared exploration of story, place, and performance.
Dimitri will talk about The Constructed Environment. He will zoom in and zoom out, from his encaustic sculptures (based on pigment and melted beeswax that solidifies) and other art-works that are intimate pieces, to community (architecture). The idea of ‘constructed environment’ can connect the cellular with the collective, and blur the distinction between what we are capable of doing to the world (good and bad) with the processes of the natural world.
Jan Thornhill
Jan Thornhill has been studying the amazing fungi she finds around her home in southeastern Ontario (Canada) for more than 30 years. Though she is not beyond eating the choice ones, she is much more interested in fungal (and slime mold) diversity, ecology, and collecting the weird and wonderful, all of which she obsessively photographs, catalogues, and vouchers. She has spoken widely about fungi in both Canada and the U.S. and participates yearly in the on-going scientific survey of fungi in Newfoundland and Labrador. She also sometimes writes about her favorite oddities on her blog: weirdandwonderfulwildmushrooms.blogspot.ca.
Jan’s talk will focus on Myxomycetes, or slime molds. These are strange entities that begin their lives oozing around the forest as giant, multinucleate, single-celled “plasmodium” – slimy masses that, though brainless, are capable of navigating mazes, solving puzzles and telling time. Eventually – usually when the food it hunts and engulfs runs out – the plasmodium morphs almost magically from single cell into multicellular, spore-producing, free-standing structures that are astonishing in their variety and beauty. Slime molds transform/morph/metamorphose from formless, wet, free-flowing single-celled plasma into something that is multicellular, stationary, solid (though fragile and transient), dry, and regenerative (reproductive).
Talk 3:
Landscapes in Perspective
Dorothy Caldwell + Graham Wilson
Wednesday, November 11 | 7 pm-9 pm
Dorothy Caldwell
Dorothy Caldwell, is a textile artist who carries out an active art practice from her Hastings Ontario Studio. She received the Prix Saidye Bronfman, Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Art, for her work. Research in the Australian Outback, the Canadian Arctic, Japan, India, and Newfoundland continuously informs her art, and visual vocabulary.
Dorothy will present the talk Mapping Land and Stitching Cloth. She will talk about her projects in the Australian Outback, the Canadian Arctic, and explorations of local land and home territory. Working on the land reveals human traces left through settlement and migration. Underneath human activity is the larger geology, the intimate details and textures, and the natural history of places. Through walking, observing, recording, and collecting a relationship is built with the land. Natural objects, and artifacts are collected and become tangible memorial, and inspirational points of departure. As well, earth and plant materials native to place, are gathered, processed, and used in the making of her large scale textile works.
Graham Wilson
Graham Wilson is a professional geoscientist in Ontario, and over a career of almost 50 years has spanned academic and industry roles as researcher, consultant and teacher. His core topics include mineralogy, mineral exploration, and studies of meteorites. Working on six continents, he has lived in Campbellford since 1998.
Graham will present the talk Natural Materials. Geology and related disciplines (Earth and Planetary Sciences) include much that many of us take for granted: our landscapes of rock and soil, air and water, all components that we need for our day to day lives, for our very existence. This talk will offer a brief review of rocks and minerals in space and time, roughly divided between local (Trent Hills) geology and a wider overview of planet Earth. The local view is the gentle landscape of fields and woodland, rolling hills and ridges, cut by valleys, all scenic elements sculpted by the geologically-recent Ice Age.
Earth Loving Workshops
Workshop 1:
John Wagner – Black Ash Basket Making
Artworth & Michi Saagiig Anishinaabe artist, wood carver, and traditional craftsman, John Wagner from Curve Lake First Nation, is back by popular demand to present this hands-on Black Ash basket making workshop in Campbellford, Ontario.
Date & Time: Friday, August 14 | 10:30am – 5:00pm (with a break for your lunch)
Workshop Size: Up to 12 (maximum)
Cost:
Medium Ash Basket with a Handle — $250 per person (approx. up to 7 hours). (Includes all sustainably harvested supplies).
Location: Campbellford (details will be shared upon registration)
Workshop 2:
Paul Portelli – Clay Sculpting from the Model
Working out of his studio in Warkworth, Paul Portelli fashions figurative sculptures from terra cotta clay. His work frequently investigates themes of religious and mythological stories through delicate, hand-built forms.
This workshop will introduce you to figure sculpture hand-built in clay. You will sculpt a torso, directly from the male model, using the coil method, a technique often used in hand building. Some anatomy and composition will be examined. Personal creativity will be encouraged and emphasized. This workshop is designed for both the beginner as well as those with experience sculpting with clay.
Date & Time: Saturday, September 12 | 9:00am – 4:00pm (with a break for your lunch)
Workshop Size: Up to 14 people (maximum)
Cost: $140
Location: The Gathering Place, Warkworth (further details will be shared upon registration)
Workshop 3:
Kate Hayday – Painting with Plants
Kate creates with plants, code, fire, wood, wool and words. An experienced writer, artist, and technology consultant, Kate runs the company Maker’s Dozen (www.makersdozen.ca), working passionately in the spaces where art, science, and nature intersect. She is an enthusiastic guide and teacher, leading walks, talks and workshops that range from beginner robotics to understanding animal tracks.
Learn how to make wild inks and paint with plants! From acorns to sumac, wild grape to goldenrod, join us for a painting with plants workshop. No art skills or green thumbs needed, just a curiosity about the natural world and the fascinating colours hiding in the trees, flowers, bark and berries around us. We’ll discuss historic ink made from oak galls, DIY drawing charcoal, and focus on how to make great use of invasive species. You’ll have both open and guided time to work with a selection of natural inks, and take home a plant painting of your own.
Date & Time: Saturday, September 26 | 9:30am – 12:30pm
Workshop Size: 10 people (maximum)
Cost: $80.00 (Supplies included)
Location: Campbellford (details will be shared upon registration)
Workshop 4:
Fermenting Together
A hands-on introduction to Fermentation
Valda Okane has been growing and fermenting veggies for over 10 years. Warkworth has been her home for 27 years, and she’s teaming up with Heidi Schaeffer to share her passion for fermented foods. Heidi has been a gardener and community herbalist for over 30 years. Her focus will be on making water kefir blends with additions of wild-harvested plants.
Date & Time: Saturday, October 17 | 10:00am – 1:00pm (with a short break)
Workshop Size: Up to 10 participants
Cost: $80.00 (Supplies included)
Location: Warkworth (details will be shared upon registration)
Workshop 5:
Em Day – Beaded Jewelry
Two Spirit community worker and artist, Em Day, is teaming up with Artworth again, and this time to present a traditional beading workshop. Em grew up in Tkaronto with ties to Genaabaajing (Serpent River First Nation) and now resides in Nogojiwanong/Peterborough. Last year, Em led two hand drum-making workshops.
Date & Time: Saturday, October 24 | 10:30am – 3:00pm (with a break for lunch)
Workshop Size: Up to 12 (maximum)
Cost: $80.00 (Supplies included)
Location: Warkworth (details will be shared upon registration)