Community Calendar

Free bike valet parking during the National Cherry Festival provided by Norte from 12 pm to 8 pm!

Free bike valet parking during the National Cherry Festival provided by Norte from 12 pm to 8 pm!

Cost: FREE
Audience: All ages, abilities, and interests

🎨🦉🔬 Discover, Explore, Create

Join us every second Saturday for a FREE afternoon of hands-on discovery! Families are invited to enjoy interactive experiences in science, history, and art while exploring the museum’s indoor and outdoor exhibits—including live animals and nature displays.

What to Expect:

🧪 Engaging science, history & art activities
🐍 Animal encounters & museum exploration
🌳 Outdoor exhibits to spark curiosity
🧩 Opportunities for problem-solving & creative thinking
🧠 A space to build critical thinking skills and lifelong learning

Please note: Free Second Saturdays are designed for quality family time. We kindly ask that no large groups attend.

Please Pre-register by "purchasing" a free ticket. This helps us prepare for number of people attending, THANK YOU!

Laughter is alive at Full Tilt Comedy's Comedy Lab! Come see what our students are working on at this experimental monthly show. Improv, stand up, new teams, new formats... anything goes!

This week-long event has contests for pros, amateurs, ladies and youth. Learn more and register at http://ludingtonoffshoreclassic.org

Monday - Friday, 9am - 12pm
Ages: 7 - 12
Fee: $125 or $112.50 for members.
Students bring: Water bottle & snack each day.

THEME: THE BIG AND SMALL OF IT

Campers will experiment with a wide variety of materials, including wood, papier-mache, found objects and recycled materials. These resources will be used to create three-dimensional sculptures and wall reliefs. Throughout these activities students will learn about form, balance, positive and negative space, scale and the importance of teamwork.

Each camper will create both large scale sculptures and vessels!

Date: M/T/F July 13, 14 and 17, 2026
Time: 1 pm–4 pm
Registration Deadline: Thursday, July 9, 2026
Location: Thoreson Farm
Skill: All Skill Levels

In this popular class, you will learn the basics of extruding and slab-rolling clay to construct tiny clay houses. Various decorating techniques will be used to finish the houses. Weather permitting, we will Raku fire the houses on Friday. The tranquil setting of Thoreson will inspire you to think of home and place.

NOTE: Finished pieces are normally ready for pick up within 2-4 weeks.

Objective: Skill Development, Creativity Enhancement

Outcome: Improved Technique, Creation of Artwork

Free, peer-led mental health support groups:

*NAMI Family Support (Mondays at 6pm. Online and in-person at HBA, 3040 Sunset Ln. See website for zoom link.)

*NAMI Connection Group (Mondays at 6pm. Online, see website for zoom link)

This week-long event has contests for pros, amateurs, ladies and youth. Learn more and register at http://ludingtonoffshoreclassic.org

Date: Tuesday, July 14, 2026
Time: 9 am–12 pm
Registration Deadline: Thursday, July 9, 2026
Location: TBD
Skill: All

Other Sessions in 4-Part Series: Monet (July 7). Porter (July 21). Kahn (July 28).

Imagine if history’s greatest landscape painters had the opportunity to paint in Sleeping Bear country, “The Most Beautiful Place In America.” This is a class to not only learn the techniques of plein air painting but also to learn about the methods of history’s great landscape painters. Each class will start off with a brief illustrated presentation, beginning with The History Of Landscape Painting, and moving on to newly featured artists for 2026, including Claude Monet, Wassily Kandinsky, Fairfield Porter, and Wolf Kahn. Following the presentations, students will seek to incorporate ideas learned into their own paintings. The instructor will give frequent demonstrations and provide close personal attention to each student.

Objective: Conceptual Understanding

Outcome: Development of Personal Style