Head over to West Virginia’s oldest and largest state park! Watoga State Park presents “Art in the Park” on Labor Day Weekend. From Saturday, September 2nd – Sunday, September 3rd, you will celebrate all things native to this beautiful park with fine arts, crafts, music, food, workshops, and nature activities, such as the Owl Prowl! You can also shop for that special someone and pick up original art from one of many vendors. This event is held all weekend from 9am-5pm and is free for everyone of all ages.

Watoga State Park is located near Seebert in the mountains of Pocahontas County, about 40 miles north of Lewisburg. It first opened on July 1, 1937 and covers slightly over 10,100 acres (41km). The park includes water fountains, trails, a swimming pool, a reservoir, 34 cabins; 2 campgrounds with 88 total campsites (50 with electricity), picnic shelters, an 11-acre fishing lake, hiking trails, the Ann Bailey Lookout Tower, and the Greenbrier River Trail.

Take a class in pottery, pastel, watercolor, acrylic painting, blacksmithing, mask making, and/or wood working! Free workshops are held Saturday and Sunday and available for all ages. Full time artist and signature member of the West Virginia Watercolor Society, Rose Dobbins (pictured below), will teach two classes in Pastels. Learn more about Rose at rosedobbins.blogspot.com;

Professional artist, Sigrid Eilertson (pictured below), will teach two classes in collage and mask making. Sigrid’s own collages are overlapping layers of her own personal growth experiences though the media of paper. Learn more about Sigrid at sigrideilertson.wordpress.com. Kristen Lecroy (pictured to the left) will teach classes in Acrylics. Youngsters can expect a great time with Kristen since her favorite things to paint are monsters and sea creatures. Learn more about Kristen at watogaartinthepark.com/workshops/.

Here is the full list of workshops.

• Saturday and Sunday: Kathryn Gillispie teaches Watercolor from 10-11:30 and 3:30-5pm;
• Pastels with Rose Dobbins from 11-2pm;
• Learn acrylics with Kristen Lecroy. Both days, she will teach classes on Painting and Pollinating Flowers, “Gyotaku” Fish Stamp Art, and Havin’ a Hoot: How to paint/draw owls;
• Woody Harman will teach a blacksmith workshop from 9-5pm;
• Ken Nagakui will teach Wood Fired Pottery from 10-2pm;
• Mary Burruss will teach Yoga/Art Therapy from 10-noon;
• Sigrid Eilertson teaches Mask Making and Collages from 2-5pm;
• Kathryn Gillispie teaches Nature Pottery from 2-3pm.
• To conclude the workshop series each night, there will be a Brighthouse Tea House 2-4pm.

Also all weekend long, there will be nature activities including Early Birds Walks and Hikes, Tree Detective Hikes, Stepping Out, Nature Activities, and Owl Prowl. The Early Birds walks and hikes are held from 9-11am. The objective of this hike is to identify a variety of birds either audibly or visually, bird behaviors, and bird habitat. Scheduled from 12:30-2pm, Tree Detective Hikes will encourage participants to make their own field notebook (watch for fine details) to include either writing or drawings of what they encountered during the walk/hike. From 3-4pm, participants of Stepping Out will step out into the wild to observe visual and acoustic signs; analyze footprints through mud, sand, and vegetation; and examine animal scat, hair, and fur, They will also use plaster and plastic molds to make animal footprints of those animals they might want to see during the walk/hike.

Nature Photography with Gwen Balogh and Louanne McConnell Fatora will be held from 5-6pm.

On Saturday night, there will be an Owl Prowl where naturalists will escort teams of participants into the woods at dark to identify particular kinds of owls. On Sunday’s Owl Prowl, participants will have an opportunity to make an owl house at a supervised station. Pre-cut materials will be provided. Sunday night’s activity will include stargazing and s’mores around a campfire.

Aurora Celtic will play Saturday afternoon from 12-2pm and 3-5pm. Sunday’s music is Paolo and Erica from 12-3pm. The menu includes stone oven pizza, loaded mac and cheese, ice cream, gourmet coffees and teas, and an assortment of baked goods.

At check-in, participants will receive mini park maps with hike and workshop times. For more information about this special event, find this event on facebook or visit WatogaArtInThePark.com

“Art in the Park” cover art by Jennifer Nicole, ArtInTheGarage.com.

– HashtagWV #92. August 2017.