This September, the Shenandoah National Park Trust is hosting Art in the Park: Scenes from Shenandoah at the Big Meadows Wayside (mile 51.2). This 2-day event will feature workshops and demonstrations by local artists from across the region that are free and open to the public. These teaching artists—whose mediums range from watercolor, charcoal, and photography to fiber art, printmaking, and music—will conduct events throughout the weekend designed to engage, educate, and inspire visitors to connect with Shenandoah.
Join us at the Big Meadows Amphitheater on Friday, September 25th at 6pm for a performance by Artists-in-Residence, The Honey Dewdrops!
Thank you to this year’s Art in the Park Sponsors & Partners:
This event is proudly supported by our event sponsors and the Kevin H. Adams Memorial Endowment, created in memory of local landscape artist and SNPT Artist-in-Residence Kevin H. Adams. The fund mentors emerging artists and sustains programs like Art in the Park and our Artists-in-Residence Program. A gift to the endowment helps ensure Shenandoah keeps inspiring artists for years to come.
Weekend Programming Schedule
Friday, September 25, 2026
Drawing Plants & Flowers | Elena Maza Borkland
10:30am | Tent at Big Meadows Wayside (mile 51.2)
This workshop will show you how to draw a plant using perspective, correct measurements, and shading to create a life-like impression of three dimensions on paper. We will be working with graphite pencils on paper outdoors.
Creating with Nature | Carolina Mayorga
12:00pm | Tent at Big Meadows Wayside (mile 51.2)
This hands-on outdoor workshop encourages participants to explore Shenandoah’s landscapes by collecting natural materials and transforming them into original 2D and 3D artworks. Participants may create site-responsive pieces directly in nature or bring gathered materials to a shared outdoor workspace for further development. Activities will take place outdoors, offering an immersive experience inspired by the park’s natural beauty, textures, and environment. This newly updated version of the workshop introduces expanded opportunities for creative exploration and deeper engagement with the landscape.
Intro to Oil Painting | Gabrielle Sabri
1:30pm | Tent at Big Meadows Wayside (mile 51.2)
Join Charlottesville artist Gabrielle Sabri for an approachable introduction to oil painting, inspired by the sweeping views right outside the Big Meadows Wayside. In this hour-long session, participants will learn the alla prima (wet-on-wet) technique — a direct, forgiving way of painting that lets you capture a scene in a single sitting, without waiting for layers to dry. Gabrielle will demonstrate her signature approach: starting with a warm pink underpainting that gives every landscape a soft, glowing foundation before the first brushstroke of color goes down. From there, participants will work alongside her to translate the mountains, meadows, and changing light of Shenandoah onto their own small canvas, focusing on capturing mood and atmosphere rather than precise detail. No painting experience is necessary — Gabrielle is entirely self-taught and believes anyone can learn to see and paint light in the landscape around them. All materials will be provided, and attendees of all ages and skill levels are welcome. Participants will leave with a completed small study and a new way of looking at the park’s scenery.
Crochet 101 | Emma Cox
3:00pm | Tent at Big Meadows Wayside (mile 51.2)
Join Emma as she guides you through a simple crochet project.
Acrylic Mind Scape Painting| Marcellus C. Northington-Winston
4:30pm | Tent at Big Meadows Wayside (mile 51.2)
Acrylic Mindscape Painting guides participants to paint natural scenes from memory or dreams, blending mindfulness, imagination, and manifestation to enhance creative intuition, mental clarity, and self-expression through translating inner visions into vivid acrylic landscapes.
The Honey Dewdrops
6:00pm | Big Meadows Amphitheater
Virginia natives, Laura Wortman and Kagey Parrish of The Honey Dewdrops, began touring in 2009. With thousands of miles and performances under their belts, along with 8 full-length albums, the Dewdrops have long showcased the dynamism of two voices and two instruments. Laura and Kagey constantly push the boundaries of their experimental folk sound—blending electric and acoustic guitars, mandolin and clawhammer banjo—while weaving in tight vocal harmonies. They remain committed to deepening their understanding of the world through songwriting and music.
Saturday, September 26, 2026
Sculpting with Sculpey: Creating Miniature Polymer Sculptures| Ishraq Quasem
9:00am | Tent at Big Meadows Wayside (mile 51.2)
This hands-on workshop invites participants to explore the expressive potential of polymer clay using Sculpey. Attendees will learn basic sculpting and molding techniques using specialized tools, as well as how to build internal structures using wire and tinfoil to support more complex forms.
Botanical Character Illustrations | Jade Dickinson
10:30am | Tent at Big Meadows Wayside (mile 51.2)
Use the natural surroundings to inspire an expressive character design in acrylic gouache. Participants will learn the basics of this medium as well as shape language and drawn expressions to bring their Shenandoah character to life in a small painting.
Splotch Monster Island | Stephen Loya
12:00pm | Tent at Big Meadows Wayside (mile 51.2)
Create mythical creatures inspired by nature and animals from watercolor paint splotches! Learn how to add various details and make a story about your Splotch Monster in this workshop, where observation sparks imagination.
Drypoint Intaglio | Jordan Bennett
1:30pm | Tent at Big Meadows Wayside (mile 51.2)
Drypoint intaglio is the art of scratching a picture into a metal or plastic surface, filling those scratches with ink, and using a press to print that ink onto paper. This workshop explores how to take inspiration from Shenandoah to make our own drypoint prints.
Surrealist Collage: Dreaming in Fragments | Lisa Gaidanowicz
3:00pm | Tent at Big Meadows Wayside (mile 51.2)
Build a small surrealist collage using vintage magazine clippings, botanical illustrations, and found ephemera. Combine unexpected images into a dreamlike composition.
The Nature of Attention: Poetry as Lived Experience | Skylar Wampler
4:30pm | Tent at Big Meadows Wayside (mile 51.2)
In this immersive poetry workshop, writers of all levels and backgrounds will come together to explore attention as a creative practice and a lens through which we encounter the natural world. Through guided observation, reflection, and attention to the natural world around us, we will consider how poetry reveals itself to us from moments of deep presence. Drawing from contemporary lyric poets such as Mary Oliver and Ross Gay, we will transform experience into language through an exploration of sensory awareness, imagination, and inter-species perception. No prior writing experience is necessary, all are welcome to discover new ways of integrating attention and transforming it into a read language. You are encouraged to bring your own personal journal or notebook, but supplies will be available if needed.