Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill

Beeswax Dipped Candles

Date: May 31, 2025
Time: 2:00 pm  to  4:30 pm

2025 Beeswax Dipped Candles

Saturday, May 31, 2025 | 2:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Dipping (002)
Dipping 2

Join us for an afternoon of dipping beeswax candles as we explore historic methods of light and illumination. During Pleasant Hill's heyday, the Shakers cultivated dozens of beehives, valuing the bees both for their important role as pollinators and for their production of honey and wax. We'll discuss Shaker Village's continuation of this long tradition, including sampling some honey from our hives, before making our own candles over an open fire.

Annual Passholder: $50
General Admission: $55

sold out

No experience necessary. Guests should be aware that this workshop involves standing/walking, the ability to hold and grip materials, and exposure to smoke. This workshop is for ages 14+. All minors must be accompanied by a ticketed adult.

Program fee includes one complimentary admission to Shaker Village and one voucher for 20% off dining at The Trustees’ Table (excluding alcoholic beverages). Dining reservations recommended: call 859.734.5411. 

All tickets are non-refundable and non-transferable.

Questions? Call 859.734.5411 or email [email protected] for more information. Shaker Village is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.

 

Basic Broomology: An Introduction to Hand-Tied Brooms

Date: February 8, 2025
Time: 2:00 pm  to  5:00 pm

2025 An Introduction to Hand-Tied Brooms

Saturday, February 8, 2025 | 2:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Crafts, Brooms, Broommaking, DIY

Historically, the Pleasant Hill Shakers were known for their quality flat brooms, manufactured by the thousand and sold across the midwestern United States. In this workshop, we're returning to the folk art of "broomology," making our own hand-tied brooms without special machinery or equipment. Using hemp cord and natural broomcorn, the same materials once used by the Shakers, we'll make several different kinds of basic brooms, including a whisk broom, pot scrubber, and cobwebber broom with wooden handle.

Annual Passholder: $65
General Admission: $75

sold out

No experience necessary. Guests should be aware that this workshop involves visual acuity, fine-motor control, and the ability to securely hold and grip materials. This workshop is for ages 14+. All minors must be accompanied by a ticketed adult.

Program fee includes one complimentary admission to Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill and one voucher for 20% off dining at The Trustees’ Table (excluding alcoholic beverages). Dining reservations recommended: call 859.734.5411. 

All tickets are non-refundable and non-transferable.

Questions? Call 859.734.5411 or email [email protected] for more information. Shaker Village is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.

Cabin Fever Package

Date: January 10, 2025 - January 11, 2025
Time: 8:00 am  to  5:00 pm

2025 Cabin Fever Retreat

January 10-11, 2025
Cabin Fever Package

Beat the winter blues with an escape to relax on our 3,000 acres. Stay the night in one of our cozy king or queen guest rooms, enjoy the peacefulness of gathering around a fire pit and warm up with a delicious meal at The Trustees' Table.

This package includes an in-room gift, drink vouchers for two at The Trustees' Table and a hearty breakfast for two.

Come for just one night, or make it a weekend getaway. There will be no chance for the winter blues when you stay with us! 

Book With Code: CABN

Rates are $189 plus tax per night for two people. Available to book either Friday or Saturday night, or make it a two-night stay. Dining reservations are required at The Trustees’ Table.

Questions? Call 859.734.5411 or email [email protected].

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Basic Basket Weaving: Kentucky Berry Basket

Date: July 26, 2025
Time: 10:00 am  to  5:00 pm

2025 Basic Basket Weaving: Kentucky Berry Basket

Saturday, July 26, 2025 | 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
market basket

The Shakers manufactured hundreds of baskets annually, from work baskets to miniature "fancywork" baskets that showed off their skill in working with delicate materials like ash, cane, and reed. In this workshop, we'll explore the diverse traditions of Kentucky and Shaker basketry, making our own swing-handled berry baskets. Using natural and smoked reed in contrasting stripes, this small project is the perfect introduction for beginners wanting to learn the fundamental techniques of basket making.

Annual Passholder: $110
General Admission: $120

sold out

No experience necessary. Guests should be aware that this workshop involves acuity, fine-motor control, grip strength, and upper-body strength. This workshop is intended for participants aged 18+.

Program fee includes a boxed lunch, one complimentary admission to Shaker Village and one voucher for 20% off dining at The Trustees’ Table (excluding alcoholic beverages). Dining reservations recommended: call 859.734.5411.

All tickets are non-refundable and non-transferable.

Questions? Call 859.734.5411 or email [email protected] for more information. Shaker Village is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.

Cross Stitch Shaker Samplers

Date: March 15, 2025
Time: 1:00 am  to  5:00 pm

2025 Cross Stitch Shaker Samplers

Saturday, March 15 & Sunday, March 16, 2025 | 1-5:00 p.m.
CROSS STITCH

Delve into needlework with a Shaker cross stitch sampler! Young women in the 19th century often stitched samplers as one of their first needlework projects, learning key sewing skills. We’ll discuss Shaker samplers broadly and then take a close look at some original Shaker samplers in the Shaker Village collection. Due to their fragility, these samplers are seldom on display – this is a rare opportunity to view them. Participants will then begin on their own samplers, working a reproduction of Shaker Village’s Elizabeth Spaulding/Mary Ann Ewing sampler.

All participants will receive a kit with all necessary materials (including embroidery hoop, needle, fabric, floss, and sampler chart).

Annual Passholder: $80
General Admission: $90

March 15 | sold out
March 16 | register now

Guests should have a basic understanding of cross stitch, other embroidery techniques, or sewing. Guests should be aware that this workshop involves visual acuity and fine motor control. This workshop is intended participants aged 16+, although younger participants may be admitted on a case by case basis. All minors must be accompanied by a ticketed adult.

Program fee includes one complimentary admission to Shaker Village and one voucher for 20% off dining at the Trustees’ Table (excluding alcoholic beverages). Dining reservations recommended to assure availability: call 859.734.5411.

All tickets are non-refundable and non-transferable.

Questions? Call 859.734.5411 or email [email protected] for more information. Shaker Village is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.

Writer’s Workshop

Date: February 27, 2025 - March 2, 2025
Time: 8:00 am  to  9:00 pm

2025 Writer's Workshop

Writing as Spiritual Practice
February 27-March 2, 2025 | Prose or Poetry Classes | $655

Experience a four-day workshop with award-winning Kentucky authors, Fenton Johnson and Maurice Manning. This intimate opportunity to develop your writing skills will include overnight accommodations, meals, breakout sessions and musical performances along with nature and curatorial experiences unique to Shaker Village.

The workshop will include two paths: Prose or Poetry, led by longtime friends Fenton Johnson (prose) and Maurice Manning (poetry). The pair met 15 years ago when Johnson’s sister said to him, “I hear there’s a poet who just moved into the neighborhood, would you like to meet him?” Johnson eagerly replied, “I’m always interested in meeting a poet.”

Attendees will focus on writing as a spiritual practice. The wounds of the world must be addressed by changing how people see ourselves in relation to the planet. That requires courage and more complete self-knowledge. Here we will turn our adventuring spirit within, to undertake an interior journey. Where better to undertake that journey than at Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill?

Workshop Agenda
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sold out

Kentucky native Fenton Johnson is the author of three novels and four works of creative nonfiction, The Man who Loved Birds, At the Center of All Beauty: Solitude and the Creative Life, a New York Times Editors’ Pick and Kentucky Humanities Kentucky Reads Book of the Year, Scissors, Paper, Rock. He has been a contributor to National Public Radio, Harper’s Magazine, and the New York Times Magazine, and has received numerous literary awards. He has taught in the nation’s leading creative writing programs and is Emeritus Professor of the University of Arizona. He continues to lecture and teach nationally. In 2024 he was named to the Kentucky Writers Hall
of Fame.

Kentucky poet Maurice Manning's eighth book of poetry is Snakedoctor. His first book, Lawrence Booth's Book of Visions, was selected for the Yale Series of Younger Poets. His fourth book, The Common Man, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. His poems have appeared in Ploughshares, Poetry, Time, and The New Yorker.  He is the co-creator with Steve Cody, of The Grinnin' Possum Podcast, featuring poetry, old-time music, and history.  A former Guggenheim fellow, Manning teaches at Transylvania University and lives on a small farm in Washington County.

The Writer's Workshop is Supported by and in Partnership with:

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