Craftworks at Cool Spring

CraftWorks at Cool Spring is a West Virginia nonprofit corporation that uses the arts, nature and sustainability to connect people to the environment and their communities. We foster creativity and appreciation for nature, which in turn inspires fuller lives, promotes vibrant communities, and fosters environmental stewardship.

Our home place is historic Cool Spring, an 81-acre preserve south of Charles Town, West Virginia. The central natural features are Bullskin Run and Cool Spring Marsh, a rare ecosystem known as a Shenandoah Valley Wet Prairie marl marsh. Here, the power of place is an essential teaching tool.

Through inspiring learning experiences, we expand the horizons of nature studies and contemporary craft. Through our Nature Studies programs, we envision backyards and home gardens as nature preserves. In Sustainable Home classes, we help people rediscover home crafts like stonework and furniture restoration. We help people imagine new ways of thinking about their homes, their lives, the environment, economy, and community.

CraftWorks at Cool Spring, Inc., was founded in 2008, and piloted 12 classes at Cool Spring in summer 2009. In summer 2010, we opened the Shepherdstown studio and have thus far in 2010 hosted some 1,500 people in our programs and events.