Community Calendar

Discover how to turn wild plants into effective herbal remedies in this hands-on workshop. We’ll explore the properties and uses of yarrow, elderberry, cherry bark, and mullein, along with additional herbs for supporting the body through several common ailments. You’ll learn basic plant identification, safe usage, and practical methods for preparing tinctures, salves, teas and more at home. Designed for beginners and experienced learners alike, this class builds confidence in ethical foraging and remedy-making. Participants receive a sample of one of the wild remedies covered in class to take home, plus printed instructions covering all recipes.

Join us for a conversation on how Roger Shimomura and other contemporary artists have responded to the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII, using multiple artistic media to communicate messages of pain, protest, and perseverance. We will begin this Gallery Gathering by looking at Shimomura’s Nisei Triology in the For the People, By the People exhibition. Then we will move downstairs to the Joy Light Gallery to view the exhibition Resilience–A Sansei Sense of Legacy.

KNC holds the distinct privilege of working alongside two of the only three people in Michigan who are permitted to band Ruby-throated Hummingbirds. These small but mighty birds can tell an incredible story that leads researchers to better understand the species so that they can be properly protected. Banding and documenting body condition data contributes to the Ruby-throated Hummingbird’s story. For three days this fall, you can observe this process as part of our annual bird banding research with the Kalamazoo Valley Bird Observatory banding team. A rare and incredible experience to see Ruby-throated Hummingbirds up close. We’d love to share this special project with you!

We have Bird Banding Up Close happening daily (except on Saturdays) all fall long!

All banding, marking, and sampling is being conducted under a federally authorized Bird Banding Permit issued by the U.S. Geological Survey’s Bird Banding Lab.

Friday, August 28, 2026

Friday, September 4, 2026

Friday, September 11, 2026

Weather permitting

Time: 8 -10 am

Meet: KNC’s Bird Banding Barn

Fee: Included in regular KNC admission; KNC Members free!

Audience: All ages

"In September, our youngest art lovers can explore the work of local artists featured in the West Michigan Area Show. Through close looking and playful activities, young children can explore, move, and experience art together with their caregivers in a relaxed setting.

Wonder Walks is for children 2-4 years old (but all are welcome) and is free with the cost of admission. Caregivers must stay with their children at all times. Preregistration is encouraged"

Come to the Meader Fine Arts Library to create an artistic collage with Errin Ironside and the Collage Crew Kzoo. Inspired by the exhibition For the People, we are asking participants to meditate on what America means to you. All supplies will be provided.

Nature Journaling
Immerse yourself in the art of slowing down, looking closely, and connecting more deeply with the natural world. These nature journaling workshops are designed for anyone—who wants to cultivate a mindful, creative practice that blends observation, writing, and sketching.

These workshops invite you to step outdoors (or view nature from a window) and tune in to textures, colors, patterns, and stories unfolding around you. Along the way, you’ll explore topics such as seasonal change, nature-based mindfulness, basic field sketching techniques, and how to use your journal as a tool for wonder and awareness.

Please bring your own sketch or notebook. A limited amount of supplies will be available for those who may have misplaced their journal.

Meet: Glen Vista Gallery inside the Visitor Center
Fee: KNC Members are free; Non-Members $10
Audience: Teens, adults
Time: 10:00 – 11:30AM

Raptor Piñata Making
We love working with our birds of prey, and they need a lot of enrichment to keep their brains active. Help us keep our birds occupied by making bird piñatas!

Hiding food in shreddable containers is a great enrichment for our raptors, and it’s great to have unique exciting piñatas for them to destroy. Create a fun new toy for our birds and learn about the ways we keep our predators engaged and happy.

Saturday, September 5, 2026, 10 am-12 pm

Meet: Classroom inside the Visitor Center. This is a drop-in program.

Fee: Included in regular KNC admission; KNC Members free!

Audience: All ages

Come to the Meader Fine Arts Library on Saturday to create an artistic collage with Errin Ironside and the Collage Crew Kzoo. Inspired by the exhibition For the People, we are asking participants to meditate on what America means to you. All supplies will be provided.

Please join us the first Saturday of each month at 9 AM (barring special events or bad weather which will be announced on our Facebook page), for "Beginning Birding Walks," led by experienced birders from the Audubon Society of Kalamazoo. This event is free and open to the public. Meet at the second parking lot at Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery in Mattawan, just off SR 43. All skill levels are welcome.

We will enjoy nature while typically identifying 20-40 species of birds, plus butterflies, frogs, etc. Over 200 bird species have been sighted at Wolf Lake, which offers a variety of habitats and easy walking trails. Annual highlights include colorful songbirds like orioles, warblers, tanagers, hawks and eagles, kingfishers, Great Blue and Green Herons, and over 20 species of waterfowl. Eastern Bluebirds can be found year-round! Children accompanying adults are welcome. The focus is on birding fundamentals, and extra binoculars are always available. The walk typically takes about 2 hours (but feel free to arrive late or leave early).

"During this ArtBreak, Prof. Ginger Owen-Murakami will discuss one of the most influential documentary photographs ever created. Produced by Dorothea Lange during the Great Depression as part of Roy Stryker’s Farm Security Administration (FSA) photography project, Migrant Mother remains in the public domain of the United States Library of Congress. As one of the most widely reproduced images in American history, this photograph endures as a profound symbol of hardship, resilience, and collective memory, embodying the struggles and perseverance that shaped the American experience.

Ginger Owen-Murakami is a Professor of Photography at Western Michigan University's Gwen Frostic School of Art. She teaches a variety of classes in Fine Art Studies (History, Professional Practices, Traditional Darkroom, Digital & Alternative Processes). Owen-Murakami’s artwork derives imagery from narratives and themes of family history, race, gender, and culture. She has lectured, worked, and exhibited internationally."