Activities at The Understory Music Arts
Shibori Dye Workshop
Led by creative powerhouse Emily Russell, bring a few light-colored T-shirts, clothes you'd like to give new life, and your Understory bandana. Emily will guide you through the Japanese art of shibori dyeing, sending you home with one-of-a-kind pieces that carry a little of the weekend with them.
Hat Craft
A longtime McCarthy family tradition. Using natural materials and a little imagination, you'll create a one-of-a-kind woodland hat worthy of the Understory. We highly encourage wearing it to the evening music.
Tarot Card Readings
Dakota Keene reads tarot as a tool for reflection, storytelling, and conversation. Bring a question or don’t, we can let the cards open a new way of seeing. Limited space. Sign up at the Information Station when you arrive.
Guided Nature Walk
Walk the Understory with Dakota Keene and learn to see the forest a little differently. We'll identify native plants, pause to listen for birds, discover springboard stumps hidden among the trees, and trace how this landscape has changed since the great fire of 1894. It's a walk about ecology, history, and the clues that reveal how a forest remembers. This walk will include a steep incline back from the lower pasture that can really leave a person huffing and puffing, so bring good shoes. Limited to 10 participants. Sign up at the Information Station when you arrive.
Forest Art Walk
Wander the forest and discover original works created especially for the Understory by invited artists. This year's collection explores Pacific Northwest creatures—both mythical and real—with each artist offering their own interpretation of the beings that inhabit these woods, from the familiar to the imagined.
The Forest Art Walk is open all day and is meant to be explored at your own pace, but we encourage you to return at dusk. Its truest magic arrives as the light begins to fade and the forest changes character, inviting the creatures to become part of the landscape once again.