Mountain Institute for Lifelong Learning at Warren Wilson College is a vessel for community building, exploration, adventure, place-based learning, and the ignition of new passion for lifelong learners. These are non-credit bearing experiences, ranging in length from one to three weeks, that bring learners to our campus in Asheville, NC or send them on global explorations with Warren Wilson faculty. These courses highlight the unique magic of Warren Wilson College, which has been a hub of experiential learning since its founding as the Asheville Farm School in 1894.

Adults of all ages are encouraged to apply (18+). The majority of courses will take place on Warren Wilson’s campus, and others will be Worldwide Courses that depart from Asheville but travel to various corners of the globe.

Cameraless Eco-Photography Weekend

Join us for a weekend of playful sustainability in the darkroom! We’ll work with ecologically-friendly and sustainably sourced materials to make cameraless photographic prints, both in the darkroom and under the bright blue skies of our beautiful Warren Wilson campus.

Weekend Course

Level: All

Cost: $260 (+ $25 materials fee)

Storytelling Through Cloth Weekend

Experience how fiber arts can have a powerful impact on storytelling, building community, and create a space for healing. Learn hand stitching techniques such as embroidery, applique and fabric collage, bringing story into a visual tactile piece of art. 

Weekend Course

Level: Beginner to Intermediate

Cost: $260 (+ $30 materials fee)

One-Legged Stool Weekend

We will explore the definition of a chair and balance. The course will cover shaping wood and mortise and tenon joinery by using a drill press, routers, tapering jig, tentoning jig on a table saw and a square chisel mortiser. We will also cover sanding and finishing. By the end of the class you will have a stool that you will enjoy for a very long time.

Weekend Course

Level: Advanced Beginner +

Cost: $260 (+$50 materials fee)

Block Printing on Fabric (and a little dyeing, too!) Weekend

In this weekend course, learn to design and carve your own lino-style stamps and block print onto fabric in a variety of eye-pleasing ways: single motifs, repeating patterns, border designs, and more. Learn the difference between a negative design and a positive design and how each creates an impact on your fabric. By the end of the weekend, you’ll be proficient at carving, inking, and printing onto fabrics and clothing.

Weekend Course

Level: All

Cost: $260 (+ $25 materials fee)

Broom Craft: an Introduction to Appalachian-Style Broom Making Weekend

There was a time in which folks around the world bundled native grasses together to form brooms used to sweep. In this workshop you will spend the weekend learning skills practiced for generations here in the Appalachian mountains to craft a series of whisk brooms and a floor sweeping broom. At the end of workshop, you will have developed some broom-crafting skills and you will have made a small collection of brooms to take back home with you.

Weekend Course

Level: Beginner

Cost: $260 (+ $60 materials fee)

Making and Selling Natural Products Weekend

In this two-day course, we’ll learn what makes natural products natural, formulating and making these products, figuring cost of goods to sell wholesale or retail, buying to maximize profit, branding and marketing and much more!

Weekend Course

Level: Advanced Beginner +

Cost: $260 (+$60 materials fee)

Rhythm Workshop for Musicians Weekend

This course is designed for professional musicians and adult music students who wish to develop their rhythmic skills and knowledge. An area of music theory that is often neglected, rhythm is core to building a deeper level of musicianship. All students in this class develop rhythmic vocabulary and proficiency through group performance in an experiential context that combines the mind and body to holistically ingrain rhythmic prowess.

Weekend Course

Level: Beginner +

Cost: $260