SUGAR LOAF — Warwick artist Daniel Mack will lead Family Nature Play, a creative outdoor exploration for families and individuals, on three consecutive Saturdays — May 4, 11 and 18 — from 10 a.m.-noon at the Seligmann Homestead in Sugar Loaf.

 

Mack will guide participants on a hike along the trails through the meadows and woodlands at the 55-acre estate. The estate was a 19th-century dairy farm, then home to surrealist painter Kurt Seligmann. It is now the land of owls, swamp, rocky hillsides, turkey buzzards and outdoor sculptures. Mack will help visiting families explore, play and make a few things out of natural, found objects and materials.

 

Mack is known for his work with natural materials as an artist, furniture maker and architectural consultant. His work is in many private and museum collections, and he is the author of seven books.

 

Currently, he runs Rustic Furnishings Inc., which provides rustic architectural services. His rustic art is featured locally in the newly restored Bear Mountain Inn, an Adirondack-style lodge at Bear Mountain State Park that's on the National Historic Register. His most recent project is Grasshopper Grove, a children's nature playground opening this spring at the Hudson Highlands Nature Museum. There, he oversaw the building of structural elements such as the Learning Gazebo, Adirondack lean-to, water feature, kiosk, bridges and platforms.

This event is co-sponsored by the Orange County Land Trust and the Orange County Citizens Foundation, nonprofits sharing offices in the home and barns on the Seligmann Homestead, which was gifted to the Orange County Citizens Foundation in 1992.

 

Registration is appreciated, but not required. Participants can sign up for one or more weeks by contacting the Orange County Land Trust at 469-0951, ext. 12, or info@oclt.org. There is a fee of $20