TUcson presidio museum
Workshops
Experience history and heritage up close
Pre-registration is required for all workshops. Click on the appropriate date below to register.

Presidio Painting – A Workshop
Join artist John Gates in a watercolor class and take home a memory of the Presidio that you create. We will cover basic painting concepts and watercolor techniques, practice what we’ve learned, and then create a 5” x 7” painting of a scene at the Presidio. Your work will be placed in an 8” x 10” mat and protective sleeve for safe and easy transport. Whether you are a seasoned artist or have never picked up a paintbrush, you’ll have fun and experience the Presidio in a new way.
(Painting above by John Gates)

Taste of the Desert: Wild and Cultivated Food Plants of the Sonoran Desert Tasting & Workshop
Join Naturalist Jack Dash for a discussion of wild edibles and native cultivated plants in southern Arizona. Attendees will learn the historic and contemporary uses for several species of Borderlands plants and be able to taste dishes such as palo verde bean edamame, prickly-pear and agave agua fresca, and mesquite crackers, while learning how to make tepary bean hummus. This is an opportunity to connect with the cultural heritage of our region through the foods that have sustained people in the Sonoran Desert for millennia.

Tohono O’odham Utilitarian Vessel Pottery Workshop
Kathleen Vance, Tohono O’odham potter, will lead attendees in creating a Tohono O’odham Utilitarian Vessel, a small clay vessel made from white clay, which Kathleen digs and processes on her own. The vessel is known as paddle and anvil using coils to build the walls of the vessel.

Nopalitos Workshop
Over the past few millennia, the succulent pads of the prickly pear cactus have fed millions of humans and other animals, offering life-sustaining calories, vitamins, calcium and a host of other minerals. When the young nopal pads are cut up, they become nopalitos and they are ready to be mixed with other ingredients to make delicious and healthy dishes. Locally, young prickly pear pads appear in the late spring, but Mexican farmers manipulate their crops so nopales are available year ‘round. Led by Carolyn Niethammer, author of The Prickly Pear Cookbook and four other cookbooks that include prickly pear recipes, this class will show attendees how to clean the pads of spines and cook them so they are ready to incorporate into delicious dishes. Be prepared to show up at the next potluck with something truly unusual.

Tohono O’odham Frybread Workshop
Everyone loves Tohono O’odham frybread. Not only is it delicious, but it is also diverse. It can be a sweet delicacy when it is topped with honey, powdered sugar, or cinnamon sugar. It can also serve as the base of more hearty foods like red chili or the Indian Taco when it holds beans, ground beef, lettuce, tomato, and cheese.
Sherrie Cruz of Sheri’s Traditional Foods will teach attendees how to prepare the dough, make the dough into small balls, heat the oil to the right temperature for frying, flatten out the dough, and safely place it into the hot oil to fry on both sides until the frybread is golden brown.
Sherrie grew up on the Tohono O’odham reservation in Santa Rosa Village. She learned to make frybread by watching her grandmother and mother make it and other traditional foods over the years. Today, she continues the tradition for her children and grandchildren and others by showing how to prepare this tasty bread.

Propagating & Cultivating Native Plants Workshop
Gardening with Native Plants is a way to connect your landscape to the wider ecological networks that we are all a part of. The Arizona-Sonora Borderlands is home to an astonishing diversity of plant species that survive in conditions ranging from year-round standing water to sun-baked desert. With such a broad selection at our fingertips, there is a native plant for every garden situation. Bringing these plants into your home can attract wildlife, cultivate food and medicine, and help stem the tide of habitat fragmentation, all while creating a sense of place. This workshop will focus on the methods for propagating and growing a variety of species native to the Sonoran Desert region. Through hands-on practice and observation, we will learn to start plants from seeds and cuttings and will discuss how to choose the right plant for your location and ensure that it thrives. This class is for gardeners of all levels with an interest in making their landscapes more resilient and productive. Participants are encouraged to come with plant questions, landscape drawings, and a willingness to learn.
All materials including pots, soil, and seeds/cuttings will be provided. Some pruners will be supplied, but participants are encouraged to bring hand pruners from home, as well as seeds or plant cuttings they would like to learn how to propagate.

Soap-Making Workshop
In this hands on class, Tracy Conklin, owner of Artemesia Soaps, will teach participants:
**The basics of making cold process soap from scratch using all natural ingredients,
**The fundamentals of cold process soapmaking,
**The best ways to safely work with sodium hydroxide (aka lye),
**The process of putting desert botanicals and clays in soap
Participants will leave class with one pound of soap, a soap mold, and recipes to continue soap-making adventures at home.

Spanish Heritage Sourdough Workshop
Learn the process of creating delicious and healthy sourdough bread from scratch from baker Marea Jenness. This hands-on event will teach attendees everything they need to know about using sourdough starter made with heritage White Sonora Wheat that the Spanish brought to this area around 1640. Participants will prepare the starter, learn how to make dough and how to bake the perfect loaf. This event is a great opportunity to meet fellow bread enthusiasts, ask questions, and hone baking skills. Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned baker, this workshop is perfect for anyone looking to master the art of sourdough bread making. Attendees will go home with a jar of sourdough starter and a loaf of sourdough bread to bake in their own kitchen, as well as a recipe for maintaining the sourdough starter.