This summer marked an exciting beginning for Whole Life Farm Arts & Music Foundation. We hosted our first Whole Life Farm Folk Fest and our first free Summer Music Camp—bringing children, families, musicians, artists, and neighbors together through music, creativity, and community.
On July 4, Whole Life Farm welcomed regional folk, bluegrass and Americana musicians for a full day of live music in Lawrence, Michigan. The Folk Fest also included art activities, wellness experiences, local vendors, children’s activities, yoga, sound baths, a campfire jam, and fireworks.
It was wonderful to watch people of all ages gather at the farm, discover new musicians, make art, relax outdoors, and connect.
Later in July, we welcome 12 children ages 8-12 to our fire free Summer Music Camp. Throughout the week, campers explored singing, folk dancing, drumming, Orff instruments, body percussion, movement, improvisation, and songwriting.
The children learned how to create music together, take turns leading, express their own ideas, and support one another as an ensemble. AT the end of the week, they shared what they had learned in a performance of “A Day at Whole Life Farm” for their families and community.
Offering the camp for free allowed children to participate regardless of their families’ financial circumstances. This is at the heart of our mission: expanding access to music education, the arts, and meaningful community experiences for people living in rural Southwest Michigan.
What Comes Next
Our first summer showed us how much our community values opportunities to learn, create, perform, and gather together. Now, we want to continue building accessible programming thoughout the year.
Whole Life Farm Arts & Music Foundation is seeking grants, donations, sponsors, and community partners to help us offer free or afforable programs including:
Community drum circles
Group guitar classes
Group Orff music classes
Mommy & Me music classes
Youth rock band
Adult jam nights
Songwriting classes
Community sound baths
Audio basics classes
Recitals
Bluegrass jams
Open mic nights
These programs would provide welcoming opportunities for children and adults to make music, develop new skills, share their creativity,y and form meaningful connections.
For families in rural communities, transportation, program costs, and limited local opportunities can make arts participation difficult. Our goal is to bring high-quality music, arts, and wellness programming directly to our community while keeping it accessible to as many people as possible.
We are deeply grateful to every camper, parent, musician, volunteer, vendor, sponsor, and community member who helped make our first summer possible. What began this year is only the first step toward creating a lasting home for music, art, education, and community at Whole Life Farm.
Would you like to be a part of what comes next? We welcome participants, volunteers, teaching artists, sponsors, donors, and community partners. Follow Whole Life Farm for upcoming programs and events, or contact us to learn how you can support our work.
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