The Cape Cod Museum of Natural History in Brewster presents three painting workshops:
Painting with Insects on Thursday, September 25, 2025
Botanical Painting on Friday, September 26, 2025
Painting with Mushrooms on Saturday September 27, 2025, all from 10am-12pm.

TICKETS: $20 Members per class | $25 Non-Members per class, available online at ccmnh.org
Space Limited to 12 people per session | No refunds
Museum Admission is an additional fee

Join Rachel Mirus, a STEAM teaching artist and science writer, for a painting workshop using familiar materials that you may have never thought to paint with: mushrooms, bugs and flowers! Rachel will demonstrate the ink-making process and share some of the fascinating history around these dye-making processes. Come try out these unusual materials and see what you can make!
Thursday, September 25: Painting with Insects
A few spectacular and famous dye and paint colors are made from insects. Rachel Mirus will introduce some of the fascinating history around these dye sources and lead an ink-making exploration using cochineal. Students will have time to work on an art project prompt, inspired by the history and natural history of these insect dyes.

Friday, September 26: Botanical Painting
For centuries, artists looked to natural sources to get their paint, including from plants. Easy-to-get sources from teas or foods can provide fun colors to extract and experiment with, reminding us of this old artistic tradition. In this workshop we’ll meet a few plant materials that can be used as paint by making our own, then together we’ll experiment with making art from our fresh selection of colors.

Saturday, September 27: Painting with Mushrooms
You may have foraged, grown, or eaten mushrooms, but have you painted with them? Many mushrooms and lichens can be used to make inks in a spectrum of earthy colors. Rachel Mirus will demonstrate the ink-making process and introduce some local lichens and mushrooms that produce color. Then we’ll experiment with making art from a selection of pre-made mushroom inks. Come try out these unusual materials and see what you can make!

*This class is for an adult audience