Category: Event

Sat. Aug. 20, 2022, 1:30-3 p.m.
McBride Studio, 640 KS-177, Matfield Green, KS 66862

Diallo Javonne French captures musicians lost in the pleasure of performing, documenting not just beautiful images but the state of the jazz music scene in Kansas City. His portraits have been shown in solo and group shows, including the recent “Testimony” exhibition at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.

This year, Diallo raised more than $26,000 in a Kickstarter campaign to fund a film project, “Kansas City Dreamin’” that traces the history of the Kansas City sound from Lester Young to Janelle Monáe and includes an interview with Tech N9ne.

An air-conditioned studio is the setting for this intimate artist talk and conversation about the intersection of music, passion and film.

Maximum guests: 30

Sun. Aug. 14, 2022, 1:30-3 p.m.
Pioneer Bluffs, 695 KS-177, Matfield Green, KS 66862

Learn about the rich array of native Flint Hills plants that can be used to make a rainbow of dyes and inks from educator, plant enthusiast and Chase County fiber artist Tracey Graham. Participants will dye a fabric scrap to take home inside a historic granary that is air-conditioned and accessible. 

Guests are encouraged to bring a picnic lunch to enjoy beforehand on the picturesque grounds of Pioneer Bluffs and the shady banks of Crocker Creek — explore the new Nature Trail at the ranching heritage site or even take a dip in the swimming hole on Crocker Creek. Comfortable walking shoes, hot-weather clothing, sun protection and bug spray are recommended if you plan to hike.

Maximum guests: 12

Sat. Aug. 13, 2022, 4-5:30 p.m.
Pioneer Bluffs, 695 KS-177, Matfield Green, KS 66862

Diana Ennis, host of the “Tasty Brew” music show on Kansas City’s KKFI 90.1 FM, and Danny Powell, past president of the Kansas City Blues Society and a member of the Folk Alliance International, have teamed up to create Heartland Song Network, which aims to help support careers for songwriters by building an ecosystem that reaches all levels of musicianship and experience.

Their latest project pairs songwriters with elders to tell their stories through music.

Diana and Danny will share their inspiring story and be joined by musicians who will perform songs created through the project in the beautiful, well-ventilated restored barn loft at Pioneer Bluffs.

Sally Vee is the leader of Sally and the Hurts, an Americana Roots band from north central Kansas that brings award-winning lyrics, beautifully-crafted violin, and haunting theremin to the stage. Sally and The Hurts attends the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, KS and has performed on Stages 2,3,5,7, and the famous “Songwriter’s Stage” Stage 11. Several of the band’s songs have been chosen as category winners the past three years at the festival’s New Songs Showcase.The band has also performed at Folk Alliance International the past several years in Kansas City, Montreal, and New Orleans.

Chris Hudson is a guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter, educator, visual artist and founding member of the Roots Music groups Gullywasher, Gullywasher Collective and The Bard Owls. He has a passion for various forms of American Folk Music and finger style guitar. Chris studied classical guitar at UMKC’s Conservatory of Music and has been teaching guitar most recently for Kansas City Young Audiences. Randy Hudson, Chris’s father, spent his entire working career in the rail industry but has been writing songs and writing poems his entire life.

Guests are invited to come early and stay late to enjoy the beautiful grounds of the historic ranch stead and the largely shaded Crocker Creek Nature Trail or even take a dip in the swimming hole on the creek. Bring sun-protective clothing, bug spray and a refillable water bottle if you wish to hike the new Pioneer Bluffs Nature Trail and bring water shoes if you want to get in the creek.

Maximum guests: 50

Sat. Aug. 13, 2022, 10-11:30 a.m.
Pioneer Bluffs, 695 KS-177, Matfield Green, KS 66862

Kansas native son, MacArthur Genius Award winner and co-founder of The Land Institute, Wes Jackson, has deep roots in Matfield Green. In the late 1990s, Jackson launched ‘The Matfield Green Project,” purchasing and rehabbing a number of abandoned properties in the town including the former elementary school, which is now the School for Rural Culture and Creativity, a nonprofit he admires.

Wes, a prolific writer, has a new book coming out Sept. 1 that has a more sober theme than last year’s delightful, “Hogs Are Up: Stories of the Land, With Digressions.” “An Inconvenient Apocalypse” confronts harsh ecological realities and argues that humanity’s future will be defined not by expansion but by contraction.

The beautifully restored, well-ventilated loft of the historic barn at Pioneer Bluffs is the setting for this chance to hear one of Kansas’s premier thinkers and gifted storytellers discuss the weightiest issues of our day. 

Guests are invited to bring a picnic lunch and linger on the beautiful grounds of the historic ranch stead and the shady banks of Crocker Creek. Bring sun-protective clothing, bug spray and a refillable water bottle if you wish to hike the new Pioneer Bluffs Nature Trail.

Maximum guests: 50

Sun. Aug. 7, 2022, 1:30-3 p.m.
McBride Studio, 640 KS-177, Matfield Green, KS 66862

LeLan Dains, former owner of the UNBOUND Gravel cycling race, owner of Gravel City Adventure & Supply Co., and founding chair of Gravel KS will be joining us to talk about the continued rise of gravel cycling and how rural Kansas is perfectly positioned to capture this momentum and become a top global cycling tourism destination. He will discuss the vision of Gravel Kansas to create stories around routes that connect the rider to the place, weaving in history, landmarks and local quirks.

Guests are invited to bring a picnic lunch and linger afterwards to enjoy the 4 miles of hiking trails on the adjacent PrairyArt Path. And, of course, we will have suggestions for cycling routes east and west of Matfield Green if you bring a bike.

Maximum guests: 30

Sat. Aug. 6, 2022, 4-5:30 p.m.
McBride Studio, 640 KS-177, Matfield Green, KS 66862

Lawrence-based artist and Caldecott medalist, Stephen will discuss his many wide-ranging projects from public artworks created for site specific sites across America to the inner pages of his award-winning children’s books. Improvisational and playful creative associations using the contextual surroundings of Matfield Green may also happen based on thoughts and concepts of the audience members. Mission: Have fun with ideas! Long-time Matfield fans will remember Stephen’s exhibition of abstract works at the Gallery at Pioneer Bluffs.

Guests are invited to bring a picnic supper and cold beverages and linger afterwards to catch the sunset on the beautiful 4 miles of hiking trails on the adjacent PrairyArt Path. Bring sun-protective clothing, bug spray and a refillable water bottle if you plan to hike.

Maximum guests: 25

Sat. Aug. 6, 2022, 10 a.m.-noon
McBride Studio, 640 KS-177, Matfield Green, KS 66862

Many people fantasize about escaping the rat race for a more Thoreauvian existence in the midst of nature. Carole did just that in 2000: After living in New York City for a while, she lived in the middle of a Chase County cow pasture half a mile from the nearest neighbor, on the bank of a creek. After 10 years of off-grid living, Carole returned to her childhood home in Kansas City. Now, as she prepares to venture back to rural life, she has become deeply troubled by the decline of the natural world and the general lack of concern for — even awareness of — this loss.

One author has observed that “the Fall” is not a discrete event that happened in a mythical past, but a story that we continue to enact. It would seem that, likewise, we continue in various manifestations to play out an impulse to “regain Paradise.”

Carole will describe her move to a primitive cabin and invites others to mull over with her the relevance, or lack thereof, of it to their life course. We will begin at air-conditioned McBride Studio, then transportation will be provided to the Cabin, where a circle of chair will be arranged in shade. Walking 100 meters on uneven terrain and crossing a small creek on foot is required; the cabin has no plumbing. Wear walking shoes and pack sun protection, bug spray and a refillable water jug; water for refills will be provided. Guests are invited to bring a picnic lunch. Transportation will be provided back to McBride Studio immediately following the hangout as well as later for picnickers.    

Maximum guests: 25

Sat. July 30, 2022, 4-5:30 p.m.
Pioneer Bluffs, 695 KS-177, Matfield Green, KS 66862

Matfield Green’s unofficial historian, Linda Ayala presents a fun and fragmented look back at Matfield Green’s earliest settlers, including her ancestors, and major events that shifted the town’s trajectory. The beautifully restored, well-ventilated loft of the historic barn at Pioneer Bluffs is a perfect gathering spot to hear an enchanting mix of truth, lore and unsolved mysteries.

Guests are invited to bring any and all Matfield memorabilia to be scanned and preserved in an online archive – letters, photographs, newspaper clippings or pamphlets. Three-dimensional objects can be photographed and then scanned. 

Guests are invited to come early or stay late to enjoy the shady banks of Crocker Creek and explore the Crocker Creek Nature Trail. Bring sun-protective clothing, bug spray and a refillable water bottle if you plan to hike.

Maximum guests: 50

Sat. July 30, 2022, 10-11:30 a.m.
Pioneer Bluffs, 695 KS-177, Matfield Green, KS 66862

Come to the beautifully renovated, well-ventilated loft of the historic barn at Pioneer Bluffs for an informal “food fair” to meet local and area producers of humanely, sustainably raised food including honey, chicken, pork, beef, bison, lard, tallow, eggs, cheese, raw milk and vegetable seedlings. Some producers will have food items for sale, so bring a cooler! Goats from Restoration Grazing will be onsite eating invasive Johnson grass near the barn.

Journalist Cindy Hoedel will introduce her Eat Clean Kansas project, which is based on in-person farm visits to collect stories and information about practices to share on a website that can be a resource for eco-conscious consumers looking to eat healthier food and protect the earth.

Farmers and ranchers will be added to the list (and subtracted, because farming schedules are unpredictable) closer to the event, and a table for information from farmers not able to attend in person will be provided. Featured producers: Janzen Family Farms of Newton; Kelly’s Bees of Strong City; Circle 7 Farms of Severy; Restoration Grazing of Beaumont; Harmony Hill of Fredonia; Grazing Plains of Newton; Homestead Ranch of Matfield Green; Rommey Farms of Cassoday; Barnyard Weed Warriors of Longton; Flint Rock Creamery of Cedar Point; and Tate Gibb (eggs and chicks) of Strong City.

Guests are invited to come early or stay late and explore the Pioneer Bluffs’ Crocker Creek Nature Trail. There’s even a swimming hole open to the public if you want to take a swim. Bring sun-protective clothing, comfortable walking shoes and bug spray if you want to hike. Water is available for refilling reusable bottles.

Maximum guests: 50

Sat. July 23, 2022, 4-5:30 p.m.
McBride Studio, 640 KS-177, Matfield Green, KS 66862

Matfield Green musician Kelly Werts returns to celebrate another year of musical life with his musical friends. Bring an instrument, or your voice, and we will all make music together in a shaded, well-ventilated atrium. Lyric sheets will be provided, but be prepared to go “off script” if inspiration hits!

A limited supply of cold beverages will be provided, feel free to bring your preferred libation. Guests are also invited to bring a picnic supper to enjoy afterwards on the grounds of PrairyArt Path, which has 4 miles of hiking trails.

Maximum guests: 25