Make Your Own Hearth Broom

Instructor: Marlow Gates

Day & Date: Saturday, March 1, 2025

Time: 9:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Tuition: $85.00

Ages: Adult (18 and Up)

All levels are welcome. Moderate hand and upper-body strength is needed.

Students Please Bring:

• Note taking materials.
• Clothes that can get dirty.
• (Optional) A snack and/or water bottle. Filtered water is available in the classroom.

Explore the traditional craft and emerging art form of broom making. Did you ever wonder what broom corn is? Marlow will introduce this natural material and discuss some of its history. Learn to make a hearth broom from start to finish. All levels are welcome; moderate hand and upper-body strength is needed.

There will be a 1-hour lunch break. Bring a lunch or explore local dining options.

An additional fee for materials provided by your instructor for this workshop is estimated at $30.00 THIS FEE IS PAYABLE TO THE INSTRUCTOR at the time of the workshop. Material fees may change depending on the number of participants and price of materials at the workshop. *Payment by cash or check is required for materials fees. 

* Workshops are subject to low enrollment cancellation if the minimum number of 4 students is not reached. If you have any questions, you’re welcome to call Olive’s Porch for up-to-date enrollment information.

About Instructor: Marlow Gates is a second-generation broommaker, carrying on his father's tradition of craftsmanship in broommaking. Rumor has it that he has been tying brooms since he was five years old (bonus points to any student who brings in the tabloid article from 1977 which verifies this rumor!). With a degree in design from North Carolina State University, Marlow now joins his wife, Diana, in creating brooms as functional art at their studio in Big Sandy Mush, NC.