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Paddle Making Workshop with Sanborn Canoe Company


  • Sanborn Canoe Company 4110 West 5th Street Winona, MN 55987 United States (map)

2-DAY SESSION: SATURDAY, June 24 - SUNDAY, June 25 [9AM - 4PM]*

Tuition: $250 per person \ Member rate: $225 \ $75 materials fee \ 12 available spots

Unlock a lifetime exploring the quiet, waking river backwaters or northwoods lakes by learning to make your own canoe paddle.  Take this two-day canoe paddle making workshop is open people of all abilities ages 14+.  This Studio Arts Workshop from the Minnesota Marine Art Museum is presented in partnership with Waking Worlds Exhibition Hospitality Partner Sanborn Canoe Company in their Winona based shop.  This hands-on workshop will teach you the skills to make your own paddle - from wood selection and wood grain considerations, to paddle sizing and the theory of shape as applied to handles, shafts and blades, to finishing and surface decoration. Students choose from a variety of paddle designs, and leave with a custom-designed paddle they constructed with simple hand tools, as well as memories that will last a lifetime.

About the instructor

Nate Gill

Whether out of need, thrift, or curiosity, Nate Gill has been a tinkerer and maker most of his life. Born in Queensland, Australia, he moved to Minnesota in his teen years, and took up the hobby of woodworking. Now a craftsman with Sanborn Canoe Company, he takes great joy in knowing hundreds of examples of his handiwork exist across the country, and internationally - in the hands, on the walls, and propelling the canoes of both friends and strangers. A profession in woodworking feeds, rather than dulls his interest in the art, and his bench is always home to a personal side project in progress.

*There are two 2-day sessions available, June 24 & 25 and October 14 & 15. Please indicate which session you wish to attend.

online Registration is closed for the June Workshop. please call MMAM at 507-474-6626 to inquire about open spots.


Upcoming MMAM Workshops:

Later Event: June 24
Saturday Public Tour