Welcome to our
Cultural Residency Program
Come to Learn and Connect.
Leave Forever Changed.
Here, the rhythm of life is both ancient and alive — a collective remembering that honours the old ways, cherishes the present, and nurtures a future rooted in community and the living natural world. The Cultural Residency at Food Culture Place is an invitation to step gently into this rhythm, where every action — from gathering and weaving to sharing food and story — becomes a celebration of what it means to belong.
In this place of wild beauty, you’ll experience Newfoundland and Labrador’s craft and culture as they were meant to be shared: through hands at work, hearts open, and moments that stir the spirit. Here, art and tradition meet the wonder of the land itself — a living classroom where fog, forest, and ocean shape the day’s teachings.
Each residency unfolds like a story — one that connects you more deeply to place, to people, and to the timeless pulse of the natural world. You’ll leave carrying not only what you’ve created, but a renewed sense of awe, gratitude, and belonging to something greater than yourself.
At Food Culture Place, we offer Cultural Residencies and seasonal workshops that invite you to slow down, immerse yourself in place, and experience the deep connection sharing Newfoundlands craft, culture and sense of belonging through art, craft and stories.
We are based in Mobile, Newfoundland, a coastal community shaped by generations of gathering, preserving, and sharing. Here, you’ll step into the rhythm of a way of life that has always been rooted in resourcefulness, tradition, and the simple act of coming together.
This isn’t just about learning — it’s about stepping into a way of life. We invite you to explore the Cultural Residency details below.
NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR OUR 3-DAY
BASKETRY RESIDENCY Nov 6-8 2026 ( details and application below)
What do we do here at Food Culture Place?
The Cultural Residency Program
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Live by the Land, Guided by the Seasons
Hands-on experiences that shift with the seasons — harvesting, gathering, preserving, wildcrafting, all focused on Foodways - Listed as a Craft At Risk
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Learn from Those Who Keep the Traditions Alive
Time spent with skilled craftspeople, artists, and culture-bearers — learning from those who live by the rhythm of this place.
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Carry the Rhythm of This Place with You
A deeper understanding of craft, tradition, and what it means to be truly connected to place — a way of seeing, gathering, and creating that stays with you long after you leave.
What is a Cultural Residency?
This isn’t just about learning — it’s about stepping into the rhythm of life here. Feeling the heat of the fire as your tucked into the yurt or sitting outside around the fire, it’s creating something meaningful with your own hands. It’s about experiencing our island’s connection to the land and people through, craft, and culture the way it was meant to be — through all of your senses.
Newfoundland and Labrador culture is born of necessity and ingenuity, it’s centuries old. It’s built upon the time shared in gathering and preparing nature’s bounty and the stories told when we pass along the skills and crafts of our culture. It’s all wrapped in a proud and grounded history.
Here, our focus is on Crafts At Risk ; Food ways and Basketry, keeping those skills a part of our every growing and thriving cultural practices deeply rooted in place.
This residency isn’t just about learning — it’s about stepping into a way of being — immersing yourself in the rhythm of this place, in the skills that have sustained it, and in the connection that gives it meaning.
We welcome you to our community and our way of life.
Residency spots are limited. If this speaks to you, we invite you to apply and begin your journey with us.
Three Days in Basketry & Fibre
A first-of-its-kind basketry residency at Food Culture Place — three slow, land-rooted days learning to read, harvest, process, and weave the living plants beneath our feet. Centred in the yurt, tucked into the woods for 3 days.
$1,000 CAD regular price
$650Plus tax · Nov 6–8, 2026 · 4 places only · First time of its kind every offered and I’m thrilled !
Duration 3 full days
Places Available 4 people only
Format Application-based & (video call)
Daily Hours :10am – 4pm
Weather : Rain or shine
Setting : The yurt, Food Culture Place, Mobile, Newfoundland
A Note from Lori,
I have been quietly working away at this…
For years now, I have been dedicated — to harvesting, processing, weaving, and learning as much as I can about the traditions of Newfoundland and Labrador basketry heritage. Much of it has happened quietly: in the early mornings, through the seasons, tucked away in the yurt weaving away. There have been many conversations with Dale Jarvis with Heritage NL, with the Folklore department at MUN, with makers, and people who love this craft, all over the world really.
In the slow accumulation of knowledge that only comes from doing the same thing, again and again, until your hands finally understand — the slowing down and the deep commitment.
I have been sharing pieces of this work through workshops and community gatherings, but I have never before offered anything like this — three full days, just 4 of you, here at Food Culture Place. In the yurt (Robin's Nest), tucked into the woods.
Learning not just how to weave, but how to truly see a plant and its fibres, how to harvest and process materials, how to immerse yourself in a landscape that you can connect with in a way you may not have experienced before.
I am genuinely excited to share this with you. Below is the offering I have been working toward, and I want the first people who experience it to be those who feel the pull of this work in their bones. If that is you — I would love to hear from you.
— Lori McCarthy, Food Culture Place
The Shape of Three Days - Slow enough to understand
Day One - Reading the Land
We begin outside, on foot, before we ever pick up a tool. The first day is about learning to truly see — to notice what is growing, where, and why. We move slowly through the surrounding landscape together, and I share what I have come to know about each plant: its character, its season, the way it feels in your hand when it is ready. By the end of the day, you will have begun to understand the land as a material source, and begin to understand why it must start with the land and the understanding of process and storing material so that you can weave all year.
Day Two - Processing & the First Weave
Back at the yurt, we take our time with the material — sorting, softening, preparing each fibre so that nothing is wasted and everything is understood. This is the part most people skip, and it is everything. When you know how a plant has been prepared, you weave with a different kind of confidence. We move into structure: learning the foundational forms of basketry, feeling how willow, bulrush, and soft rush each behave differently in your hands, and beginning to build something real.
Day Three - Finishing & Carrying It Forward
The final day is for completing what you have begun — and for understanding what comes next. We finish our pieces together in the yurt, and we talk about how to continue this practice at home: where to find your materials, how to build a harvest relationship with your own local landscape, how to keep learning without a teacher present. You leave with a finished basket, a full set of notes and resources, and something more important — the knowledge that now lives in your hands.
The Plants We Work With: From the wild the cultivated, at Food Culture Place and surrounding landscape
We work with what grows here — on this land, in this season. I have spent years learning these plants and their harvest windows, and I will share all of it with you. Depending on timing, materials may include:
Willow (Wild and my Basketry Willow gardens), Bull rush, Soft Rush, Garden Lily leaves, Iris Wild , grasses, Bark & stems
Who is this for:
This residency is for anyone who has felt the pull to work with their hands and hasn't had the time, place, or permission to follow it. You don't need experience with weaving, fibre, or natural materials — none is required. What matters more is timing: you're at a point in your life where slowing down, learning something old and physical, and being fully present for three days actually appeals to you.
It's suited to people who like to learn by doing rather than by watching, who don't mind early starts and long days immersed, and who want more than a workshop — who want to leave with a real skill, a relationship to the land they can keep building on their own, and a finished piece made with their own hands.
What Is Included:
Everything you need to be fully present
Three full days of guided immersive learning with Lori McCarthy — 10am to 4pm each day
All harvested and prepared plant materials, plus all tools provided
Morning muffins, fresh fruit, and snacks throughout the day
A simple home-cooked lunch each day (you are welcome to bring your own should you adhere to a particular diet)
Fibre processing techniques: drying, softening, sorting
Foundational and intermediate basketry instruction across multiple weave structures
one or several completed woven piece to bring home
Food Culture Place participant handouts and resource guide
Connection to an ongoing community of practice and learning
Rain or shine — we are prepared for Newfoundland weather
A founding-rate price — $650 CAD — that will only be offered in NOV , 2026
Accommodations not included — participants arrange their own lodging,
Apply for a Place:
Four spaces. One chance at this price.
Three days tucked into the woods, immersed in a place to slow and expand the mind in a unique setting and practice. This residency will take place here at Food Culture Place — in the yurt and on the surrounding land that I know plant by plant, season by season.
I am offering four places, and I am choosing them personally. This is not first-come, first-served. I want to know who you are and why this work is calling to you right now.
$1,200 Next time we offer this in 2027
$650.00 CAD plus tax · founding rate
✦ This price will never be offered again ✦
Cultural Residency Application Form
We are delighted that you’re interested in exploring the deep connections between food, craft, and culture in Newfoundland and Labrador. This form will help us learn more about you and design a residency experience that’s meaningful and tailored to your interests.