JOHNSON COUNTY — It's a hidden gem in rural Johnson County drawing thousands of craftspeople each summer.
"They get here. They have fun. They enjoy it. They share. They meet people. They learn while they are here," said Marc Adams.
Adams who runs Marc Adams School of Woodworking and Time-Honored Crafts with his wife says he left his career in manufacturing to pursue his passion more than 30 years ago.
"It doesn't matter if it's in wood or any other medium, I just like to make things," said Adams.
Adams came from a family of creatives who appreciate the time and skill it takes to make things by hand.
"There was a real need in our country to perpetuate craft," Adams said.
So he opened the school on 17 acres of land in Johnson County, away from the hustle and bustle of the busy world.
On site, 40,000 square feet of space are available for workshops and classes to make a number of different things.
"Everything from cooking classes, to leaded glass classes, to glass-blowing classes, to leather work," said Adams. "You name it, we do it here."
In the warmer months of April to November, thousands flock to take workshops in this space and learn from the very best in their craft.
Adams brings in instructors from across the globe to teach their craft to the students. The people here are hobbyists, looking to spend a week working on a handmade project and learn new skills.
"These are the most famous, most well-known craftspeople in our time period," said Adams.
The school has more than 130 instructors who come to teach 250 workshops in his space.
"People come from all over the world to take workshops from these people, and we are lucky we are right here in central Indiana," Adams said.
The school does very little to no marketing. Other than their 164 page brochure, almost all their business is word of mouth.
"We have a 92% return rate," said Adams. "So, when people come, they are going to come back again."
Adams says the tuition funds everything you see in the space, he does not take any corporate sponsors or dollars for equipment.
"I pay for every piece of sand paper, every piece of equipment, everything," said Adams. "That way the education here is pure."
A quick walk through the property on a random summer day shows students learning how to create a stained glass window, a metal fire pit, a clock and more than one hundred wooden beds.
The beds project is one from the heart. Adams donates his workshop space for this service project and volunteers from across the country filled up the available spots to learn to make wooden beds with a former apprentice of the school, Brother Mark Schiltz.
Schiltz is a Catholic brother and had an interest in carpentry. The novitiate he was attending several years ago after high school assigned trades to all the brothers as part of their religious orders and Schiltz was sent to the woodworking school in Johnson County to work as an apprentice.
His first big project was building pews for a seminary.
"The first project, honestly it was probably the biggest project I've ever done," said Schiltz. "Honestly, it was a miracle how quick things went together."
This summer he is back at the woodworking school with a class of volunteers to make 120 beds for St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary in Virginia.
The volunteers learn from Schiltz to make the beds from raw wood material. They make a donation to them seminary themselves to help pay for mattresses, as well as donate their personal time to make all of the beds in one week.
"The whole mindset was to build something that will last for ages," said Schiltz. "These are volunteers and they will work to 6 - 7 p.m., nonstop."
Schiltz says he finds joy in this trade.
"That a huge grace to be doing the same trade that Jesus would've been doing, and St. Joseph, his dad," said Schiltz.
And the volunteers working nonstop to make the beds really captures the unique and joyful spirit of the school itself.
"Well whats special about it is the creative spirit," said Adams, who adds some of the people who come here are generous with what they have and that many of the things they make will long be treasured pieces passed down for generations. "When you make something by hand, there's more meaning to it."
Adams adds he is blessed by God and that blessing has allowed him to create this space for creatives and craftspeople.
Visit their website o learn more about classes and opportunities at Marc Adams School of Working and Time-Honored Crafts.
