French Creek
Nature Center

4530 Colorado Avenue
Sheffield Village, Ohio 44054
(440) 949-5200
Open Daily: 10am to 4:30pm

(Open until 8:30pm during TrueNorth Performances)

Entrance to French Creek Nature Center

The French Creek Nature Center offers plenty of things to do and see, including programs and exhibits, wildlife observation area, and an indoor playground. French Creek is also home of TrueNorth Cultural Arts, an arts organization offering concerts, a professional theatre and children theatre, art galleries and a variety of programs for all levels of expertise. If you decide it's too nice to stay indoors, you can take a walk down a crushed-gravel trail that links up to the other trails in the reservation. In any case, you'll be glad you checked us out!

PROGRAMS

Footbridge near the French Creek Nature Center

Programs offered at
French Creek Nature Center

Trail near the French Creek Nature Center

Theatre Productions at Ewing Hall

The French Creek Nature Center offers programs for people of all ages, from arts and crafts to programs that focus on the natural world. Learn about and meet some of the amazing animals at the nature center that live in and around the French Creek, bring the little ones for a preschool program on the wonders of our natural environment and view turtles, fish, and snakes up close in the nature center. With the addition of TrueNorth Cultural Arts, see how nature inspires art with a variety of programs. Click here for a list of programs at the nature center.

Ewing Hall

Formerly the home of rotating animal exhibits, Ewing Hall was converted into a live theatre space in 2007 and is now the main performance space of TrueNorth Cultural Arts. Ewing Hall features an art gallery that changes with each TrueNorth production and an intimate venue used as a concert hall, a theatre in the round, and even as a dinner theatre cabaret! The 8th Note Café is located inside Ewing Hall, and is open prior to and during TrueNorth Cultural Arts’ performances to provide coffee, soda, lattes, pizza, fresh baked cookies, and other snacks to theatregoers.

The Stanley D. Pijor Distance Learning Classroom

What’s a Distance Learning Classroom? Set up in a theater format, this space connects with organizations from around the globe for instant, on-the-spot learning opportunities. Visitors have traveled to Australia, Pearl Harbor, and the Grand Canyon without leaving Lorain County. We can also provide programs to your classroom through the power of distance learning as long as you have the right equipment. Call (440) 949-5200 for more information. The room also houses artist focus galleries, receptions, and movie showings and is the home to our Family Life theatre series.

The Nature Play Spot

While you’re at the nature center, don’t forget to check out the bird observatory and indoor playground. Kids can play, climb, and crawl while learning about the environment in an indoor tree house with a fun area for puppet shows. While the children play, adults can enjoy the view from our wall of windows and see wildlife such as song birds enjoy the outdoor feeders.

TRUENORTH CULTURAL ARTS

Christmas concert at Ewing Hall

French Creek Nature Center is home to the theatre and cultural arts organization, TrueNorth Cultural Arts. TrueNorth offers a diversity of arts opportunities from theatrical productions to dance classes for children to art galleries throughout the nature center. Enjoy the beauty of the artwork in three different retail gallery spaces as it harmonizes with the beauty of the nature center. Visit the galleries the next time you need a special gift or a piece of artwork for your home.

TrueNorth offers theatre and art programs for all ages and hosts a full lineup of professional theatre, family theatre, and concerts throughout the year. Classes are available in dance, acting, painting, crafts and other programs. TrueNorth and the Metro Parks also offer programs that combine nature and the art to highlight the best of both worlds. Click here for upcoming TrueNorth programs.

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French Creek
Nature Center

PROGRAMS

Ewing Hall

The Stanley D. Pijor Distance Learning Classroom

The Nature Play Spot

TRUENORTH CULTURAL ARTS

Related Pages

All Metro Parks

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