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Allerton Programs
Make Your Own Condiments
with Leah Bodine
Experience Level: Beginner
Save money by learning how to make several everyday condiments at Make Your Own Condiments on Tuesday, June 24 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the Mansion Carriage House.
In this class, instructor Leah Bodine will help students create the following homemade condiments: ketchup, stone-ground mustard, mayonnaise, butter, sour cream, buttermilk and buttermilk dressing. Please bring a take-home container.
$45/person. Register by June 17. All sales are final.
Learn more about the space where your course will take place here. If you will need disability-related accommodations in order to participate, please email owarren@illinois.edu.
By attending, you consent to your image being used in Allerton marketing, social media and publications. Please alert the photographer or videographer if you do not want your image taken.
About the instructor
Leah Bodine calls herself the ‘accidental chef’ with years of experience in the food industry. She started her catering company, Blue Dragonfly Catering, to express her creative mind in food preparation and cultivating recipes. She loves sharing her skills with others and seeing the fascination on students’ faces when they realize how creative they can be and how easy it is to do so.
Her experiences in the food industry have led her to live in Paris and cater for rock and country legends.
About The Farms
The Farms: An Allerton Folk School, offers classes, workshops, and gatherings focusing on art, outdoor education, science, storytelling, and wellness. All experiences value hands-on, experiential teaching and learning, and are facilitated by and for the members of the community.
Find the complete Summer Session schedule here.
Mountain Dulcimer: Jam Session (June 28)
with Lou Ann Koebel
Experience Level: Beginner
Gather with your fellow dulcimer musicians and create some music at Mountain Dulcimer Jam Sessions on Saturday, June 28 from 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. in the Studio. This gathering is perfect for those who have taken Beginner Mountain Dulcimer at The Farms and want a space to practice with fellow players.
$5/person. Register a day prior to each jam session. All sales are final.
If you will need disability-related accommodations to participate, please email Olivia Bunting at owarren@illinois.edu.
About the instructor
Lou Ann Koebel currently leads a weekly dulcimer jam for the East Central Dulcimer Illinois Dulcimer Club at Lincoln Square. She also plays in a local band that visits and performs at local assisted living facilities.
Last fall, she taught a beginning dulcimer class for The Farms, where she had a wonderful time teaching the group and realized her love of teaching and passing on the tradition of playing a mountain dulcimer. Lou Ann also plays at area music festivals.
(SOLD OUT) Needlefelt Painted Turtle
with Stephanie Block
Experience Level: Beginner
Learn the art of needlefelting at Needlefelt Bumblebee on Tuesday, July 1st from 1 to 4 p.m. in The Studio.
Instructor Stephanie Block will teach students how to make an a needlefelt bumblebee to honor the efforts of this very important pollinator. Participants will work through the step-by-step process and leave with a completed needlefelt bumblebee.
$75/person. Register by June 27. All sales are final.
If you will need disability-related accommodations in order to participate, please email owarren@illinois.edu.
By attending, you consent to your image being used in Allerton marketing, social media and publications. Please alert the photographer or videographer if you do not want your image taken.
About the Instructor
Stephanie Block is the co-owner of Sundrop Alpacas near Bement. She has been producing popular yarn from her own alpacas for more than eight years. Stephanie’s spinning style is self-taught, and she is continuously learning so that she can share that knowledge with others.
(SOLD OUT) Intro to Stained Glass - July 2nd
with Kari Keller
Experience Level: Beginner
Learn a unique art form at Introduction to Stained Glass on Wednesday, July 2nd from 5 to 8 p.m. in The Studio.
Kari Keller will teach students how to cut, shape, and assemble a stained glass butterfly suncatcher in Introduction to Stained Glass. All students will take home a 5x7" suncatcher at the end of the workshop.
$125/person. Register here by June 18th. All sales are final.
If you will need disability-related accommodations to participate, please email Olivia Bunting at owarren@illinois.edu.
By attending, you consent to your image being used in Allerton marketing, social media and publications. Please alert the photographer or videographer if you do not want your image taken.
About the instructor
Kari Keller has been a Champaign/Urbana resident since 2008, originally hailing from the tiny community of St. Anne. Illinois. She has had a passion for art since she could hold a crayon and loves to experiment with many different styles, rarely sticking to one theme for long.
Keller has dabbled in cartoons, acrylic pouring, zentangles, patterns, logo design, pottery painting and other art forms. Her influences include Alphonse Mucha, HR Geiger and the art of Northwest coastal Native Americans. She also has a thriving side business as a face painter.
Kari is happiest when immersed in a new project and can’t imagine life without art!
About The Farms
The Farms: An Allerton Folk School, offers classes, workshops, and gatherings focusing on art, health & wellness, history, nature & outdoor education, or science. All experiences value hands-on, experiential teaching and learning, and are facilitated by and for the members of the community.
See the complete Spring Session schedule here.
Beginning Mushroom Foraging (Full Series)
with Lee Schuler
Experience Level: Beginner
Learn all about the magical world of mushrooms at Mushroom Identification for Beginners from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Sundays, July 6, 13, and 20 in The Studio and outdoors. Participants will learn about mushroom anatomy, toxicity, edibility, and common uses. Instructor Lee Schuler will also share information on safety and sustainability.
Classes will begin with a short lecture and slide presentation, then move into the woods for identification practice outside. Question and answer periods will also be included.
$100 for the entire series or $45/class. Register by July 4 or one day prior to subsequent classes*. All sales are final.
*Individual class links:
If you will need disability-related accommodations to participate, please email owarren@illinois.edu.
About the instructor
Lee Schuler recently moved from Illinois from Pennsylvania, where she taught fungal identification and edibility at environmental education centers for the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and for private land owners. She is certified as a wild edible mushroom expert and licensed to harvest and sell to restaurants and markets in the State of Pennsylvania. Schuler is also a contributing culinary author for a wild mushroom trade journal.
A graduate of East Stroudsburg University in Pennsylvania, Lee has worked as a field biologist and environmental educator, and currently works in public health. She is an artist and cook and enjoys acquiring new and useful skills as much as she loves sharing them.
Beginning Mushroom Foraging (July 6)
with Lee Schuler
Experience Level: Beginner
Learn all about the magical world of mushrooms at Mushroom Identification for Beginners from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Sundays, July 6, 13, and 20 in The Studio and outdoors. Participants will learn about mushroom anatomy, toxicity, edibility, and common uses. Instructor Lee Schuler will also share information on safety and sustainability.
Classes will begin with a short lecture and slide presentation, then move into the woods for identification practice outside. Question and answer periods will also be included.
$100 for the entire series or $45/class. Register by July 4 or one day prior to subsequent classes*. All sales are final.
*Individual class links:
— July 6
— July 13
— July 20
— Full Series
If you will need disability-related accommodations to participate, please email owarren@illinois.edu.
About the instructor
Lee Schuler recently moved from Illinois from Pennsylvania, where she taught fungal identification and edibility at environmental education centers for the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and for private land owners. She is certified as a wild edible mushroom expert and licensed to harvest and sell to restaurants and markets in the State of Pennsylvania. Schuler is also a contributing culinary author for a wild mushroom trade journal.
A graduate of East Stroudsburg University in Pennsylvania, Lee has worked as a field biologist and environmental educator, and currently works in public health. She is an artist and cook and enjoys acquiring new and useful skills as much as she loves sharing them.
Learn to Spin Yarn - July 8th
with Stephanie Block
Experience Level: Beginner
Learn the basic mechanics of using a spinning wheel to make your own yarn at Learn to Spin Yarn on Tuesday, July 8th from 5 to 8 p.m. in The Studio.
After a brief introduction from instructor Stephanie Block, students will have time for hands-on spinning practice and the opportunity to spin alpaca fiber into yarn using Ashford scotch tension Traditional or Traveler wheels. Discussion of fiber production and preparation methods will also be included.
$130/person. Register by July 4. All sales are final.
If you will need disability-related accommodations to participate, please email Olivia Bunting at owarren@illinois.edu.
About the instructor
Stephanie Block is the co-owner of Sundrop Alpacas near Bement. She has been producing popular yarn from her own alpacas for more than eight years. Stephanie’s spinning style is self-taught, and she is continuously learning so that she can share that knowledge with others.
Eat Your Flowers
with Leah Bodine
Experience Level: Any
Learn how to use edible flowers in your cooking in this hands-on class on Tuesday, July 8th from 5:30-7:30pm in the Mansion Carriage House.
$45/person*, Register here by June 24th. All sales are final.
Learn more about the space where your course will take place here.
If you will need disability-related accommodations in order to participate, please email owarren@illinois.edu.
By attending, you consent to your image being used in Allerton marketing, social media and publications. Please alert the photographer or videographer if you do not want your image taken.
About the instructor
Leah Bodine calls herself the ‘accidental chef’ with years of experience in the food industry. She started her catering company, Blue Dragonfly Catering, to express her creative mind in food preparation and cultivating recipes. She loves sharing her skills with others and seeing the fascination on students’ faces when they realize how creative they can be and how easy it is to do so.Her experiences in the food industry have led her to live in Paris and cater for rock and country legends.
About The Farms
The Farms: An Allerton Folk School, offers classes, workshops, and gatherings focusing on art, health & wellness, history, nature & outdoor education, or science. All experiences value hands-on, experiential teaching and learning, and are facilitated by and for the members of the community.
See the complete Summer Session schedule here.