Experience Level: Beginner

Create a sculpture out of just cardboard, paper and glue at Cardboard and Paper Sculptures on Monday through Wednesday, April 7-9 from 12 to 4 p.m. in the Greenhouse Auditorium.

In this class, Chicago-based artist Mary Seyfarth will cover design elements including form, scale, placement, color, and proportion and present tips, tricks and the means for each student to leave with their very own wildlife sculpture.

$130/person. Register here by March 24. All sales are final.

Learn more about the space where your course will take place here. 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

Mary K. Seyfarth is the founder of MKS.Works, a visual arts studio in Wilmette that showcases a variety of sculptures of different materials. She first started working with ceramics in 1978 and it has been her life's work and passion since that time.

Experience Level: Beginner

Learn the basic mechanics of using a spinning wheel to make your own yarn at Learn to Spin Yarn on Thursday, April 10 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.

$100/person. Register by April 7. 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.

Experience Level: All levels (ages 16+)

Grab a smock, roll up your sleeves and dive into the art of portraits at Experimental Portraiture Painting on Saturday, April 12 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in The Studio.

Instructor Vivian Krishnan will help students learn experimental approaches to portraiture using charcoal, ink, paints and more. Studies will be done from a live portrait model. This course is open to all levels — including new students — and is also an excellent follow-up for those who participated in previous Live Figure Drawing classes at The Farms.

$110/person (ages 16+)*. Register by April 4. All sales are final.

*Students should wear clothes that can get a little messy and bring any art supplies they would like to use during this class. Students should bring a standard 9×12 mixed media pad of paper, pens, pencils and any media they would like to create with.

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

Vivian Krishnan is a multimedia artist with works that cross the vast stage of storytelling, from designing costumes for theatrical characters to writing and illustrating diverse children’s books. She received her bachelors in Durango, Colorado, focusing on Printmaking and Sculpture as well as earning her MFA at UIUC in Theatrical Design.

Vivian is a life-long learner of many mediums and is excited to see how art continues to play a role at Allerton.

Experience Level: Beginner (all ages)

Use plant-based materials in an environmentally-friendly process at Indigo Dyeing with the Environment in Mind on Wednesday, April 16 from 5 to 8 p.m. in the Mansion Carriage House.

In this workshop, instructor Jenny Knavel will familiarize you with a creative, multicultural practice that utilizes prominently plant-based materials. Students will prepare an organic, fermentation dye vat utilizing indigo powder, an extract prepared from the plant Indigofera tinctoria.

The indigo vat-making method is safe for (supervised) children to use. Shibori, a Japanese, manual, resist dyeing technique will be discussed. Utilizing basic shibori-inspired techniques, students will be able to create unique patterns on their scarves.

$85/person (Those under 16 years of age must be accompanied by a registered adult). Register by April 2. 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

Jenny Knavel received her MFA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1997. She is a professor of art at Western Illinois University in Macomb, Illinois, where she teaches primarily design and digital photography classes. In addition to teaching, she is an active artist. Her work has been juried into numerous regional and national and international juried exhibitions.

In 2021, her artwork was selected to be on the cover of the SAQA Journal (Studio Art Quilt Associates), 2021, Volume 31, No. 2. Additionally, she had work included in the Second Biennial of Natural Dye exhibition, China Silk Museum, Hangzhou, China.

Experience Level: Knitting experience required; must be proficient at garter stitches

Put your knitting experience to use at Knitting 201: Mittens on Thursdays, April 17 and 24 from 1 to 4 p.m. in The Studio.

In this two-week course, instructor Billie Theide will help students further their knitting skills by expanding on the Knitting 101 course taught in the fall. This class is open to all who have knitting experience.

Those taking part will gauge, cast on in the round using those mysterious double-pointed knitting needles, with stitch markers, knit rib stitch, increase, decrease and slip stitches, create a gusset, read knitting patterns, repair mistakes and cast off.

$90/person*. Register here by April 14. All sales are final.

*Students should bring:

— 1 set of 7-inch long bamboo #5 (3.75mm) Clover brand double pointed knitting needles. There are five needles in a set.— 1 set of 7-inch long bamboo #7 (4.5mm) Clover brand double pointed knitting needles. There are five needs in a set.— 1 pair of sharp scissors

Along with one of the following yarn skeins:— 1 Lion Brand Wool Ease Worsted Yarn in solid or heather. This is classified as Worsted Weight 4 yarn made of 80 percent acrylic and 20 percent wool. There are 197 yards per skein. It is machine washable. Avoid purchasing a dark colorway; OR

— 3 Essential Wool Superwash Merina Wool Yarn by K+C. This is classified as Worsted Weight 4 yarn made of 100 percent Merino wool. There are 84 yards per skein; the three skeins must be the same dye lot. It is machine washable. Avoid purchasing a dark color.

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

Billie Theide is a former chair of the Crafts Program at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where she is Professor Emerita. Theide is a metalsmith, jeweler and ceramicist. Her work is in public art collections around the world including the Smithsonian, Museum of Arts & Design in New York City, Nelson Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City and the Racine Art Museum, among others.

She is the recipient of a Visual Arts Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts and five Artists Fellowship Grants from the Illinois Arts Council. Theide has been recognized for her excellence in teaching and is a Distinguished Member and Past-President of the Society of North American Goldsmiths.

Experience Level: All Levels

Learn the skills of improvisation, including scene creation and team dynamics at Improve Your Improv on Thursdays, April 17 through May 29 in the Music Barn.

Kyle Tasch returns to The Farms to teach this popular course, which will be jam-packed with improvisational fun that will use both short-form games and long-form scenes in its sessions.

This will not be a place to sit down, hear lectures, and take notes, as students will be performing as much as possible! It will be a get-up-and-perform kind of class. The class will emphasize the mechanics needed to act out an entertaining and meaningful scene on the spot with no script.

Students who have already completed this class are welcome to join again. Beginners and those experienced in improv are all encouraged to join! 

$100/person for the series or $25/class. Register for the entire series by April 10 or one week before each subsequent class. All sales are final.

If you will need disability-related accommodations to participate, please email Olivia Bunting at owarren@illinois.edu.

About the instructor

Kyle Tasch is an improvisor, improv teacher, filmmaker, writer, actor, comedian and musician from the Chicago suburbs. He started performing improv in 2004 and has been improvising in front of audiences regularly since 2015.

He has also taught classes both in-person and remotely at Westside Improv in Wheaton, Illinois. He performs live across the state in various comedy and music acts and has produced hundreds of videos and songs.

Experience Level: All Levels

Learn the skills of improvisation, including scene creation and team dynamics at Improve Your Improv on Thursdays, April 17 through May 29 in the Music Barn.

Kyle Tasch returns to The Farms to teach this popular course, which will be jam-packed with improvisational fun that will use both short-form games and long-form scenes in its sessions.

This will not be a place to sit down, hear lectures, and take notes, as students will be performing as much as possible! It will be a get-up-and-perform kind of class. The class will emphasize the mechanics needed to act out an entertaining and meaningful scene on the spot with no script.

Students who have already completed this class are welcome to join again. Beginners and those experienced in improv are all encouraged to join! 

$100/person for the series or $25/class. Register for the entire series by April 10 or one week before each subsequent class. All sales are final.

If you will need disability-related accommodations to participate, please email Olivia Bunting at owarren@illinois.edu.

About the instructor

Kyle Tasch is an improvisor, improv teacher, filmmaker, writer, actor, comedian and musician from the Chicago suburbs. He started performing improv in 2004 and has been improvising in front of audiences regularly since 2015.

He has also taught classes both in-person and remotely at Westside Improv in Wheaton, Illinois. He performs live across the state in various comedy and music acts and has produced hundreds of videos and songs.

Experience Level: Beginner

No barn? No problem! Join the barn quilt movement by creating your own painted quilt block to use at your own home at Barn Quilt Painting on Saturday, April 19 from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. in the Studio.

The workshop will start with a pre-primed board with a design already drafted (choose one of the 2 options). Students will tape and paint at their own pace, choosing from a wide variety of colors.

Instructor Jane Cade will also share history of barn quilts, techniques, tips, and discuss how to properly seal your finished piece after the paint has dried for 48 hours. Leave with a 20×20″ wooden ‘quilt block’ to keep for yourself or share your talents and give someone a handmade gift.

$90/person. Register by April 11. All sales are final.

If you will need disability-related accommodations in order to participate, please email owarren@illinois.edu.

About the Instructor

Jane Cade is a retired teacher from Clinton Junior High School. She has been painting barn quilts for eight years and sells her work online and at craft festivals. She teaches classes at Parkland Community College and will be teaching classes at her workshop beginning next year.