Experience Level: Beginner

Create prints that mimic pen and ink drawings at Intaglio Printmaking on Wednesday, Oct. 14 from 1 p.m. to 3:30pm p.m. in The Studio.

Local artist and art educator Sally Walsh will guide students as they create an Intaglio print. While printmaking usually involves an acid bath, oil-based inks and solvents, students will instead learn how to use all non-toxic and fumeless materials to accomplish the same result.

No prior drawing or printmaking experience is needed, but some hand strength is required to operate the press.

All participants will go home with at least one 5×7-inch print but may create more as time allows.

$60/person*. Registration will close Oct. 7 or when capacity is reached. All sales are final.

*Students are welcome to bring pictures or drawing ideas for inspiration.

If you will need disability-related accommodations 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

Sally Walsh is a retired art teacher from Richland Community College in Decatur. She has more than 30 years of teaching experience and has led previous art classes at Allerton.

Experience Level: Beginner 

Learn the skills of improvisation, including scene creation and team dynamics at Improve Your Improv on Thursdays, Sept. 10 through Oct. 15 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in the Music Barn. 

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

This will not be a class to sit down, hear lectures, and take notes.  Students will be performing as much as possible to emphasize the mechanics needed to act out an entertaining and meaningful scene on the spot with no lines. There are many elements of improv that are not only useful on stage, but also in everyday life – wherever you might be put on the spot! 

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 entire series or $25/class at the links below. Registration will close on Sept. 8 for the entire series or two days before each subsequent class. 

— Sept. 10
— Sept. 17  
— Sept. 24  
— Oct. 1
— Oct. 8  
— Oct. 15

Learn more about the space where your course will take place here. If you will need disability-related accommodations to participate, please email Olivia 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 

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

Create your own spooktacular basket at Basket Weaving: Little Boo! on Friday, Oct. 16 from 12-4 p.m. in The Studio. 

“Little Boo!” starts with a woven filled base. Techniques include setting up a woven base, twining, start/stop weaving and shaping! The color accents are Chocolate Brown, Walnut, Mustard and Rust. An Amish-made leather handle finishes the basket. A fall floral sprig and a Jack-O-Lantern adorn the front. This cutie is perfect anywhere you want to use it! 

$75/person. Registration will close Sept 18 or when capacity is reached. All sales are final.

If you will need disability-related accommodations to participate, please email Olivia 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

Bonnie Rideout wove her first basket in 1994 and quickly caught the “basket bug.” She created a business — Bonnie’s Baskets in Decatur — in 2006 to teach others to weave. She is also a traveling instructor and has taught weaving in 18 states.

Find out more about Bonnie on her website, Facebook, Instagram and Etsy pages.

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.

Experience Level: Some weaving experience required

Have you taken Beginning Weaving 1 and want to continue your craft? Do so at Beginning Weaving II on Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 17-18 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Greenhouse Auditorium.

This 2-day class with instructor Sharon Bowles will be a continuation of Beginning Weaving I, but instead of everyone doing the same article, students will pick their own project, measure the warp, beam the warp, thread the heddles to their selected pattern, thread the reed, tie the warp to the cloth beam rod, wind bobbins and weave a sample of their selected yarn. Students will then weave samples from the other looms, giving them a wide variety of weave structures they can try out.

This course is a great way to continue your weaving journey!

$250/person*. Registration will close Oct. 10 or when capacity is reached. All sales are final.

*Students should bring a 4-shaft loom if they have one. All other supplies will be provided, including a loom if needed.

If you will need disability-related accommodations 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

Sharon Bowles began weaving in 1990 and started teaching shortly after. She was taught to weave in a one-on-one class and wove two table runners in 12 (approximately) 2-hour lessons, and she teaches the same method when she teaches. Sharon has experience in weaving with silk, lace weaving, 8-shaft pattern weaving, parallel weaving, block weaves, and Shaker reproduction towels.

Sharon has experience in weaving with silk, lace weaving, 8-shaft pattern weaving, parallel weaving, block weaves, and Shaker reproduction towels. She has taught many workshops and classes to weavers’ guilds in Florida, Ohio, and Champaign-Urbana. She earned her Journeyman certification from the Weavers Guild of Boston in 2021 and a master’s certification in April of 2022.

Most recently, Sharon taught Beginning Weaving I & Weaving II at The Farms, and a 2-day workshop in 4 shaft patterns for the Champaign-Urbana Spinners and Weavers Guild.

Spend a full day learning about two-dimensional composition and how to create striking collages at Collage Weekend Intensive, Saturday through Sunday, Oct. 17 (Evergreen Lodge) & 18 (Studio) from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. 

In this full two-day intensive workshop students will learn about color theory, mix paint, create value and intensity scales, and generate a rich collection of experimental collage papers. Results are guaranteed to be frameable! Enrollment includes most materials including acrylic mixing paint set, paint brushes, mixing palette, bound hard cover sketchbook, cutting mat and precision cutting knife, glue, tape, color wheel, and stainless-steel ruler.   As this is a two-day immersive experience, you may want to stay on site. The Greenhouse Cafe, located in the Allerton Greenhouse, offers fresh and fun sandwiches, homemade baked goods, unique salads, classic refreshments, beer, wine, and more. Monticello, Illinois is five miles from Allerton Park and Retreat Center, and you will find a variety of restaurants there. 

$230/person. Registration closes Oct. 10 or when capacity is reached. 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 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 Professor Emerita and a former Chair of the Crafts Program at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Theide is a metalsmith, jeweler, textile artist, 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: Beginner (ages 16+) 

Take a step towards a healthier relationship with money in Rocks & Feathers: Understanding the Emotional Weight of Money on Thursday, Oct. 22 from 6-8 p.m. in The Studio. 

Financial stress is about more than money. Emotions such as fear, shame, guilt, overwhelm, and scarcity can shape the choices we make and the results we experience.  In this interactive workshop, participants will identify the emotional "rocks" they may be carrying around money and learn how to replace them with empowering "feathers" that support healthier financial habits and decisions. Through guided discussion and reflection, students will gain greater awareness of the beliefs and emotions influencing their financial lives.  

This workshop is ideal for individuals, couples, and families who want to create a healthier relationship with money and develop a shared understanding of the emotional side of financial well-being.  

$75/person. Registration closes Oct. 19 or when capacity is reached. 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 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 

Liz started teaching at age 14 and never stopped. She have taught subjects from religion to cooking, and from childbirth education to financial literacy to all age groups. Ackerman has presented Rocks and Feathers to live and virtual groups, including one of Moms for America's national Homeschool Mom2Mom webinars. She is not a therapist or a financial advisor, but someone who has carried heavy money emotion rocks for a long time, and who has spent years using various modalities to learn how to recognize and remove her Rocks and replace them with Feathers. She is in the final stages of completing a workbook for teens to accompany the presentation. Focusing on teens first so that they don't have to carry heavy money emotion rocks for years like she has. This class is for everyone, as the principles are the same for all age groups.

Experience Level: Beginner

Keep your mind active with an easy-to-learn and fun instrument at Beginning Mountain Dulcimer on Saturdays, Oct. 24 through Nov. 21 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. in The Studio.

Instructor Lou Ann Koebel will lead students through basic chords and strum patterns that will give them the ability to play rounds, fiddle tunes and much more! Playing the dulcimer requires only a love of music and a desire to create beautiful sound - it is a simple instrument that requires little musical knowledge. 

$225/person* (Ages 12+; 12- to 15-year-olds must be accompanied by a registered adult.) Registration will close Oct. 21 or when capacity is reached. All sales are final.

*Students should bring their own dulcimer. Dulcimers are available to rent by emailing the instructor at koebel@illinois.edu.

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

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.

Koebel has taught beginning dulcimer classes for The Farms, where she has 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.