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The Farms: An Allerton Folk School
Sewing a Button Down Shirt
with Caitlin O'Donoghue
Experience Level: Some Sewing Skills Recommended
Learn the process of making a shirt at Sewing a Button-Down Shirt on Saturday and Sunday, July 26-27 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in The Studio.
Over the course of the weekend, instructor Caitlin O’Donoghue will walk students through cutting a pattern, assembling a button-down shirt using a commercial pattern and learning a variety of techniques to complete a professional-looking garment.
$120/person*. Register here by July 12. All sales are final.
*Students should bring:
— 3 yards of 45-inch pre-washed cotton, preferably with a print
— A sewing machine, if possible. A limited number of machines are available to rent. For more information email Olivia at owarren@illinois.edu.
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
Caitlin O’Donoghue is the Costume Shop Manager at Millikin University, where she teaches intro and advanced costume construction, pattern drafting and stage makeup. She has been working in professional and academic costume shops for 15 years and loves working with beginning stitchers.
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.
Intro to Pastel Painting
with Mandy Roeing
Experience Level: Beginner (ages 12+)
Learn about soft pastels and ways to use them through basic mark-making techniques at Introduction to Pastel Painting on Sunday, July 27th from 1 to 4 p.m. in the Mansion Library.
Serious artists ages 10 and older can sign up for this course, where award-winning artist Mandy Roeing will help students learn about pastels and paint to create a simple still life to take home. More than just a one-time painting project, this class is intended to give you basic pastel painting skills and knowledge that you can build on to continue creating.
$85/person (Ages 12+. Ages 12-15 need to be accompanied by a registered adult). Register by July 24th. 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
Award-winning artist Mandy Roeing resides in Downs with her husband and their two daughters. Inspired by the beauty and tranquility of nature, Roeing creates color-filled landscapes and beachscapes that go beyond representation to capture the emotion of a place.
All of Roeing’s paintings are done in soft pastels, a beautiful and versatile medium that she is passionate about sharing with others through both her work and classes. She is an instructor at the McLean County Arts Center and the Peninsula School of Art and holds regular classes in painting and drawing at her own studio and gallery space in downtown Bloomington.
Mandy earned her BFA in Studio Art from the University of North Carolina in 2004. She is the Vice President of the Illinois Prairie Pastel Society and an active member of the Peoria Art Guild. Her work has been published in The Pastel Journal magazine and the IAPS Globe and is in numberous private collections throughout the country and abroad.
Intuitive Yoga & Journaling (July 31)
with Olivia Tasch
The Intuitive Yoga & Journaling class includes 1 hour of yoga followed by 30 minutes of journaling. The class will begin with intention setting and meditation before easing into a gentle yoga sequence that emphasizes intuitive flow and following the rhythm of your own body. Each class will end with dedicated time for reflection and journaling. Prompts will be offered but yogis will also be encouraged to write about anything that came up for them during their practice. Journals and writing utensils provided!
Barn Quilt Painting (August)
with Jane Cade
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, August 2 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 July 25. 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.
Bee Hive Observation 8/3
with Maggie Wachter
Join us on a bi-monthly basis as we observe how honey bees manage hive activity during the summer at Bee Hive Observation on August 3. Classes will include an overview of seasonal influences, followed by a peek inside the hives to observe honey bees at work. Traditional and Flow Hives will be discussed.
Participants should wear long sleeves and pants, loose-fitting garments and no open shoes. You should also bring a protective bee veil and unscented rubber gloves.
$20/class. Register two days before each individual 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
When Maggie Wachter began her social work degree at the University of Illinois in 2008, she had no idea that she would become a beekeeper. As for honey, she kept a single jar in the back of her kitchen cabinet for recipes. Today she is a master beekeeper who never eats sugar.
Maggie received her first hive as a gift in 2008. By 2010, she was enrolled in the Master Beekeeper course at the University of Florida. From there, things happened quickly to turn her life around. In 2012, she started teaching beekeeping for Parkland Community Education and today she is a beekeeping teacher, honey judge, mead maker and master beekeeper.
She has also participated in honeybee research at the University of Illinois and the USDA.
About The Farms
The Farms: An Allerton Folk School, offers classes, workshops, and gatherings focusing on art, wellness, outdoor education, storytelling, and 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 here.
Intermediate Mushroom Foraging (Full Series)
with Lee Schuler
Experience Level: Intermediate
Those who completed beginner mushroom foraging classes at The Farms or have experience in identification can continue their journey at Intermediate Mushroom Foraging on Saturdays, Aug. 9, 16 & 23 from 9 to 11 a.m. outdoors (rain or shine). Meet at the Greenhouse Cafè Patio (in case of rain meet inside the Visitor Center).
Instructor Lee Schuler will lead two-hour hikes to find, collect and come together to identify mushrooms from the property. Classes will also cover environmental and growth habit, morphology, and edibility for each species that is found. The class will also log every species found to begin a wild fungi survey for Allerton.
$120 for the entire series or $50/class. Register here by Aug. 6 or one day prior to subsequent classes*. All sales are final.
*Students should bring a knife or scissors for collecting samples and wear clothing appropriate for walking up to two miles in various weather conditions.
PLEASE NOTE: Foraging at Allerton is not allowed except as part of this Farms class.
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.
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.
Intermediate Mushroom Foraging--Aug. 9
with Lee Schuler
Experience Level: Intermediate
Those who completed beginner mushroom foraging classes at The Farms or have experience in identification can continue their journey at Intermediate Mushroom Foraging on Saturdays, Aug. 9, 16 & 23 from 9 to 11 a.m. outdoors (rain or shine). Meet at the Greenhouse Cafè Patio (in case of rain meet inside the Visitor Center).
Instructor Lee Schuler will lead two-hour hikes to find, collect and come together to identify mushrooms from the property. Classes will also cover environmental and growth habit, morphology, and edibility for each species that is found. The class will also log every species found to begin a wild fungi survey for Allerton.
$120 for the entire series or $50/class*. Register here by Aug. 6 or three days prior to subsequent classes. All sales are final.
*Students should bring a knife or scissors for collecting samples and wear clothing appropriate for walking up to two miles in various weather conditions.
PLEASE NOTE: Foraging at Allerton is not allowed except as part of this Farms class.
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
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.
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.
Cooking With Herbs
with Kay Carnes
Experience Level: Beginner
Learn how to grow herbs in the Central Illinois climate and then taste how they are used in a meal at Cooking with Herbs from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 9 in the Herb Garden and Mansion Carriage House.
Join Kay Karnes, Master Gardener and Mid-America Gardener panelist in the Herb Garden to begin this workshop, where you will receive a tour of the garden, which is certified by the Illinois Herb Association. You will learn how to grow herbs and receive cooking tips using herbs and spices in various recipes.
Then, sit down in the Mansion Dining Room for an Italian-themed lunch prepared by Leah Bodine of the Greenhouse Cafè.
$45/person. Register here by Aug. 2. All sales are final.
If you will need disability-related accommodations to participate, please email owarren@illinois.edu.
About the Instructor
Kay Karnes’ love of gardening began at an early age “helping” her father in his vegetable garden and has continued throughout her life.
Kay is a Champaign County Master Gardener, a member and past president of the Illinois Herb Association and has been a panelist on MidAmerican Gardener since 1995. She and her husband, Dave, live on 2.5 acres outside of Monticello. This has given her ample space to pursue her passion and retirement from the University has given her the time. Her areas of expertise are herbs, vegetables and seed saving.
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.
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