Experience Level: Beginner

Gather with your fellow dulcimer musicians and create some music at Mountain Dulcimer Jam Sessions on Feb. 22 from 12:30 to 2:00 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.

Experience Level: Beginner

Learn the basic mechanics of using a spinning wheel to make your own yarn at Learn to Spin Yarn on Monday, Feb 24 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 Feb. 20. 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: Beginner

Level up your coffee and teatime and Learn to Bake Scones on Monday, Feb. 24 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the Mansion Carriage House.

Scones are the perfect companion for warm beverages, and in this workshop Chef Leah Bodine will lead students through the process of mixing batter for two different flavors of scones. Students will take home recipes, instructions and dough to bake their scones at home.

$45/person. Register here by Feb. 17. 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

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 Spring Session schedule here. 

Experience Level: Beginner

Step back in time with turn of the century dances at Historical Dancing on Mondays, Jan. 27 through March 3 from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Mansion.

In this elegant setting, instructor Jeanette Watts will teach1900-era ballroom styles including the waltz and two-step, reflecting the graceful movements that captivated society early in the 20th century. Perfect for history enthusiasts and dance lovers alike, this course offers a unique opportunity to experience the elegance and charm of the Gilded Age.

$90/person for the entire series or $30/class. Register for the series by Jan. 24 or three days before each class. 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

Jeanette Watts has been teaching historical dances for over 20 years. She is the founder of the Terpsichorean Delights Dance Assembly in Dayton, Ohio, Queen City Vintage Dance in Charlotte, North Carolina, and spent covid writing an 8-volume series of instructional dance manuals for historical museums.

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.

Experience Level: Beginner

Learn to draw, shade and create texture at Beginning Pen & Ink on Thursdays, Feb. 27 through March 20 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. in The Studio.

Instructor Sally Walsh will teach the basics of hatching, dots and varied line to help students learn how to create texture and visual interest.

$65/person*. Register by Feb. 17. All sales are final.

*Students should bring:

— Spiral bound sketchbook or mixed media pad (9”x12”)
— Pencil— Kneaded eraser
— See through plastic ruler
— 1 to 3 black roller ball, gel or felt tip Sharpie-type pens with varying tip sizes.

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

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 basics of drawing the natural world at Drawing from Nature on Thursdays, Feb. 27 through March 20 from 1 to 3:30 p.m. in The Studio.

This course, led by retired art teacher Sally Walsh, is aimed at the beginner who has no drawing experience. Students will learn how to bring items from nature to life with shading and blending.

$65/person*. Register by Feb. 24. All sales are final.

*Students should bring:

— Spiralbound mixed media sketchbook in preferred size (9x12 is standard)
— No. 2 pencil
— Clear plastic ruler
— Kneaded eraser
— Pencil blending tool

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

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

Step back in time with turn of the century dances at Historical Dancing on Mondays, Jan. 27 through March 3 from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Mansion.

In this elegant setting, instructor Jeanette Watts will teach1900-era ballroom styles including the waltz and two-step, reflecting the graceful movements that captivated society early in the 20th century. Perfect for history enthusiasts and dance lovers alike, this course offers a unique opportunity to experience the elegance and charm of the Gilded Age.

$90/person for the entire series or $30/class. Register for the series by Jan. 24 or three days before each class. 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

Jeanette Watts has been teaching historical dances for over 20 years. She is the founder of the Terpsichorean Delights Dance Assembly in Dayton, Ohio, Queen City Vintage Dance in Charlotte, North Carolina, and spent covid writing an 8-volume series of instructional dance manuals for historical museums.

Experience Level: Beginner

Learn to paint on a beautiful surface at Santorini Stone Painting on Wednesday, March 5 from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Mansion Solarium.

Mined in Greece, Santorini stone is a strikingly white and sparkling natural stone. It is often cut and polished for construction and landscape purposes.

In this course, instructor Sara Gentry will show how this smooth and sparkled surface makes it a uniquely wonderful canvas for painting!

$40/person. Register by Feb. 26. 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.