Experience Level: Beginner

Learn to make your own soap at a Soap Making Demonstration on Sunday, April 6 from 1:30 to 4 p.m. in the Mansion Dining Room.

Artist Sally Walsh will lead students through the process of making soap, including the science, safety, ingredients used and the herbal benefits. Students will take home a bar of soap in addition to a booklet of instructions and recipes.

Participants should wear old clothes.

$35/person. Register by March 31. 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

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.

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 fall class schedule here.

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.

Former Allerton In-Residence naturalist Michael Baker will return to the Park to conduct a Foraging Walk from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, April 12. Location TBD

Baker, a professional forager, will give demonstrations of the current uses of edible plants and mushrooms during the walk. Participants will be introduced to a variety of wild edible plants and mushrooms and be instructed on which plants to avoid.

$35/person (all ages). Register here by April 9. All sales are final.

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

About the instructor

Michael Baker is a professional foraging educator and podcaster in the Chicago suburbs. His show, the Wild Edible World podcast, seeks to educate anyone who will listen on edible plants and fungi, what they taste like, and where you can find them. He is also a co-founder of Remnant Roots non-profit which seeks to adopt vacant lots and turn them into native plant sanctuaries.

Join us on a bi-monthly basis as we observe how honey bees manage hive activity during the summer at Bee Hive Observation from April 13 to August 31. 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.

$100/series or $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.

Join us on a bi-monthly basis as we observe how honey bees manage hive activity during the summer at Bee Hive Observation on April 13. 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.

Former Allerton In-Residence naturalist Michael Baker will return to the Park to conduct a Foraging Walk from 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday, April 13. Location TBD

Baker, a professional forager, will give demonstrations of the current uses of edible plants and mushrooms during the walk. Participants will be introduced to a variety of wild edible plants and mushrooms and be instructed on which plants to avoid.

$35/person (all ages). Register here by April 9. All sales are final.

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

About the instructor

Michael Baker is a professional foraging educator and podcaster in the Chicago suburbs. His show, the Wild Edible World podcast, seeks to educate anyone who will listen on edible plants and fungi, what they taste like, and where you can find them. He is also a co-founder of Remnant Roots non-profit which seeks to adopt vacant lots and turn them into native plant sanctuaries.

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.