Instructor Directory
Our instructors are drawn from a wealth of talented teachers, including nationally known artists from across the country and across the street. They are innovative craftsmen and artists who enjoy trying new techniques and love sharing what they do with their students.
If you are an experienced art, craft, writing, or performing arts instructor and are interested in teaching at Shake Rag Alley, click here for more information.
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Jacqueline Sullivan
“Mixed media, acrylic paints, calligraphy, bookbinding, and fiber arts – I have loved them all since I first discovered each medium. Personal artistic development has been a lifeline as I work my way through the challenges life has brought. My mixed media, book art, calligraphic, and acrylic work has been shown in galleries and top juried art fairs nationwide. I believe that asking ‘what if?’ and keeping a spirit of adventure and discovery is important as I follow my creative path and attempt to make something original. I love experimenting with texture, layers, marks, paint, and dyes. I have been a teaching artist for 30 years and I love to teach! Seeing the joy in a student’s face when they create something that pleases them brings me joy. I am grateful for the opportunities I have been given to inspire others to be creative. I am proud to be a certified teaching artist for Golden Paints.”
Workshops
Judy Sutcliffe
Judy Sutcliffe is a multi-faceted artist who enjoys creating and teaching in a variety of media, including concrete/mosaic art, doll-making, primitive weaving, book arts and printmaking, forged jewelry, tile, woodcarving, nonfiction and poetry. A native of Iowa, Judy spent 17 years as a tile muralist in Santa Barbara, CA, before returning to the Midwest in 1996. Her tile paintings grace many Santa Barbara public buildings and private homes. In addition to tile work, Judy, as The Electric Typographer, has designed over 30 typefaces, including calligraphic and image fonts. Judy is co-owner of the Longbranch Gallery in Mineral Point.
Workshops
Sarah Thompson
Sarah Thompson is a self-taught artist who has been working with wire exclusively for the last 5 years. She specializes in wire weaving techniques and uses a layering process to add dimension to her pieces. She began teaching three years ago and has found great success and enjoyment teaching at Fusion Beads in Seattle and Rings-n-Things in Spokane, Washington. Sarah won best in show in the Bead And Button show’s Bead Dreams contest and is the author of Woven in Wire: Dimensional Wire Weaving in Fine Art Jewelry and Fine Art Wire Weaving: Techniques for Stunning Jewelry Designs. “The beauty of wire weaving is you can achieve a piece of jewelry that looks like it has been soldered and made by a silversmith. I like the challenge of designing a piece using solely the wire and weaving. I love hammering out shaped wire to add a dynamic edge to the finished jewelry as well as forming the woven jewelry for added depth and dimension. If you use fine silver, wire ends can be fused for a smooth finish.”
Workshops
Evy Thuli
Evy Thuli is an artist and educator with many interests. Recently retired from full-time teaching after 36 years, Evy is pursuing a variety of media including stained glass mosaics, hand lettering, and ceramics, to name a few. Originally from west-central Wisconsin, Evy works and resides in rural Dodgeville with her husband, Bob, surrounded by acres of restored prairie. A Border collie named Tallie and a cat named Whiskers keep Evy company in her studio while she works. Her love of teaching continues as she shares knowledge through workshops for children and adults.
Workshops
Bob Tuftee
Bob Tuftee has been blacksmithing almost 30 years now. “I started out making ironware for my camping gear doing Mountain Man rendezvous events.” Bob lives in LeClaire, Iowa, and has done all kinds of blacksmithing, including forge work for his business, Upper Mississippi Valley Mercantile Company. He has sold to re-enactors across the country and has also sold ironware to movie and production companies. He has been the village blacksmith at Pioneer Village in Scott County Park, Davenport, Iowa, for the past 25 years, plus teaching and leading workshops at the Old Blacksmith Shop at the Galena History Museum in Illinois. Bob is an active member of ABANA (Artist Blacksmith Association of North America), IVBA (Illinois Valley Blacksmith Association), and UMBA (Upper Midwest Blacksmith Association), and is currently a board member of UMBA. He has taken several advanced blacksmithing classes throughout the years. Most of his blacksmithing work is done in a coal forge. Bob retired in 2012. He worked almost 45 years in skilled trades as a millwright and certified welder, the last 28 at Alcoa in the Davenport area.
Workshops
Sherry Viktora
Sherry Viktora is a senior instructor in precious metal clay for PMC Connection. She brings a love of nature and gardening to her art and an enthusiasm for sharing to her teaching. She combines metal clay with glass and organic materials to create unique work. After receiving PMCC Certifications and Art Clay Instructor Certification, Sherry retired to become a full-time senior instructor. Sherry’s work has been published in national art and jewelry magazines and can be found at Longbranch Gallery in Mineral Point.
Workshops
Fine Silver Rings in a Day – May
Reversible Fine Silver Lentil or Pebble Bead
Natural Stones Set in Silver Metal Clay
Marie Whisenant
Photography instructor Marie Whisenant has been passionate about image-making since she was a child. Initially drawn to drawing and painting, she discovered photography as an artistic medium 20 years ago and has been clicking away ever since. She has shown her work in numerous galleries over the years and does occasional commercial work, including portraiture and product photography. She also has also been teaching photography and Photoshop classes for adults and kids at the technical college level, privately and through community programs for several years. Marie loves combining her passions for education and photography, and sharing in her students’ “aha!” moments!
Workshops
Joelle White
Joelle has been throwing pottery for 10 years. She studied at UW-Platteville in 2008-11, acquiring a biology and art background. After graduation she developed a love for the wood-fired pottery process and enjoys decorating the surfaces of her functional pots with floral designs.
Workshops
Pottery Wheel Throwing Boot Camp
Katie White
Katie White grew up on a farm in Stockton, IL. She graduated from Northern Illinois University in 2012 with a BFA degree in Ceramics. She has participated in ceramic residencies throughout the country including The Cub Creek Foundation in Appomattox, VA, Red Lodge Clay Center in Red Lodge, MT, as well as at Wichita State University in Wichita, KS. White moved to Mineral Point in June of 2017 where she worked as studio assistant at Bruce Howdle Studio. She continues to create her pottery and sculpture in the Sardeson Pottery Studio and wood-fires in the Mineral Point area.
Workshops
Jane Wilcoxson
Jane Wilcoxson is a visual storyteller who works with oil pastels and acrylics. She creates colorful and textured paintings that portray stories and explore themes such as finding one’s place, adjusting to change, and living as a part of the earth’s huge ecosystem. Her works are full of abundant vegetation, quirky animals, fantastical people, and improbable buildings. Born and educated in the U.K., she became a child artist attending the Leek College of Art and Design at the age of 10. By the age of 16, Jane had become a full-time art student and then went on to complete her BA in fine art painting at Loughborough College of Art and Design and her post-graduate in education at Birmingham Polytechnic. She has exhibited her work extensively in Europe and the United States, winning many awards, and her work has also been published in a children’s book and featured in the Art Educators of Illinois Mosaic magazine. Jane works from either her studio/gallery located in Mineral Point, Wisconsin, or her Oswego, Illinois, home studio.
Workshops
Greg Winz
Greg Winz brings a background in metallurgy as well as some Folklore Village showmanship to his blacksmithing workshops. Greg, trained as a machinist, today is a research technician at UW-Madison. He enjoys sharing his love of the metal arts with aspiring students.
Workshops
David Wollangk
“As life-long crafters and artists, we try everything. We have done workshops on both Viking Knitting and Fold Forming numerous times. We like helping others learn the basic techniques and provide a creative outlet.”
Workshops
Simplified Locket for Pendant or Ornament
JoEllen Wollangk
“As life-long crafters and artists, we try everything. We have done workshops on both Viking Knitting and Fold Forming numerous times. We like helping others learn the basic techniques and provide a creative outlet.”
Workshops
Simplified Locket for Pendant or Ornament
