Art Adventure
A Mixed Media Art Retreat
August 24 - 27, 2023
Treat yourself to a four-day artful getaway where you’ll get to explore a variety of art forms, media, and aesthetics. Work with metal, fiber, collage, assemblage, oil & cold wax, painting, calligraphy, and mixed media.
- 15 workshops with nine talented instructors from across the country and across the street!
- Get inspired by fellow artists with after-class social hours and a “swap table”
- Art Adventure Showcase night (open to the public) featuring work by instructors and students
- Engage with the charming creative community of Mineral Point: art galleries and eclectic shops, as well as delicious dining options to enjoy
All skill levels welcome!
Registration deadline for most workshops is August 14.

Art Adventure Instructors
This year we welcome nine talented instructors to Art Adventure.
Leighanna Light
I am a passionate art instructor, thingmaker, bookmaker, figurative assemblage artist and recovering perfectionist! My background is in fine arts and photography and I’ve been teaching art workshops for the past 20 years at art retreats in the U.S. I develop my classes by playing, making a mess, making “mistakes,” and I can’t think of any better way to live and make a living. I love to create, to hunt for things to create with, and to share my creativity with others. It’s what I live for, it’s my oxygen.
I grew up in a small town in upstate New York and I have spent most of the past 20 years in New Mexico. I am so lucky to live in Taos, the mountains of northern New Mexico, with my best friends Thomas, Peetie, Lily, and Hairy B.
Workshops
Roann Mathias
Roann Mathias is an artist and educator who is experienced in a variety of media including abstract painting, photography, watercolor, and lettering. All of these varied interests can be seen in her art. Her work has been published in Somerset Studio Magazine, Letter Arts Review and Cloth Paper Scissors magazine. She taught calligraphy and mixed media workshops for several years throughout the U.S. and Canada. After receiving her MFA in 2015, she became an adjunct professor at Memphis College of Art and Southwest Tennessee Community College. Originally from New Orleans, the colorful architecture and plant life instilled in her a love of color and nature. Travels around the U.S. and Europe inspired her love of nature and the landscape. Influenced by her study of art history, she has drawn on abstract expressionism to create large gestural works.
Workshops
Deborah Petronio
Deborah Petronio is an assemblage artist from Buffalo, New York. She describes herself as a lover of mermaids, gnomes, and old dollies. Her work exemplifies the juxtaposition of old and new, treasure and junk, and dark versus whimsy. She has been an instructor at art retreats and classes locally and nationally. Her pile of art supplies is legendary.
Workshops
Lorraine Reynolds
“I seek out the cast off, the unwanted, the lost and forgotten. My subjects are steeped in nostalgia and speak to the past. I am interested in the places where sadness and longing linger. I am attracted to decaying landscapes and spaces where metaphor and myth dance together. I look for the place where dreams, memory, and trauma intersect. My work is about exploring the location in the mind between seeing and knowing. I mapping a place in memory that may have never been.”
Lorraine Reynolds is a mixed media artist who works in fiber, assemblage, collage, video, and installation. A storyteller by nature, she uses reclaimed materials to help further the narrative in her work. She holds an MFA in visual art from Vermont College of Fine Art. Lorraine has taught and exhibited her work regionally as well as nationally. When she is not working in her studio or teaching, she is employed in the fashion industry as a technical designer. She lives in Mineral Point with her husband and enormously affectionate German Shorthair Pointer. She served on the board of Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts in 2015-22.
Workshops
Mending Hearts: Stitching Recycled Fibers Into Sculpture
Customize Your Look: Upcycled/Recycled Denim-Youth Program
Carole Spelić
Carole Spelić grew up with educator parents and no television, so since childhood she’s been making things in 2D and 3D. She graduated from Bates College (ME) with a BA in Fine Art and earned her MA and MFA from the University at Albany (NY).
After graduate school, Carole lived in Manhattan, New York City, for 17 years where she was assistant coordinator for the State University system’s Studio Semester in New York program.
She has retired from her senior lecturer position in the art area at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. She also retired from being program director with Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts, and is now a full-time artist, musician, workshop leader, and gallerist – Carole and her partner, painter Richard Moninski, own and operate Green Lantern Studios, a gallery of fine art and handicrafts in Mineral Point.
Her recent exhibitions include work at the Museum of Wisconsin Art (West Bend), a show at the Pump House (La Crosse, WI), award-winning work at the Center for Visual Arts (Wausau, WI), installations at the Evanston Art Center (Evanston, IL), and a one-person exhibition at the Nohr Gallery (Platteville, WI).
Workshops
Jacqueline Sullivan
Artist Jacqueline Sullivan expresses her creativity through mixed media, acrylic, and calligraphic paintings. Her works are unique expressions of adventure and discovery, each piece experimenting with texture, layers, color, unusual materials, calligraphic marks, and words. In addition to technical precision, personal artistic development is intrinsic to her practice.
Jacqueline is a teaching artist with more than 30 years of experience. She has developed and presented many classes at art centers, colleges, guilds, and online. She is a certified Golden Artist Educator, making her a specialist on acrylic products and techniques. She is known for her multidiscipline workshops given at top art retreats as well as art and calligraphy guilds in the U.S. and Canada. She has also served as faculty for several international calligraphy conferences.
Jacqueline’s work has appeared in many publications, including Astarte’s Mega-Zine, Cloth Paper Scissors, Pages, and Somerset Studio, as well as calligraphic journals. Her work has been published in the book AcrylicWorks 4: Captivating Color the Best of Acrylics and Acrylic Works 6. Her bestselling DVD, Acrylics: Textures, Layers, and Metallics, is published by Creative Catalyst Productions.
Her widely collected work has been shown in galleries and top-juried art fairs nationwide. In addition to garnishing the walls of collectors and inspiring thousands of students through her teaching, Jacqueline has enriched her painting practice by using her degree in graphic design, working for many years as a publication, marketing, and advertising designer. She paints and lives in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Workshops
Lynne Suprock
Lynne Suprock is a creative mixed media designer, writer, and instructor, making a difference through art. She believes through art the opportunity for emotional or physical healing truly exists.
As a mixed media artist, Lynne uses a variety of products in her work, such as enamel, metal, clay, paint, and fabric. Her work has been published extensively in several journals published by Stampington & Company, as well as in Cloth, Paper, Scissors and Lark Book, Showcase 500 Art Necklaces. She served as a 2015-16 design team member for Amazing Casting Products, and is currently the fabric art educator for Gel Press. Lynne has been recently featured on seven episodes of the PBS show “Make It Artsy” (seasons 3, 5, 6 and 7), which aired in 2017-19. Some of those episodes can also be found on the Make It Artsy website at http://www.makeitartsy.com.
Workshops
Julie Wildman
Julie Wildman is a well-regarded professional in the fields of graphic design, commercial lettering, calligraphy, and workshops. Her studio is in northwest Indiana, only 30 minutes from downtown Chicago.
Her calligraphic interest began in the late ’80s after a friend gave her Timothy Botts’ book Doorposts, and she saw the written word illustrated in such a way as never before. About ten years later, she had the privilege of taking a year-long class with an internationally known calligrapher and was hooked. She joined the Chicago Calligraphy Collective soon after and embarked on a lifelong journey of studying letters.
Since then, her work has been exhibited in juried shows throughout the Midwest and the U.S., including the Newberry Library in Chicago. In 2007 and 2014, her pieces “Psalm 117” and “An Alphabet Book,” respectively, won the Newberry’s Purchase Prize Award and became a part of the library’s permanent collection. Her work has also been published in many issues of Letter Arts Review, as well as Bound & Lettered, a publication featuring the works of accomplished calligraphers and book artists. She has also been published in Alphabet, a quarterly publication put out by Friends of Calligraphy in San Francisco, and in Communication Arts Design Annual #59, September 2018.
She loves line, shape, color, texture, paper, ink, and paint and often can’t believe she gets to play with them for a living! She enthusiastically shares her love of “beautiful writing” with young and old by teaching calligraphy for staff development classes, on-site promotional events, community programs and personal growth workshops throughout the Chicagoland area, U.S., and Canada. And now with Zoom classes, she has taught hundreds of students from more than 20 countries around the world.
Workshops
Lettering, Stamping & Transfers on Unglazed Tiles
Gail Willert
Gail is a mixed media artist who works with photography, assemblage, collage, and ceramics. She loves experimenting and combining as many of these mediums as she can in her work — whatever it takes to express an idea! Having been a teacher in adult education for 30 years, she loves teaching all levels of students. Her work can be seen locally and nationally in museum and gallery shows. She happily lives amid nature in southeastern Wisconsin.
Workshops
Art Adventure Schedule
Thursday
8-9 am Registration & Morning Treats | Art Cafe
9 am-4 pm Mixed Media Market & Swap Table | Art Cafe
9 am-4 pm Expressive Coptic Journal | Roann Mathias | Sardeson
9 am-4 pm Transparent Collage | Jacqueline Sullivan | Smejas’ Studio
9 am-4 pm Glass Charm Braceletpalooza | Lynne Suprock | Lind Pavilion North
9 am-4 pm Layered Faces | Leighanna Light | Lind Pavilion South
9 am-4 pm Lettering, Stamping & Transfers on Unglazed Tiles | Julie Wildman | Cabinet Shop
noon-1 pm Lunch Hour | Pick up pre-orders in the Art Cafe
Friday
8-9 am Registration & Morning Treats | Art Cafe
9 am-4 pm Mixed Media Market & Swap Table | Art Cafe
9 am-4 pm The Artful Journal | Roann Mathias | Sardeson
9 am-4 pm On the Horizon | Jacqueline Sullivan | Smejas’ Studio
9 am-4 pm Beyond Collage | Gail Willert | Lind Pavilion South
9 am-4 pm Layered Faces | Leighanna Light | Lind Pavilion South
9 am-4 pm Lettering, Stamping & Transfers on Unglazed Tiles | Julie Wildman | Cabinet Shop
noon-1 pm Lunch Hour | Pick up pre-orders in the Art Cafe
4:30-5:30 pm Afer-class Social Hour | Lind Pavilion
Saturday
8-9 am Registration & Morning Treats | Art Cafe
9 am-4 pm Mixed Media Market & Swap Table | Art Cafe
9 am-4 pm Abstracts with Oil & Cold Wax | Jacqueline Sullivan | Smejas’ Studio
9 am-4pm Little Altars, Everywhere | Lorraine Reynolds | Sardeson
9 am-4 pm Your Hand, Your Spirit | Carole Spelić | AMP
9 am-4 pm Alphabets Inspired by Nature | Julie Wildman | Potter’s House
9 am-4 pm Whooo Gives a Hoot? | Deborah Petronio | Cabinet Shop
9 am-4 pm Re-Leafed, or the Ancient Art of Eeep Making | Leighanna Light | Lind Pavilion South
noon-1 pm Lunch Hour | Pick up pre-orders in the Art Cafe
6-8 pm Art Adventure Showcase | Lind Pavilion | Open to the Public | Food & Drink
Sunday
8-9 am Registration & Morning Treats | Art Cafe
9 am-4 pm Mixed Media Market & Swap Table | Art Cafe
9 am-4 pm Abstracts with Oil & Cold Wax | Jacqueline Sullivan | Smejas’ Studio
9 am-4 pm Whooo Gives a Hoot? | Deborah Petronio | Cabinet Shop
9 am-4 pm Re-Leafed, or the Ancient Art of Eeep Making | Leighanna Light | Lind Pavilion South
9 am-4 pm Upcycled Mixed-Media Collage Cards | Lorraine Reynolds | Sardeson
noon-1 pm Lunch Hour | Pick up pre-orders in the Art Cafe
Art Adventure FAQs
There is no event fee. Workshops are individually priced. See below.
Nope. No minimum. You may sign up for just one or as many workshops as you like. Most workshops are one full day. Some are half day classes and there are some two-day classes as well.
Register for each class individually. You may register online (see below) or call the Shake Rag Alley office at 608-987-3292.
See the What to Expect section of our Planning Your Workshop Experience page.
See the Cancellation Policy section of our Planning Your Workshop Experience page.
Materials fees are shown in the class listings and are usually paid with the tuition payment, although in some cases materials fees are paid directly to the instructor at class time. Check the class listing.
Our workshops are designed for ages 14 and up, as described on our Planning Your Workshop Experience page.
We do encourage your spouse to accompany you to enjoy Mineral Point! But sorry, only registered students are allowed in class unless there is a medical need for assistance.
Yes, you will receive an email confirmation. If you do not have an email address, we will send a postal mail confirmation.
Mineral Point is located in Southwest Wisconsin about 45 miles from Madison. See our Planning Your Workshop Experience page for travel info.
Shake Rag rents three guest rooms right on campus and two apartments a few blocks away. Students receive a 10% discount on Shake Rag Alley lodging. See our Lodging page for more information. In addition, Mineral Point has a variety of motels, hotels, inns, and bed and breakfasts with a wide range of prices and amenities, many within walking distance of Shake Rag Alley. See our Local Lodging Directory.
Mineral Point boasts a large number of artist galleries/studios and shops, as well as several historic sites. Other cultural offerings can be found in nearby communities. Parks and outdoor activities are available in Mineral Point and outside of town as well. Please see our Planning Your Workshop Experience page for more information.
YES! During Art Adventure we welcome you to:
- Unwind and enjoy complimentary drinks, cheese, and snacks at our nightly After-Class Social Hours
- Find a new treasure at the Swap Table
- Visit the Mineral Point Market on Saturday morning
- Take in Mineral Point’s many galleries, artist studios, and historic sites
Click here to check the Mineral Point community calendar, which may be updated with new events as your workshop date approaches, and review the list of possibilities provided on our Planning Your Workshop Experience page.
-
Expressive Coptic Journal
Aug 24, 2023 Register by:Aug 14
Roann Mathias -
SOLD OUT
Glass Charm Braceletpalooza
Aug 24, 2023 Register by:Aug 14
Lynne Suprock -
Layered Faces
Aug 24-25, 2023 Register by:Aug 14
Leighanna Light -
Lettering, Stamping & Transfers on Unglazed Tiles
Aug 24-25, 2023 Register by:Class Canceled
Julie Wildman -
SOLD OUT
Transparent Collage
Aug 24, 2023 Register by:Aug 14
Jacqueline Sullivan -
Beyond Collage
Aug 25, 2023 Register by:Aug 14
Gail Willert -
SOLD OUT
On the Horizon
Aug 25, 2023 Register by:Aug 14
Jacqueline Sullivan -
The Artful Journal
Aug 25, 2023 Register by:Aug 14
Roann Mathias -
Abstracts with Oil & Cold Wax
Aug 26-27, 2023 Register by:Aug 14
Jacqueline Sullivan -
Alphabets Inspired by Nature
Aug 26, 2023 Register by:Extended — August 18
Julie Wildman -
SOLD OUT
Little Altars, Everywhere
Aug 26, 2023 Register by:Aug 14
Lorraine Reynolds -
Re-Leafed, or the Ancient Art of Eeep Making
Aug 26-27, 2023 Register by:Aug 14
Leighanna Light -
Whooo Gives a Hoot?
Aug 26-27, 2023 Register by:Extended — August 18
Deborah Petronio -
Your Hand, Your Spirit
Aug 26, 2023 Register by:Extended — August 18
Carole Spelić -
Upcycled Mixed-Media Collage Cards
Aug 27, 2023 Register by:Aug 14
Lorraine Reynolds
-
Art Adventure Lunch-Thursday
Thur, August 24, 2023 Register by:August 21
Cafe 43 -
Art Adventure Lunch-Friday
Fri, August 25, 2023 Register by:August 21
The Walker House -
Art Adventure Lunch-Saturday
Sat, August 26, 2023 Register by:August 21
Cafe 43 -
Art Adventure Lunch-Sunday
Sun, August 27, 2023 Register by:August 21
Wander Provisions
Campus Map: Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts


Coach House
18 Shake Rag Street
Art Café
Ellery House
restrooms
4 of 33restrooms
5 of 33restrooms
6 of 33Open Air Parking
7 of 33Lind Pavilion Parking
8 of 33Roadside Parking
allowed on Commerce Street
Smejas’ Studio parking
10 of 33Smejas’ Studio
30 Doty Street
Curbside Parking
as indicated
Accessible Parking
with curb cut
Accessible Parking
with curb cut
Alley Stage
15 of 33Cabinet Shop
French Cabin
1830 Log Cabin
Potter’s House
Blacksmith Barn
Federal Spring
21 of 33Monarch Garden
22 of 33Lind Pavilion
411 Commerce Street
two blocks to
High Street & Commerce Street
Restaurants, Shops & Galleries
To Grocery Store
Point Foods
622 Dodge Street
Street Parking with Additional Parking behind Smejas’ Studio
26 of 33The Green
open air park
Stair Steps
between
Cabinet Shop & Lind Pavilion
Stair Steps
to Alley Stage
Stone Bridge
over
Federal Spring
223 Commerce St.
The Sardeson is home to the
Sardeson Pottery Studio,
Roland’s Loft,
and Tuckpoint. 31 of 33
Weaving & Fiber Arts Studio
Cannery Row Arts Incubator
121 Water St.
Footbridge
33 of 33ADA accessible buildings: Lind Pavilion, Coach House (first floor), Smejas’ Studio