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 15.

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.…Read More

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.

Instructor Website

Workshops

Layered Faces

Re-Leafed, or the Ancient Art of Eeep Making

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.

Instructor Website

Workshops

Expressive Coptic Journal

The Artful Journal

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.…Read More

Instructor Website

Workshops

Whooo Gives a Hoot?

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.…Read More

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.

Instructor Website

Workshops

Mending Hearts: Stitching Recycled Fibers Into Sculpture

Upcycled Mixed-Media Collage Cards

Little Altars, Everywhere

Books Unbounded

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.…Read More

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

Warp & Weave

Robust Rag Rug – April

Robust Rag Rug – May

Robust Rag Rug – June

Robust Rag Rug – July

Robust Rag Rug – September

Robust Rag Rug – October

Your Hand, Your Spirit

Farmhouse Clock

Chalet die Bestäubern (The Pollinators’ Chalet)

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.…Read More

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.

Instructor Website

Workshops

Transparent Collage

On the Horizon

Abstracts with Oil & Cold Wax

Lynn Suprock

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.…Read More

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.

Instructor Website

Workshops

Glass Charm Braceletpalooza

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.…Read More

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.

Instructor Website

Workshops

Alphabets Inspired by Nature

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.…Read More

Workshops

New Dimensions in Collage

Beyond Collage

Art Adventure Schedule

Thursday, August 24

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, August 25

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, August 26

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 | Food + Cash Bar

Sunday, August 27

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

Click here for a printable Art Adventure schedule.

Art Adventure FAQs

How much does it cost to attend Art Adventure?

There is no event fee. Workshops are individually priced. See below.

Do I have to sign up for a minimum number of workshops?

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.

How do I register?

Register for each class individually. You may register online (see below) or call the Shake Rag Alley office at 608-987-3292.

Where do I check in for class?

See the What to Expect section of our Planning Your Workshop Experience page.

What if I have to cancel my registration later?

See the Cancellation Policy section of our Planning Your Workshop Experience page.

If a class has materials fees, do I pay those to the instructor or do I pay them when I register?

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.

Can my child attend with me?

Our workshops are designed for ages 14 and up, as described on our Planning Your Workshop Experience page.

Can my spouse attend class with me as a non-registered guest?

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.

Will I receive a class confirmation when I register?

Yes, you will receive an email confirmation. If you do not have an email address, we will send a postal mail confirmation.

How do I get to Mineral Point and Shake Rag Alley?

Mineral Point is located in Southwest Wisconsin about 45 miles from Madison. See our Planning Your Workshop Experience page for travel info.

I will want to stay overnight. Where can I find accommodations?

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.

What about meals?

Optional boxed lunches are available to order each day from one of our valued restaurant partners. Scroll below to view the options for each day.

Mineral Point has a number of terrific restaurants offering a variety of cuisines and price ranges. Most restaurants are within walking distance of the Shake Rag Alley campus. See our Local Dining Directory. Or, you are welcome to bring a bag lunch or picnic. Several buildings on campus have refrigerators where you can store a bag lunch and there are tables and chairs on the patio outside the Art Café as well as benches throughout campus.

How can I find out about shops, galleries, and other attractions in the area?

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.

Will there be other special activities in addition to the workshops at Art Adventure?

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.