The holidays are a terrific outlet for closet artisans. You get to garnish little gingerbread people, create glitzy gift wraps and conjure up pinecone centerpieces, not to mention trim the house with boughs of holly. But now that the (hand-painted) ornaments are back in cold storage and the last pine needles have been vacuumed up, it’s back to making paper clip chains and doodles of your boss being horribly tortured.
You have a couple of choices. You could put your artistic inklings into hibernation until Santa comes back; you could learn how to cut snowflakes and hammer belt buckles at a local park-rec class; or you could return all your gifts and use the cash to pay for a surreally overpriced art class.
There’s another option. Inexpensive (about $100; some are free) but sophisticated fine arts classes are available throughout the city and suburbs. Don’t worry if you’re artistically impaired; these classes are designed for beginners, and the main ingredient is enthusiasm.
Paper Source, 232 W. Chicago Ave. 312-337-0798. Classes in January and February include rubber stamping, bookbinding, creating Valentine’s Day cards and covering a wooden box with French marbled papers. One-and-a-half-hour sessions cost $20 each; longer sessions range up to $60 each.
Babette’s Practical Art Gallery, 2229 N. Clybourn Ave.; 312-525-2227. Four times a year, the gallery offers two-hour, one-session classes in painting, faux-finishing and flower arranging. The charge is $35.
Aroma Workshop, 2050 N. Halsted St.; 312-871-1985. Scent creation workshops explain the history and therapeutic effects of fragrances. Participants create their own perfume. The 90-minute program is $25, including $8.50 for the perfume. The next one will be Jan. 26.
Robin’s Egg Blue, 30 E. Hinsdale Ave., Hinsdale; 708-325-1776. This retail store offers home decorating workshops, including antiques, color and accessorizing tabletops. The store will also hold an herbal garden seminar in late April. Adult sessions are two to three hours and cost $20 to $30. Call for a schedule.
Newberry Library, 60 W. Walton St.; 312-943-9090. The library sponsors adult workshops in the humanities, writing, calligraphy, Japanese bookbinding, box-making and the handling of family photos. Prices range from $15 to $100 for one to 10 meetings. The spring semester begins in March; call for a schedule in early February.
The Latin School of Chicago, 59 W. North Ave.; 312-573-4698. The school’s “Live and Learn Program” offers one-time workshops in fashion, food, photography, art, music and theater (as well as seminars on travel, the arts and social issues; and tours of newsrooms, cemeteries, the zoo, the airport and historic homes). Most are half-day workshops and cost $20. Spring classes begin in April.
Francis Parker School, 330 W. Webster Ave.; 312-549-0172. The school holds adult classes in painting, decorative finishes, drawing, pottery, doll-making, photography, jewelry design, egg decorating, flower arranging, collages, batik, calligraphy, origami, sewing, knitting, needlepoint and crochet. The spring term begins Feb. 28. Classes meet one to six times for an average of two hours. Fees range from $20 to $60.
Textile Arts Centre, 916 W. Diversey Pkwy.; 312-929-5655. Classes in block printing, silkscreening, basketmaking, paper, jewelry, quilts and yarn are available to ages 16 through adult. There are from one to six sessions that are usually 2 1/2 hours each. The winter term begins Monday. Fees are $40-$95. Each quarter, one children’s class is offered. A three-hour beadmaking class will be held in March, for $10.
Uptown Hull House, 4520 N. Beacon St.; 708-232-2728. Ten weeks of four-hour classes in dance, painting, muralmaking, video and photography are offered for young people ages 12 through 23 and are free. Adult classes are body movement, $75, and African dance, $50. The next semester begins Feb. 15.
Evanston Art Center, 2603 Sheridan Rd., Evanston; 708-475-5300. Eight-week drawing, painting and quiltmaking classes for kids 11 to 14 are $80 to $84. Classes are 90 minutes. Registration is being accepted for sessions beginning Tuesday and April 11.
Old Town Arts Center, 1763 N. North Park Ave.; 312-337-1938. People 16 and older can enjoy 10-week drawing and painting classes, $65 to $120. Materials not included. Classes are three to four hours. The current term began this week, but some classes will start next week. The spring term begins March 28.
School of the Art Institute of Chicago, off-site; 312-899-5130.
Saturdays from July 16 to Aug. 9, free art classes for all ages will be held outdoors at Gallery 37, on State Street between Randolph and Washington Streets. Drop-in hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. classes include printmaking, papermaking, watercolor, figure drawing and maskmaking. All supplies are free, and registration is not required. The classes are conducted by the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and sponsored by the City of Chicago, Department of Cultural Affairs.
The school also holds occasional free art classes in Chicago’s public libraries. Call for a schedule.
Discovery Center, 2940 N. Lincoln Ave., 800-967-5200 or 312-348-8120. Courses in calligraphy, cartooning, drawing, jewelrymaking, painting, silk-screen, stained glass, photography, music (voice and instrumental) and dance are open to teenagers and adults. They span two to six sessions and cost $50 to $100. New terms begin every six weeks; some classes began this week. Call the center for individual dates and registration deadlines.
Taking fine arts classes is a great way for “adults to relax and get in touch with their creativity,” says Mary Haas, owner of The Pot Shop. “Everyone thinks art is just drawing and painting, but it’s not,” she adds. Mashing, molding, pounding and pummeling clay are great stress relievers, too. “Everyone enjoys working with their hands. Doing pottery and working with clay is not only artistic, it’s incredibly therapeutic. For kids, it does wonders for their eye-hand coordination.”
The Pot Shop, 604 Dempster St., Evanston; 708-864-7778. For $100, kids ages 6 to 12 can get their hands dirty during eight weeks of 1 hour and 15 minute classes. The next session begins Jan. 25. (Adult classes are 3 hours long, for eight weeks, and cost $165.)
Lill Street Gallery, 1021 W. Lill St.; 312-477-6185. The gallery holds 10-week classes in clay, painting, drawing, multimedia and cartooning, for children ages 2 to 12. Most meet for one to two hours and cost about $100. The winter session opens Monday (registration is open through then).
The gallery offers occasional two-hour craft workshops for families, $10-$25 per person.
Kids & Clay, 4905 N. Damen Ave.; 312-878-5821. The school presents drawing, marionette-making, photography and piano classes for ages 7 through 15. Clay classes are available to ages 3 through adult. Four-week sessions begin each month. Children’s classes are one hour long; clay, drawing and photography cost $25. Marionette-making is $35. Twelve piano lessons are $60. Four weeks of adult clay classes, two hours each, are $50.
Creative Claythings, 3412 N. Southport Ave.; 312-472-5580. The studio offers eight weeks of clay classes for adults. Intermediate and advance classes are an hour; they cost $65. (Beginner classes are two hours long and cost $130.)
Clayworks Studio, 1405 W. Lunt Ave.; 312-262-2522. Pottery classes for ages 16 through adult begin every month. Four three-hour sessions cost $80.
The holidays were fabulous also for those who prefer flexing their vocal cords instead of their fingers. But if your kids feigned ear infections every time you sang “Jingle Bells,” don’t despair. There are programs out there to aid the musically deficient.
“A music class is an escape, a very energizing one,” explains Susan Johns, a program director for the Discovery Center, which offers voice and instrument classes. “Working all the time puts blinkers on your focus and on your goals. When you really get into the creative process, the effects are similar to meditation: relieving stress, quieting your mind, being able to focus. You shut the world out and go into a quiet center within yourself. It’s a welling up of ideas and images that can really change the way you see the world.” Johns recommends that couples and families make music together, to add a common hobby and a new dimension to their relationships.
The People’s Music School, 4750 N. Sheridan Rd., Suite 340; 312-784-7032. Free music instruction, including a weekly one-hour theory class and a half-hour private lesson in voice, strings, woodwinds, brass, percussion, marimba, piano or guitar, is available for ages 5 through adult. A one-time registration fee of $10 is required, as well as a commitment of two hours per month devoted to clerical or administrative activities for the school.
Students may continue studying free for an unlimited period. Registration, on a first-come, first-served basis, for the winter-spring term, Thursday to May 21, will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday (but get there before noon).
The Merit Music Program, 47 W. Polk St.; 312-786-9428. Students in 4th through 12th grades may audition for the tuition-free conservatory, which consists of three hours of group instruction per week in music theory, mixed ensemble and either instrument or voice. Registration is $60 per year, $35 for the summer.
Sherwood Conservatory of Music, 1014 S. Michigan Ave.; 312-427-6267. It’s not too late to enroll in vocal and instrumental classes for ages 2 and up. The hourlong, 10- to 12-week sessions began this week, but there are still spaces available. Classes range from $90 to $150, but financial aid of 10 percent to 90 percent is available.
Suzuki-Orff School for Young Musicians, 1010 W. Chicago Ave.; 312-738-2646. Classes, for toddlers through adults, run 17 weeks. Guitar, flute, cello, piano or violin lessons are available. Fees run from $100 for the 30-minute fundamentals classes to $378 for the 30-minute fundamentals/30-minute private classes. However, need-based financial aid is so readily available that half the student body pays nothing but a $15 registration fee.
Old Town School of Folk Music, 909 W. Armitage Ave.; 312-525-7793. The school offers eight weeks of one- to two-hour classes in voice, instrument and dance. The cost is $80 for adults. Children’s voice and instrument classes are 45 minutes long and cost $64 to $68.
Marwen Foundation, 325 W. Huron St., Suite 215; 312-944-2418. Free classes in painting, drawing, fashion design, art history, architectural design, printmaking and sculpture are offered four times a year to kids ages 5 through 19. Classes are once a week, for 2 1/2 hours. Friday is the last day to register for the winter session, which begins Monday.
