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September 17, 2025 @ 7:00 pm 9:00 pm

Initiatives

Public Arts Programs
$20.00
21850 Riverwoods Rd.
Riverwoods, IL 60015 United States
+ Google Map
224.633.2424

BASE: Create & Sip – Clay Ornaments with Kirsten Saunders

Create & Sip is a monthly workshop hosted at Brushwood Center where participants can explore fun projects using supplies and tools from the Brushwood Art Supply Exchange, BASE. It’s an opportunity to get creative, try something new, and enjoy the company of fellow art enthusiasts in a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere.

This month’s class will be led by September’s Artist of the Month, Kirsten Saunders, who will teach us to make Clay Ornaments. Use clay, large cookie cutters and clay stamps to create your own ornaments for any occasion. Great for ages 10+. Working with clay relieves stress, increases focus, and engages both hands and mind. It’s a fun way to expand your creative and expressive repertoire! You can also see Kirsten’s work displayed in the Brushwood Center Gallery from August 30 – September 27.

We’ll have a variety of supplies and tools available. Everyone’s project will be unique. No experience necessary, all skill levels are welcome.

About the Artist:

Kirsten began working with clay in college in 1982 and was hooked right away. Though her B.A. is in Psychology/Sociology, she took many fine art classes and workshops through the years to hone her skills and develop her own style. She taught children’s art classes while raising her own children, and still enjoys teaching occasionally and experiencing children’s playfulness and discovery. She is most inspired by her ever changing garden, whimsy, and her love of nature and it’s amazing creatures. Each piece is one of a kind, created in her home studio in Gurnee Illinois. Working mostly with Terra Cotta clay, pieces are wheel thrown, hand built, or a construction of both. Her mosaics are a blend of crockery, her own pottery, glass and other enticing items.

What to Bring:

  • Your favorite beverage (alcohol is allowed for those 21 +)
  • Some snacks to enjoy as you immerse yourself in the creative process
  • Your friends (make sure they register!)
  • Any extra supplies you want to incorporate into your project (Optional! We have lots of supplies!)

Questions? Please contact Director of Public Programs and Music, Parker Nelson at pnelson@brushwoodcenter.org

$20/person. Please register by September 15. BYOB. 

August 13, 2025 @ 7:00 pm 9:00 pm

Initiatives

Public Arts Programs
$20.00
21850 Riverwoods Rd.
Riverwoods, IL 60015 United States
+ Google Map
224.633.2424

BASE: Create & Sip – View From Your Window Accordion Art Books with Susan Teller

Create & Sip is a monthly workshop hosted at Brushwood Center where participants can explore fun projects using supplies and tools from the Brushwood Art Supply Exchange, BASE. It’s an opportunity to get creative, try something new, and enjoy the company of fellow art enthusiasts in a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere.

This month’s class will be led by August’s Artist of the Month, Susan Teller, who will teach us to make Accordion Art Books. Recycle paper CD covers into your own unique accordion art book! Participants will paint, draw, and / or collage each page, with Susan’s guidance.You can also see Susan’s work displayed in the Brushwood Center Gallery from July 26 – August 30.

We’ll have a variety of supplies and tools available. Everyone’s project will be unique. No experience necessary, all skill levels are welcome.

About the Artist:

Susan Teller graduated from the University Of Illinois Chicago with a BFA in 1979. She worked at Spring Studio, United Letter, and the Marshall Fields Advertising Department. She was the Skokie Public Library Staff Artist/ Librarian, from 1997-2022. She currently teaches workshops in paper making, watercolor painting, and book binding. She also teaches classes about women artists, the process of making art, and storyboard drawing and development.

What to Bring:

  • Your favorite beverage (alcohol is allowed for those 21 +)
  • Some snacks to enjoy as you immerse yourself in the creative process
  • Your friends (make sure they register!)
  • Any extra supplies you want to incorporate into your project (Optional! We have lots of supplies!)

Questions? Please contact Director of Public Programs and Music, Parker Nelson at pnelson@brushwoodcenter.org

$20/person. Please register by August 11. BYOB. 

July 16, 2025 @ 7:00 pm 9:00 pm

Initiatives

Public Arts Programs
$20.00
21850 Riverwoods Rd.
Riverwoods, IL 60015 United States
+ Google Map
224.633.2424

BASE: Create & Sip – Constructing and Deconstructing with Maryann Wattelle

Create & Sip is a monthly workshop hosted at Brushwood Center where participants can explore fun projects using supplies and tools from the Brushwood Art Supply Exchange, BASE. It’s an opportunity to get creative, try something new, and enjoy the company of fellow art enthusiasts in a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere.

We’ll have a variety of supplies and tools available. Everyone’s project will be unique. No experience necessary, all skill levels are welcome.

Learn to draw a face and use found materials from BASE to create a portrait. Artist of the Month Maryanne Wattelle will teach the class an easy way to breakdown the dynamics of drawing a face and the correct proportions and ratios. She’ll provide insights and shortcuts to capturing the placements of the features of eyes, noses, mouth and hair. Then, using collage and found materials, participants will be invited to embellish the portrait with materials like buttons, yarn, rolled paper, paint and magazine scraps. This workshop will be fun and user-friendly

About the Artist:

Maryann Wattelle is a BFA graduate from the Art Institute of Chicago. Her focus has been on painting, drawing and Art Therapy. Oil, watercolor, found materials and recycled paper are the elements she utilizes in her creative pursuits. She loves using recycled frames and materials. Her work is currently on display at the following locations: Forshey Gallery Tall Grass Arts Association Dragon Fly Gallery Chicago Downers Grove Library Elmhurst Art Museum, and artist guild Artsy Gallery. She’s a mom of four and also a foster mom. In addition to her artistic pursuits, she has worked for American Airlines for 25 years. Her greatest passions are sharing the experience of making art with others and guiding them through their own creative process. She has taught classes for children, young adults and seniors. In her artistic work nature always influences, nourishes and inspires her color choices and themes. She participated in the recent show At Ease in Nature and enjoyed it very much.

What to Bring:

  • Your favorite beverage (alcohol is allowed for those 21 +)
  • Some snacks to enjoy as you immerse yourself in the creative process
  • Your friends (make sure they register!)
  • Any extra supplies you want to incorporate into your project (Optional! We have lots of supplies!)

Questions? Please contact Director of Public Programs and Music, Parker Nelson at pnelson@brushwoodcenter.org

$20/person. Please register by July 14. BYOB. 

June 18, 2025 @ 7:00 pm 9:00 pm

Initiatives

Public Arts Programs
$20.00
21850 Riverwoods Rd.
Riverwoods, IL 60015 United States
+ Google Map
224.633.2424

BASE: Create & Sip – Junk Journals with Magdalena Kranc-Velasquez

Create & Sip is a monthly workshop hosted at Brushwood Center where participants can explore fun projects using supplies and tools from the Brushwood Art Supply Exchange, BASE. It’s an opportunity to get creative, try something new, and enjoy the company of fellow art enthusiasts in a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere.

We’ll have a variety of supplies and tools available. Everyone’s project will be unique. No experience necessary, all skill levels are welcome.

About the Artist:

Magdalena Kranc-Velazquez is a mixed media artist, working in collage. Her work includes intricate collages that feature layering and delicate, yet dramatic, hand painting and drawing. She also creates altered books, creating one-of-a-kind keepsake memory books for her clients, using their photos, jewelry, documents, buttons, and fabrics

What to Bring:

  • Your favorite beverage (alcohol is allowed for those 21 +)
  • Some snacks to enjoy as you immerse yourself in the creative process
  • Your friends (make sure they register!)
  • Any extra supplies you want to incorporate into your project (Optional! We have lots of supplies!)

Questions? Please contact Director of Public Programs and Music, Parker Nelson at pnelson@brushwoodcenter.org

$20/person. Please register by June 15. BYOB. 

May 14, 2025 @ 7:00 pm 9:00 pm

Initiatives

Public Arts Programs
$20.00
21850 Riverwoods Rd.
Riverwoods, IL 60015 United States
+ Google Map
224.633.2424

BASE: Create & Sip – Nature’s Emotion Photo Collage

Create & Sip is a monthly workshop hosted at Brushwood Center where participants can explore fun projects using supplies and tools from the Brushwood Art Supply Exchange, BASE. It’s an opportunity to get creative, try something new, and enjoy the company of fellow art enthusiasts in a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere. We’ll have a variety of supplies and tools available. Everyone’s project will be unique. No experience necessary, all skill levels are welcome.

This month’s class will be led by May’s Artist of the Month, Diana Noh, who will teach us to make Nature’s Emotion Photo Collages. For a sneak peek of this project, visit Brushwood’s Open Art Workshop on Saturday, April 26 where Diana will be demonstrating from 10-4 pm. You can also see Diana’s work displayed in the Brushwood Center Gallery from April 26 – May 30.

We’ll have a variety of supplies and tools available. Everyone’s project will be unique. No experience necessary, all skill levels are welcome.

About the Artist:

Diana Noh is an interdisciplinary artist working with photography, fiber, and installation. Her practice celebrates reconstructions of distressed photographs of architectural spaces and landscapes, exploring themes of trauma embedded in her family relationships and cultural in-betweenness. 

Diana has exhibited pieces in Asia, North America, and Europe, at venues including Space HNH in Seoul, South Korea; Griffin Museum in Winchester, MA; Woman Made Gallery in Chicago, IL; The Arts Council in Fayetteville, NC; Eastern Market in Detroit, MI; Editart in Geneva, Switzerland; The Art Center Highland Park in Highland Park, IL; Hudson Valley MOCA in Peekskill, NY; Cranbrook Academy of Art Museum in Bloomfield Hills, MI. Her work is collected in the collections of Jennifer and Dan Gilbert, Kyungil University, and numerous Private Collections.

Diana currently resides in Chicago, IL. She holds a B.F.A. from Kyungil University (South Korea) and earned an M.F.A. at Cranbrook Academy of Art (Bloomfield Hills, MI).

What to Bring:

  • Your favorite beverage (alcohol is allowed for those 21 +)
  • Some snacks to enjoy as you immerse yourself in the creative process
  • Your friends (make sure they register!)
  • Any extra supplies you want to incorporate into your project (Optional! We have lots of supplies!)

Questions? Please contact Director of Public Programs and Music, Parker Nelson at pnelson@brushwoodcenter.org

$20/person. Please register by May 12. BYOB. 

April 16, 2025 @ 7:00 pm 9:00 pm

Initiatives

Public Arts Programs
$20.00
21850 Riverwoods Rd.
Riverwoods, IL 60015 United States
+ Google Map
224.633.2424

BASE: Create & Sip – Natural Dyes with Invasive Species

Create & Sip is a monthly workshop hosted at Brushwood Center where participants can explore fun projects using supplies and tools from the Brushwood Art Supply Exchange, BASE. It’s an opportunity to get creative, try something new, and enjoy the company of fellow art enthusiasts in a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere. We’ll have a variety of supplies and tools available. Everyone’s project will be unique. No experience necessary, all skill levels are welcome.

This month’s class will be led by April’s Artist of the Month, Katelyn Patton, who will teach us to make Natural Dyes with Invasive Species. For a sneak peek of this project, visit Brushwood’s Open Art Workshop on Saturday, March 29 where Katelyn will be demonstrating from 10-4 pm. You can also see Katelyn’s work displayed in the Brushwood Center Gallery from March 29 – April 24.

Naturally dyed yellow fabric on a line outside

We’ll have a variety of supplies and tools available. Everyone’s project will be unique. No experience necessary, all skill levels are welcome.

About the Artist:

Katelyn Patton is a visual artist working in Chicago who was born and raised in the Midwest. Her practice focuses on the urban ecology and biodiversity of plants in the city and beyond, the ways that material and color can be naturally derived from them, and how this hyper localized knowledge can be used as a vessel for connecting multiple overlapping histories, stories, and meanings. She has been the Maker-In-Residence at the Harold Washington Library, received a DCASE award in 2020, and has had solo shows at Extra Projects, the Lillstreet Arts Center and the NEIU Fine Arts Center Gallery. In 2024 she received her MFA in studio art from UIC. She also received an award from the UIC Sustainability Fund to establish the Art Garden, a space for cross-disciplinary explorations with plants and alternative materials.

What to Bring:

  • Your favorite beverage (alcohol is allowed for those 21 +)
  • Some snacks to enjoy as you immerse yourself in the creative process
  • Your friends (make sure they register!)
  • Any extra supplies you want to incorporate into your project (Optional! We have lots of supplies!)

Questions? Please contact Director of Public Programs and Music, Parker Nelson at pnelson@brushwoodcenter.org

$20/person. Please register by April 14. BYOB. 

March 19, 2025 @ 7:00 pm 9:00 pm

Initiatives

Public Arts Programs
$20.00
21850 Riverwoods Rd.
Riverwoods, IL 60015 United States
+ Google Map
224.633.2424

BASE: Create & Sip – Custom Umbrellas

A striped umbrella.

When April showers bring May flowers, you’ll be ready with the custom umbrella you made this March at Create & Sip.

Create & Sip is a monthly workshop, hosted at BASE (the Brushwood Art Supply Exchange). It’s an opportunity to get creative, try something new, and enjoy the company of fellow art enthusiasts in a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere.

This month, we’ll be using new and recycled, repurposed, and reimagined materials from BASE to create custom umbrellas. We’ll have a variety of supplies and tools available. Everyone’s project will be unique.No experience necessary, all skill levels are welcome.

What to Bring:

  • Your favorite beverage (alcohol is allowed for those 21 +)
  • Some snacks to enjoy as you immerse yourself in the creative process
  • Your friends (make sure they register!)
  • Any extra supplies you want to incorporate into your project (Optional! We have lots of supplies!)

Questions? Please contact Director of Public Programs and Music, Parker Nelson at pnelson@brushwoodcenter.org

$20/person. Please register by March 17. BYOB. 

Close up of a teal ball of yarn

February 19, 2025 @ 7:00 pm 9:00 pm

Initiatives

Public Arts Programs
$20.00
21850 Riverwoods Rd.
Riverwoods, IL 60015 United States
+ Google Map
224.633.2424

BASE: Create & Sip – Get Hooked On Yarn!

As you craft away, enjoy the company of fellow art enthusiasts in a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere while listening to a craft-themed musical soundtrack. Feel free to bring your favorite beverage (alcohol is allowed for those 21 and up) and some snacks to enjoy as you immerse yourself in the creative process. At the end of the class, you’ll leave with your own handmade yarn crafts! Plus, you’ll take home newfound skills and inspiration to continue your crafting journey beyond the class.

We will be using materials and supplies from BASE (the Brushwood Art Supply Exchange) that will include a mix of new materials alongside the repurposed and reimagined. Everyone’s project will be unique, and creativity is highly encouraged. We will have a variety of objects available to use, but if you have something of your own you would like to bring and try to incorporate into your artwork, you are welcome to bring it!

Create & Sip classes are fun, easy going events. Bring some friends, some snacks and bring your imagination! No Experience necessary, all skill levels welcome. Each person’s project will be unique – creativity is highly encouraged! We will be working with materials and tools from BASE, our Creative Reuse Center, which will include a combination of reclaimed, repurposed, and new materials.

Questions? Please contact Director of Public Programs and Music, Parker Nelson at pnelson@brushwoodcenter.org

$20/person. Registration Required. BYOB. 

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November 13, 2024 @ 7:00 pm 9:30 pm

Initiatives

Public Arts Programs
$20.00
21850 Riverwoods Rd.
Riverwoods, IL 60015 United States
+ Google Map
224.633.2424

BASE: Create & Sip – Wreath Making

As you craft away, enjoy the company of fellow art enthusiasts in a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere while listening to a craft-themed musical soundtrack. Feel free to bring your favorite beverage (alcohol is allowed for those 21 and up) and some snacks to enjoy as you immerse yourself in the creative process. At the end of the class, you’ll leave with your own handmade wreath. Plus, you’ll take home newfound skills and inspiration to continue your crafting journey beyond the class. 

We will be using materials and supplies from BASE: Brushwood Art Supply Exchange that will include a mix of new materials alongside the repurposed and reimagined. Everyone’s project will be unique, and creativity is highly encouraged. We will have a variety of objects available to use for your wreath, but if you have something of your own you would like to bring and try to incorporate into your artwork, you are welcome to bring it! 

Create & Sip classes are fun, easy going events.  Bring some friends, some snacks and bring your imagination!  No Experience necessary, all skill levels welcome. Each person’s project will be unique – creativity is highly encouraged! We will be working with materials and tools from BASE, our Creative Reuse Center, which will include a combination of reclaimed, repurposed, and new materials. 

$20/person. Registration Required. BYOB. 

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Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods is committed to enabling the participation and enjoyment of our programming and events for all visitors. At Brushwood Center, you will have open access to accessible parking and entrance to the house, a gender neutral bathroom, and changing tables.


If you require certain accommodations in order to observe or attend our events, or have questions regarding accessibility of our facilities, please contact our Manager of Public Programs and Communications, Parker Nelson, at pnelson@brushwoodcenter.org or at (224) 633-2424 ext. 1.


Programming and events at Brushwood Center is available to everyone, including but not limited to age, disability, gender, marital status, national origin, race, religion, and sexual orientation.

August 14, 2024 @ 7:00 pm 9:00 pm

Initiatives

Public Arts Programs
$20.00 /person
21850 Riverwoods Rd.
Riverwoods, IL 60015 United States
+ Google Map
224.633.2424

BASE: Create & Sip – Broken Dish Mosaics

​As you craft away, enjoy the company of fellow art enthusiasts in a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere while listening to a craft-themed musical soundtrack. Feel free to bring your favorite beverage (BYOB 21 and over), and some snacks to enjoy as you immerse yourself in the creative process. 

At the end of the class, you’ll leave with your own handmade mosaic piece as well as the supplies and knowledge to complete the project with grout once it has a chance to dry and set (the next day is ideal). Plus, you’ll take home newfound skills and inspiration to continue your crafting journey beyond the class!

We will be using materials and supplies from BASE (Brushwood Art Supply Exchange) that will include a mix of new materials alongside the repurposed and reimagined. We will have a variety of objects available to use for your mosaic project, including flower pots, trays, and other vessels. We will have all the tools and supplies on hand, but if you have a dish or other ceramic piece of your own you would like to bring and incorporate into your artwork, you are welcome to bring it! 

Everyone’s project will be unique, and creativity is highly encouraged.