OPAL Sip & Paint
Apr
16
Adult Workshop

OPAL Sip & Paint

Thursday April 16, 6:30 - 8:30pm

with Eleana Daniel

Join us for a delightful two-hour painting session led by a talented OPAL artist instructor. Immerse yourself in the creative process of finishing a themed work of art while enjoying your favorite beverage. Open to all experience levels. Make new friends or bring your crew!

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Spring 2 - Experimental Ephemera: Creative Reuse in Painting, Collage, and Mixed Media
Apr
20
to May 18
Adult Class

Spring 2 - Experimental Ephemera: Creative Reuse in Painting, Collage, and Mixed Media

with Brianna Perry

Monday, 4:00 - 6:00pm

CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT SUPPLIES AND OTHER COURSE DETAILS.

Treating collage, assemblage and chance as open-ended approaches, this course is designed for artists interested in furthering mixed media exploration in their personal work. Beginning with materials drawn from their own households, students will use process-driven methods to explore extended definitions of image-making, painting (acrylics, oils, and watercolors), collage, and drawing. Emphasis is placed on low-tech, hands-on, chance-driven, and improvisational techniques in the contemporary fields of painting, assemblage, and collage. We will also explore and investigate contemporary and art-historical approaches to collage, assemblage, the found object, and the ongoing relevance of these techniques to artists working across and between mediums.

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Spring 2 - BEGINNING TO INTERMEDIATE DRAWING
Apr
21
to May 19
Adult Class

Spring 2 - BEGINNING TO INTERMEDIATE DRAWING

with Jesse Howard

Tuesday, 10am - 12pm

CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT SUPPLIES AND OTHER COURSE DETAILS.

Learn fundamental drawing techniques and expand existing skills in a variety of media to discover individual drawing style. The focus will be on constructing composition and linear perspective with an emphasis on value plane and the use of line. Students will learn how to bring clarity and consistency to their subject matter.

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Spring 2 - The Art of Line
Apr
21
to May 19
Adult Class

Spring 2 - The Art of Line

with Jan Zhou

Tuesday, 1pm - 3pm

CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT SUPPLIES AND OTHER COURSE DETAILS.

Ever found yourself hesitating in front of a blank page?

In this foundational course, you will build sensitivity, control, and confidence through the simplicity of line. We begin with the most essential skill— your relationship with the pencil, developing a responsive connection between eye, hand, and mind. Through guided exercises inspired by traditional Chinese line practice, you will explore variations of pressure, speed, and rhythm to create lines that feel alive and intentional. Over time, you will learn to draw forms through motion, where line becomes a natural extension of your movement.

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Spring 2 - EXPLORING OIL PAINTING
Apr
21
to May 19
Adult Class

Spring 2 - EXPLORING OIL PAINTING

with Julie Sulzen

Tuesday, 6:30 - 8:30pm

CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT SUPPLIES AND OTHER COURSE DETAILS.

Students will explore the fundamentals of oil painting with an introduction to materials and by practicing skills of observation, methods of drawing, explorations of color theory, and techniques of brushwork. Utilizing carefully designed still life arrangements, fundamentals of painting such as light, shape, value, and edges will be covered. Demonstrations and discussions are designed to encourage individual progress as well as general painting guidance.

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Spring 2 - PASTEL PAINTING
Apr
22
to May 20
Adult Class

Spring 2 - PASTEL PAINTING

with Mike Barret Kolasinski

Wednesday, 1pm-3pm

CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT SUPPLIES AND OTHER COURSE DETAILS.

Join us to learn the essential techniques behind using soft pastels as a way to create richly detailed, dimensional pastel paintings. Open to all skill levels.

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Spring 2 - BEGINNING TO ADVANCED DRAWING
Apr
22
to May 20
Adult Class

Spring 2 - BEGINNING TO ADVANCED DRAWING

with Jesse Howard

Wednesday, 7pm - 9pm

CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT SUPPLIES AND OTHER COURSE DETAILS.

The focus will be on constructing composition and linear perspective with an emphasis on value plane and the use of line. Students will learn how to bring clarity and consistency to their subject matter.

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OPAL History, Community Workshop Series
Apr
23
to May 21
Adult Workshop

OPAL History, Community Workshop Series

Thursdays, April 23rd, April 30th, May 7th, May 14th, and May 21st

with Elise Holowicki

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Opal History is an eight-part workshop taking place in the Spring of 2026. Led by OPAL 2026 artist in residence Elise Holowicki with guest instructors and speakers.

Throughout sessions, participants will learn about the events of 1954 in Oak Park involving a burgeoning cult of acolytes, a prophecy predicting the end of the world, and the community response to international attention around these occurrences.

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Spring 2 - Working With Mixed Media - Experiment, Play & Create
Apr
24
to May 22
Adult Class

Spring 2 - Working With Mixed Media - Experiment, Play & Create

with Jackie Lakely

Friday, 1pm - 3pm

CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT SUPPLIES AND OTHER COURSE DETAILS.

This is a class that introduces the same concepts in different ways for each session and is for all levels of skill and experience. Emphasis is put on process over product, and we will almost always work in multiples in order to try different applications of each week’s lesson. We will work with still life arrangements and your imagination to create narrative work, as well as intuitive world-building based on combining materials as you go.  

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Spring 2 - Working With Mixed Media - Experiment, Play & Create
Apr
24
to May 22
Adult Class

Spring 2 - Working With Mixed Media - Experiment, Play & Create

with Jackie Lakely

Friday, 4pm - 6pm

CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT SUPPLIES AND OTHER COURSE DETAILS.

This is a class that introduces the same concepts in different ways for each session and is for all levels of skill and experience. Emphasis is put on process over product, and we will almost always work in multiples in order to try different applications of each week’s lesson. We will work with still life arrangements and your imagination to create narrative work, as well as intuitive world-building based on combining materials as you go.  

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Art Expressions: Finding Hope Via Creativity
Apr
25
Adult Workshop

Art Expressions: Finding Hope Via Creativity

Saturday, April 25th

with Antonia Ruppert

Hey friend, there is a reason why some people seem to maintain resiliency and hope despite circumstances. Come explore new creative concepts for your toolkit. 

Join local Artist Antonia Ruppert and Kayla Lucas, LCPC with Securely Rooted Therapy for the afternoon and learn creative outlets to restore, reset, and reshape how you meet the world.

Consider this your Hope filled & Creative Invitation.

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Spring 2 - Perspective For Artists
Apr
27
to May 11
Adult Class

Spring 2 - Perspective For Artists

with Richard Sheppard

THIS IS A 3-WEEK COURSE: 4/27, 5/4, & 5/11

Monday, 6:30 - 8:30pm

Click on the image to learn more about supplies and other course details.

Perspective is often considered the ‘bones’ of a painting or a drawing but is also said to be one of the hardest things to learn about drawing. Learning the lingo, such as horizon lines, vanishing points, and foreshortening, can be challenging but not impossible to learn. This class will help bridge the technical concepts of perspective and simplify how to translate our three-dimentional world onto a two-dimentional surface. The focus will be on urban landscapes and interior spaces. Obtaining a good understanding of perspective will provide a foundation for more accurate and believable sketches and paintings.

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Kintsugi Workshop
Mar
21
Adult Workshop

Kintsugi Workshop

Saturday, March 21st, 10am - 1pm

with Mami Takahashi

Discover the art and philosophy of Kintsugi — the Japanese practice of repairing broken pottery with gold — in this all-level, hands-on workshop.

In this 3-hour session, students will learn and apply the modern Kintsugi method using food-safe adhesive, epoxy putty, and golden finish. The technique is safe for beginners and designed to make the centuries-old practice accessible in a single-day format. Rather than erasing damage, Kintsugi highlights each crack as part of an object’s unique story — inviting us to reflect on beauty, imperfection, and transformation.

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OPAL Sip & Paint
Mar
19
Adult Workshop

OPAL Sip & Paint

Thursday March 19, 6:30 - 8:30pm

with Eleana Daniel

Join us for a delightful two-hour painting session led by a talented OPAL artist instructor. Immerse yourself in the creative process of finishing a themed work of art while enjoying your favorite beverage. Open to all experience levels. Make new friends or bring your crew!

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OPAL Sip & Paint
Feb
19
Adult Workshop

OPAL Sip & Paint

Thursday February 19, 6:30 - 8:30pm

with Eleana Daniel

Join us for a delightful two-hour painting session led by a talented OPAL artist instructor. Immerse yourself in the creative process of finishing a themed work of art while enjoying your favorite beverage. Open to all experience levels. Make new friends or bring your crew!

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OPAL Sip & Paint
Jan
29
Adult Workshop

OPAL Sip & Paint

Thursday January 29, 6:30 - 8:30pm

with Eleana Daniel

Join us for a delightful two-hour painting session led by a talented OPAL artist instructor. Immerse yourself in the creative process of finishing a themed work of art while enjoying your favorite beverage. Open to all experience levels. Make new friends or bring your crew!

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Introduction to Travel Sketching
Jan
17
Adult Workshop

Introduction to Travel Sketching

Saturday, January 17th, 1:30m - 4pm

with Richard Sheppard

The best souvenirs are not the things you buy or the photos you take while traveling, but the drawings you create in a sketchbook. Sketching allows the artist to slow down enough to get acquainted with surroundings that are often overlooked while framing the world through a lens. This class will discuss materials, styles, and techniques that are best suited for travel sketching. Through the use of pencil, ink, and watercolor, we'll learn to draw and paint subjects that are both memorable and meaningful.

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Introduction to Suminagashi Paper Marbling
Jan
17
Adult Workshop

Introduction to Suminagashi Paper Marbling

Saturday, January 17th, 11am - 1pm

with Pamela Martinez

Suminagashi translated means floating black ink. It is the ancient meditative Japanese practice of gently floating pigments on the surface of water with a brush and then capturing the mono print image on absorbent paper. This exciting 2 hr. workshop will include the historical background and introduce the time honored techniques with several artistic possibilities. Recommended for beginners.

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