In honor of Women's History Month, we spotlight the life and art of several women artists (both historical and contemporary) including Frida Kahlo, Faith Ringgold, Alma Woodsey Thomas. We will have a presentation, followed by discussion and then participants will have an opportunity to make some art inspired by this month's featured artists.

This event is free and open to the public. No registration required.

Red Wing Arts is pleased to host Culture Bearers from the Honoring Dakota Project to lead this Community Saturday artmaking. Free and open to all ages to drop in and stay as your schedule allows. All materials are provided.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION
We invite community members to gather to create chimes that capture the essence of the natural world. Using found objects like shells, twigs, stones, and other items considered waste, we will craft wind chimes that invite us to reflect on their relationships with the land, the community, and themselves. These chimes serve as reminders of the beauty and tranquility found in our environment, encouraging a deeper connection to the earth.

This creative process not only breathes new life into discarded materials but also emphasizes the importance of recycling as an act of respect and gratitude toward the Earth.

This crafting circle serves to honor the Dakota Oyate and the land's rich stories, creating a ripple effect of positive change within their community. Each wind chime becomes a testament to the beauty of being a good relative, echoing the harmonious relationship between people and the world around them.

These Community Crafting Circles explore the Honoring Dakota Welcome Home Model, which is an inclusive and holistic framework designed to guide all programming events towards realizing our mission and vision. 

In this workshop, Dan will teach you techniques that help solve the mysteries of watercolor. You will learn how to work with the watercolor medium, including wet-on-wet, wet-on-dry, and luminous washes through a series of smaller studies and Dan’s approach of “see it, simplify it, and state it”.

The class is fun and fast-paced. Participants will watch demonstrations and then apply the concepts to their own work through hands-on painting. Dan also uses friendly back-and-forth critiques for constructive feedback.

This class is watercolor only and does not include Dan’s technique of combining acrylic with watercolor. (Images provided for this workshop description are samples only.)

CLASS INFORMATION:

• Saturday, April 5, 9 am-4 pm (one hour lunch break)

• Teaching artist: Dan Wiemer

• Level: Beginning to Intermediate

• Class size: 12

• Participation fee: $175

SUPPLY LIST for Strong and Simple Watercolor:

Many people already have supplies that are fine. Bring those; you can impress your neighbors and your teacher.

WATERCOLOR PAINTS: I use a fairly traditional collection of colors. If you have others you enjoy working with that’s fine, bring them. Mine include cerulean blue, cobalt blue, ultramarine blue, raw sienna, burnt sienna, Cadmium or winsor red, alizarin crimson (or permanent rose), Sap green, viridian and Paynes gray or neutral tint that I often use for value studies. You may have some wonderful new colors to show me! It is easier for watercolor artists to have the paints already squeezed into and dried in a plastic palette with a lid. I recommend you do this process several days prior to the workshop.

BRUSHES: Bring several different size brushes. I prefer round brushes but you can also bring flat brushes.

PAPER: Sheets or blocks are fine, just make sure it is 100% rag (cotton). No student-grade paper for your sake and mine. Student grade paper leads to more frustration and pain than the money you save. There are many fine rag papers. I recommend 140# Arches cold pressed or hot pressed because this can handle the repetitive masking process of the technique you will learn. Softer papers are not sufficient for this process. All of our studies will be 11x15 quarter sheets or smaller. If you have trouble finding 140# Arches paper, Dan will have some available for purchase.

OTHER: Pencil, sketchpad or copy paper, soft eraser (Magicrub) or something like a white eraser, container for clean water, roll of paper towels, board or piece of Masonite to tape down loose paper, masking tape.

If you already have a watercolor palette, don’t spend a whole lot of money or change your palette for this workshop, I am not that fussy. If you have any questions about supplies or the workshop don’t hesitate to call or email me. 651-276-5559 danwiemer@gmail.com Thanks - Dan Wiemer

ARTIST BIO: Trained as a graphic designer with a degree from Iowa State, Dan paints in the studio and on location (plein air), and has won many awards including several best-of-show in juried competitions and art fairs throughout the Midwest.

For more than 25 years, Dan has taught watercolor workshops for more than 25 years and previously served as the president of the MN Watercolor Society.  His technique uniquely combines opaque acrylic with transparent watercolor that stylizes the landscape and is influenced by printmakers and batik artists.

Dan has been fortunate to have two extended stays in China - painting, teaching and exhibiting. In addition to China, he has painted in Puerto Rico, Scotland, Ireland, Canada and throughout the United States. 

Join us for a creative journey into torn paper collage! In this hands-on class, you'll learn to transform simple paper pieces into beautiful artwork through tearing, layering, and arranging colored and textured papers.Discover how to use color, shape, and form to express emotions and tell stories. We’ll cover essential skills like composition and design principles. Whether you're a beginner or an experienced artist, this class will inspire your creativity.

Materials will be provided, but you’re welcome to bring your own papers and images. By the end, you'll have your own torn paper collage and the skills to keep creating at home.

Register online through Red Wing Community Education

In this workshop, vintage jewelry collector, designer and artist Sherry Ehret will guide participants through creating an upcycled keychain, pendant, magnet or bookmark from vintage components. Thousands of vintage charms, chain, and broken jewelry pieces, will be available for you to create or reimagine unique items. Feel free to bring your own discarded jewelry to supplement your designs.

This workshop includes all materials, tools and instructions. In addition, please feel free to bring your vintage jewelry for evaluation, light repair, rhinestone replacement, and cleaning tips.

Class information:

• Wednesday, April 16, 6-8 pm

• Teaching artist: Sherry Ehret

• Level: Beginner

• Age: 16+

• Class size: 5-10

• Participation fee: $50

• Supplies included with class fee

Artist Bio: Sherry Ehret is 30-year Vintage jewelry collector and designer specializing in upcycling that which is discarded, broken and abandoned.

One hour of instructor-supported wheel throwing, with time allotted for prep and clean-up. You can expect to have 1 - 2 finished products at the end of the session.Choose from 8 dipping glazes, completed by staff. Price includes firing 1 -2 pieces which are available for pick-up in approximately 3 weeks.

Register online through Red Wing Community Education.

The goals of this youth art instruction series for tweens include fostering creativity and self-expression, providing a safe and supportive environment for artistic risk-taking, and encouraging collaboration and social interaction among peers. The classes aim to introduce various art techniques and mediums, allowing young artists to discover their unique styles and interests through art-based games, art challenges, and mini-projects. Additionally, the program seeks to build confidence, enhance problem-solving skills and emphasize the importance of commitment and perseverance in artmaking. We aim to cultivate a community of young artists who support and learn from one another. Student artists will be encouraged to keep a sketchbook of ideas and practice sketches, just as professional artists do.Sign up for one or both sessions! Scholarships available for youth with financial need, generously funded by WINGS. Please contact cherish@redwingarts.org for more information.

Register online through Red Wing Community Education.

Sgraffito is an artistic technique that involves scratching through a surface to reveal a contrasting underlying layer. In this class,students will apply colorful glazes or slips to leather hard clay tiles then scratch and carve to create contrasting patterns and images. Students can bring their own design/pattern or the instructor will provide some options. Pieces fired in the kiln and ready for pick up in approximately 3 weeks. 

Register online through Red Wing Community Education.

From the absurdity of Dadaism in the early 1900's to the more recent stunts of Banksy, there is a long history of pranks in the art world. We will showcase some of the most outrageous and interesting jokes, pranks and scams in art history with a presentation followed by discussion and a hands-on art activity.

This event is free and open to the public. No registration required.

Red Wing Arts is pleased to host free artmaking opportunities for community members to learn, experiment with, and experience different techniques and media. Community Saturdays are free and open to all ages to drop in and stay as your schedule allows. All materials are provided.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: In this project, we’ll take inspiration from Georgia O’Keeffe’s style by painting large, close-up views of flowers. We’ll explore how to simplify shapes, enhance contrast, and create a sense of movement in our paintings. The goal is to celebrate the beauty of flowers in a way that feels personal — just like O’Keeffe did!

Georgia O’Keeffe (1887–1986) was a pioneering American artist known for her bold, close-up paintings of flowers, desert landscapes, and abstract forms. Often called the "Mother of American Modernism," she used vibrant colors and flowing shapes to capture the beauty and essence of nature. Her large-scale floral paintings invite viewers to see flowers in a new way—magnified, expressive, and full of life.

The class combines instructor-led demonstrations with hands-on practice on the wheel, allowing students to design and create unique pottery pieces. The rewarding experience of crafting a finished piece by hand culminates in students creating 8-10 finished works while gaining knowledge to continue pottery as a hobby or passion project. Class fee includes clay, all glazing materials, firings and open studio time

Four Thursday evenings May 1st— May 22nd 6pm-8pm

Register online through Red Wing Community Education.

In this hands-on workshop, participants will get an overview of tools, wood best suited for carving, sharpening and getting right into a carved piece to take home. A basswood blank and the basic carving tools needed will be provided. Students are encouraged to bring their own tools if the have them.

Class information:

• Saturday, May 17, 9 am-12 pm

• Teaching artist: Kevin Ewing

• Level: Beginner

• Age: 16+

• Class size: 6-12

• Participation fee: $69

• Supplies included with class fee

Artist Bio: Kevin has been carving most of his life as a hobby but has committed in the last five years to doing commissions and teaching classes. He has carved public pieces in parks in the Rochester area and numerous architectural pieces in private homes. His most recent interest is in Norwegian carvings, portals, relief and ale bowls. His work can be viewed in Instagram at kevinkewing.

In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, our presentation and discussion will focus on the life and work of contemporary Japanese Artist Yayoi Kusama, known primarily for her sculpture and installation and extensive use of dot patterns. Participants will also have a chance to create art inspired by Kusama's work.

This event is free and open to the public. No registration required.

Red Wing Arts is pleased to host free artmaking opportunities for community members to learn, experiment with, and experience different techniques and media. Community Saturdays are free and open to all ages to drop in and stay as your schedule allows. All materials are provided.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: Join us for a drop-in artmaking experience that beckons us to sit, pause, connect - in the tradition of mending circles. Slow stitch connects us with past practices of craft and fiber art and our current needs – the practice of slowing down and engaging in an opportunity to reflect and contemplate intentions and become present to ourselves. No previous stitching or making experience is needed to explore, create, reflect, and play. Slow stitching takes hand-stitching and is integrated with intuitive mark-making or mindful doodling – a thread and needle serve as a line, and the fabric is the paper.

In the craft tradition of fiber arts and stitching, these powerful applications invite us to engage in a technique associated with community, care, and mending. By using simple stitches, techniques and materials, layers, thoughts, and meaning develop over time in your own unique stitching practice and style. The stitches and layers accumulate and evolve as you spend time and connect to your process. The process, the presence of it all, rather than an end product.

Honoring ourselves, giving ourselves permission to create and contemplate with slow-stitching as well as any other expressive media promotes:

• Catharsis: The physical release of emotions or stress

• Reflection: Becoming attuned to thoughts and feelings

• Mindfulness: Becoming aware of all the senses and the present moment

Participants will be provided with printed information that describes the Slow-Stitch process, tips and hints, and basic stitches to take with them. 

TEACHING ARTIST BIO: Ann E. Lawton, MS, ATR-BC, is an artist, art therapist, and art educator living and working in River Falls, Wisconsin. She has taught at UW-River Falls since 2011 and currently facilitates in-home art therapy services with neuro-divergent children in the St. Croix Valley of Western Wisconsin. Lawton’s studio practice focuses on mixed media, having had previous collage-intensive artist residencies at BreckCreates in Breckenridge, CO, and at the MERZ Gallery in Sanquhar, Scotland. 

Creating spatial depth in your paintings can be challenging.   In this workshop; learn how to crack the secrets of perspective, color and composition to create works with depth; atmospheric perspective, and compositional interest. A brief review of color theory and groupings will kick off our workshop and help you create deeper, more spatial compositions.

Class information:

• Friday, June 20, 10 am-12 pm

• Teaching artist: Nina Weiss

• Level: Intermediate

• Age: 18+

• Class size: 6-12

• Participation fee: $65

• See materials list

MATERIALS STUDENTS SHOULD BRING:

PALETTE: you can either use a flat palette, or a mixing palette with paint wells. The main requirement is that your surface area be BIG. You can use a clear sheet of picture glass: tape off edges to be safe, and mount to piece of white cardboard or foamcore. The tear-off disposable palettes are OK too.

REQUIRED PAINT COLORS: Water-based paint, Gouache or Acrylic. Gouache paint, recommended brand Windsor Newton. Do NOT buy Reeves or Savoir Faire gouache; they are not fully pigmented. Tubes, not pans please!For Acrylic paint, 2 oz. Tubes.GOLDEN or Liquitex is the recommended acrylic paint.

Please note that there are a total of 7 tubes:3 Warm of each Primary; 3 Cool of each Primary, + White.Be as accurate as possible when purchasing paint and note that the labels MEDIUM, LIGHT, HUE are DIFFERENT COLORS than the required ones on our list; except where noted.

ACRYLIC GOUACHE
Cadmium Yellow Light                                          Primary Blue/Ultramarine Blue                    
Cadmium Yellow Medium                    Primary Yellow/Cad. Yellow
Primary or Cyan Blue                                             Spectrum Red/Alizarin Crimson
Ultramarine Blue                                                     Titanium White
Pyrrole Red  (or Napthol Red)                               
Quinacridone Red (or Alizarin Crimson)
Titanium White (5 oz. Tube)

BRUSHES:  flat barrel (BRIGHT) or round barrel brushes in a variety of sizes.  Sizes range from 1 (small) to 12  (large); sizes 4 –8 are easily adaptable.  Each brand has different size scales!  White nylon brushes are good; bristle brushes can be too stiff.

PAPERS:  Watercolor block 8” X 10” or larger.

PALETTE KNIFE:  not required; but some like to use with an inverted handle for mixing.  You may also choose to mix with your brushes.

MISTER:  This is important for keeping your colors moist; especially if you are working with Gouache.

MISCELLANEOUS:  Jars/cans for water/brushes, color wheel, rags, sketchbook

Artist Bio: Nina Weiss is a nationally renowned artist who has been painting and drawing the landscape for over 40 years.  She holds a BFA from the Tyler School of Art and graduate study at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.  Further study includes pre-college instruction the Rhode Island School of Design, and the Art Students’ League of New York. Her work is held in private and corporate collections throughout the United States including United Airlines, Aetna Insurance, McDonalds, Eli Lilly, Avon, and United States Customs. 

She taught a combined thirty six years at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Columbia College Chicago. Nina currently teaches at the Evanston Art Center, the North Shore Art League, and the Chicago Botanic Gardens. Nina frequently teaches workshops throughout the Midwest and in her Evanston Art Endeavors Studio.  She travels with students every summer to teach her European Landscape Painting & Drawing Workshops. 

See Nina’s work at ninaweiss.com; workshops can be found at Nina’s education website; artendeavors.org

Red Wing Arts is pleased to host Culture Bearers from the Honoring Dakota Project to lead this Community Saturday artmaking. Free and open to all ages to drop in and stay as your schedule allows. All materials are provided.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Join us and bring a friend for a unique Community Crafting Circle that explores the power of collaboration and reflection through bilateral mirror drawing. In this engaging activity, participants will pair up to create mirrored drawings using paper and pastels, fostering a sense of presence, resilience, and reflection. 

Working in pairs, participants will experience the joy of creating art together, learning to synchronize their movements and intentions. This exercise encourages individuals to reflect on their collaboration and personal insights, strengthening their connection to both their partner and the broader community. 

Facilitators will be available to guide the drawing process, ensuring that everyone feels supported and inspired. Participants will receive information for self-direction, allowing them to explore their creativity at their own pace. 

Upon completion, each collaborative art piece will be photographed, accompanied by self-reflections from the creators. With permission, these reflections and artworks will be shared with the community, celebrating the collective journey of artistic expression and mutual support. This crafting circle is a beautiful opportunity to connect with others and contribute to the vibrant tapestry of community stories. 

These Community Crafting Circles explore the Honoring Dakota Welcome Home Model, which is an inclusive and holistic framework designed to guide all programming events towards realizing our mission and vision. 

Red Wing Arts is pleased to host Culture Bearers from the Honoring Dakota Project to lead this Community Saturday artmaking. Free and open to all ages to drop in and stay as your schedule allows. All materials are provided. Hikes start at 9 am and 11 am.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Join us on the He Mni Can Hike, Storytelling, and Art Experience, where the beauty of nature meets the rich cultural tapestry of the Dakota Oyate. Join us at the Entrance Plaza at the beginning of one of two sessions, 9 am or 11 am.  The Plaza is a testament to the collaborative efforts between the City of Red Wing and the Prairie Island Indian Community, designed to foster connection and community.

This experience begins with storytelling that immerses you in the vibrant history and enduring legacy of the Dakota people. As you hike the sacred paths of He Mni Can, you'll discover the land's profound cultural significance, learn about indigenous plant life, and deepen your appreciation for the interconnectedness of all living things.  Clay will be provided during the hike so you can make impression and provides each participant a keepsake of the experience, grounding them in land. 

While atop He Mni Can you will see and learn more about the Honoring Dakota Mural, which was gifted to the Prairie Island Indian Community on October 9th 2023, Indigenous Peoples' Day. 

This experience will leave you with a newfound appreciation for the interconnectedness of all living beings and inspire you to tread more lightly on the earth. 

These Community Crafting Circles explore the Honoring Dakota Welcome Home Model, which is an inclusive and holistic framework designed to guide all programming events towards realizing our mission and vision. 

This workshop provides participants with a safe space to explore and express their personal experiences and emotions — the everyday ones and the difficult ones. During this therapeutic art process, you will discover how to authentically express yourself using color to create 4-6 expressive abstract paintings, which will go on speaking to you long after the workshop has ended. Anyone can enjoy and benefit from this wonderful therapeutic art process. You don’t have to consider yourself artistic or even be able to draw a stick figure!

Art & Creativity for Healing will allow you to:

• Achieve a greater self-awareness

• Recognize your ability to process many emotions in a healthy way

• Communicate thoughts and feelings when often words are inadequate

Class information:

• Oct 19, 10 am - 2:30 pm

• Teaching artist: Jane Grant-Abban

• Level: Beginner - Intermediate - Advanced

• Age: 16+

• Class size: 5-12

• Participation fee: $145

• Art Medium: Painting

• Supplies included in class fee

Red Wing Arts is pleased to host Culture Bearers from the Honoring Dakota Project to lead this Community Saturday artmaking. Free and open to all ages to drop in and stay as your schedule allows. All materials are provided.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION
"Community Quilt: Tell Your Stories" brings the community together to express their unique stories, memories, and identities by piecing together individual quilt squares which were created by community members in May 2024. Together we will piece together each quilt square to form a collective story.

This community crafting project not only celebrates the tapestry of our collective experiences but also fosters a sense of belonging and connection. This crafting circle is a beautiful opportunity to weave your story into the larger narrative of our community. Together we can stitch together our vision for a community of care, utilizing diverse and integrated community resources. 

These Community Crafting Circles explore the Honoring Dakota Welcome Home Model, which is an inclusive and holistic framework designed to guide all programming events towards realizing our mission and vision.