JANUARY SKILL SHARE WORKSHOPS
In conjunction with Method to Madness performances, skill share workshops will be offered offsite each week. Learn creative methods and unique processes for promoting the spirit of community and sustainability. Advance registration strongly recommended: 773.281.0824 or info@linkshall.org

Print-Stant Gratification:
Screenprinting with Alana Bailey and Angee Lennard
Saturday, January 5, 12-5pm
at Spudnik Press, 847 N. Paulina
$30
Learn how to make a one to two color screen printed poster, patch, art print, card, or other printed-on-wonder. In the spirit of freelance poster design, participants' prints will go straight from the drying rack to the Cheap Art Table at Method to Madness programs at Links Hall, with all proceeds going to the artists!

Alana Bailey began her love affair with visual flatness at a young age. Once she figured out that screen printing was the perfect medium to deliver her flatness, nothing could tear her away from learning every technique she could get her brain on. She makes many a poster for events around chicago, including monthlies for the Hideout and an ongoing portrait series for Chicago marching band Mucca Pazza. She has also made posters for events in New York City, Boston, Minneapolis, Ohio, and Kentucky.

Angee Lennard has been working with printmaking since the turn of the century, when she enrolled in SAIC. While studying at the Art Institute, she learned the art of intaglio, lithography, and screen printing, both traditional and contemporary photographic techniques. Upon graduation, Angee Lennard received the VAP Fellowship from SAIC, and used the awarded funds to buy a press and found Spudnik Press, a comprehensive community print shop.

A Story In Miniature:
Toy Theatre Workshop with Angela Tillges
Saturday, January 12, 10am-4pm
at Experimental Station, 6100 S. Blackstone
$35, ($20 students)
Toy Theater is an intimate tradition developed by children and families in the living rooms of the nineteenth century as a miniature replica of large-scale theatrical productions. It remains a cheap and populist medium, available to all. In contemporary applications, Toy Theater has the potential to reproduce film and animation techniques through sudden transformations and surreal poetry. Participants will create their own miniature paper theatre and puppets and develop a short performance using personal artifacts, including music and photographs, as primary materials.

Angela Tillges is an artist and educator who has worked extensively with Redmoon Theatre to integrate the tools of spectacle theatre into classroom curriculums and the community. She has also designed original objects for Walkabout Theater and Collaboraction and led workshops for the Museum of Contemporary Art.

Winter Cycle Workshop with Brooklyn Fowler
Saturday, January 19, 2-5pm
at West Town Bikes, 2418 West North Avenue
$15
Cycling during Chicago winters can take a toll on you and your bicycle. Learn to give your bike a little love and keep it running through to the warmer weather. Participants will go over general tune up details that will assist in brake and derailleur adjustments, identifying drive train wear, simple wheel truing, and how to help pin point where that crazy squeak is coming from. Bring a bicycle; after the workshop those interested can gear up for a winter ride to the show at Links Hall, bike posse style! Proceeds will be donated to World Bicycle Relief.

Brooklyn Fowler is a bicycle industry veteran, currently a Dealer Service technician with SRAM, a bicycle parts manufacturer. www.worldbicyclerelief.org; www.westtownbikes.org

Random House Skill Share
with Kate Sheehy
January 26, 10am-3pm
at 1732 North Humboldt Boulevard
$7 (or donation of skill, materials, or food)
A potluck brunch starts the day; afterwards, participants can choose their own skill share. Stations will be set up throughout the house, including: Urban Gardening, Self-Care and Home Remedies, Zines and DIY Publications, Sewing and Wardrobe Modification, and Yarn and Record spinning. All participants are encouraged to bring something to share: a skill, a pile of clothes to modify, knitting supplies, seeds, a record to play, or a dish to pass.

For the past two years, Kate Sheehy has produced Random House events, featuring performance, video and music at a home in Humboldt Park. Celebrating community, art and the comfort of one’s home, these events have been about getting to know your neighbor and providing a safe and fun space to share ideas and projects.