The Art Colony supports artists and creative seekers at every step of their creative journey from novice to professional artist through a variety of educational opportunities. With over 200 classes, artist talks, family-friendly activities, artist services (including residencies and studio access), and artist-driven community events – there is something for everyone.
Click above for September workshops & events.

Presented by Voyageur Brewing Company in partnership with the Cook County Community Fund

Wednesday*, September 27th
5 pm Tapping of Oktoberfest Beer
6 pm Make your Own Pretzel Necklace
7 pm Oktoberfest Trivia
*Canteen Club Benefits Apply

Thursday, September 28th
Canteen Club Membership Special $80
5:30 pm Pretzel Toss
6:30 pm Weiner Toss
7 – 9 pm Oktoberfest Music
7:30 pm Stein Hold
8:30 pm Blind Beer Competition

Friday, September 29th
4 – 7 pm Jim McGowan Music
5:30 pm Pretzel Toss
7 – 9 pm Oktoberfest Music
7 pm Weiner Toss
8 pm Stein Hold

Saturday, September 30th
12:30 pm Stein Hold
1:30 pm Make your Own Pretzel Necklace
2:30 pm Pretzel Toss
3:30 pm Weiner Toss
4 – 7 pm Plucked Up String Band Music
4:30 pm Best Dressed Dog (outdoor patio)
5 pm Best Dressed Male & Female
5:30pm Stein Relay
6:30pm Stein Hold
8 pm Hammerschlagen

Sunday, October 1st
3 pm Bags Tournament
6 pm Hammerschlagen

Replaces Crossing Borders Studio Tour. Galleries and Studios will be open throughout Cook County daily showcasing the amazing abundance of local professional artists and their work.

Participating galleries, studios and events will be added as announced.

100 MILE AND 50 MILE GRAVEL CYCLING CLASSICS 

The Heck of the North is born from the premise that you the rider are ultimately responsible for getting to the finish. Limited support. No sag wagons. No signs guiding you home. Just your ability to spin miles of forested gravel roads. Just your ability to navigate by cue card. Just your strength to see it through to the end. And the opportunity to ride with some pretty amazing people!

Details  online here

We offer brewery tours year round on Saturdays and during the summer months we have tours on Saturdays and Sundays. A guide will explain the brewing process to you and show you the ingredients and equipment needed to make craft beer. After the tour guests 21 and over will be offered samples of our beer and can ask any questions they might still have.

We ask guests to reserve a spot online as there is a 20 person maximum per group.  Summer tour times are 11:30am and 1pm on Saturdays and 1pm on Sundays.  Now through May we have one tour on Saturdays.

No payment is necessary at the time of booking the reservation but we we do ask you to bring a $5 donation that we can give to one of our Cook County non-profits.

Tour Details:

• Tour of facility($5 donation)
• Please bring an ID
• Tours take approximately 75 minutes
• Complimentary beer samples included for guests 21+
• Everyone is welcome in the tasting room and gift shop
• Recommended for ages 12+
• Limited to 20 guests per tour
• Tours must be booked in advance
• Please wear closed toe shoes

Don’t forget to register all members of your party, including your kids.

Please cancel your reservation if you are unable to attend so some other lucky fan will get to enjoy the tour.

Featuring painter Kat Corrigan and her critters. Kat’s show “Mostly Otters” will run from Sept 30 through Oct 8, 2017.

A subtle centrifugal force drives this collection. By turns witty, solemn or capricious, the book moves outward from private, often lyrical poems about childhood and memory on into the realm of the “real world’s” self-serving myths, fears, and institutionalized inequities, and from there into work that celebrates the joys of love and the beauty and mystery of the natural world, and then still further outward into poems that consider the very nature of reality, what it means to be human, and where to find glimpses of the sacred in the midst of the profane and the disenchanted. Come meet Richard and discuss his poetry with him and others.