Shake Rag Alley Launches 2026 Curriculum

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

• Photo attached: SRA workshop

MINERAL POINT, Wis.—Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts will launch its 2026 Curriculum on Wednesday, January 7. The upcoming year's offerings include new workshops in inkle loom weaving, foldforming in jewelry,  zines, tunnel books, and cartoonage, a November Holiday Craft weekend, and a Hot Week with glassblowing and welding, as well as favorites like bent willow chair, torch-fired beads, making art sculptures with scrap metal, and mosaic, as well as popular retreat weekends like July’s Woodlanders Gathering.

All workshops will launch by noon on January 7. To ensure space with the more-sought-after instructors and categories, early registration is key. Visit www.ShakeRagAlley.org to explore the offerings or request a print catalog; call the office at (608) 987-3292 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday through Friday, where staff are glad to assist with workshop registrations or lodging reservations (workshop students enjoy a 10 percent discount off Shake Rag Alley’s five guest spaces). 

More than 250 adult arts and crafts workshops are scheduled this year in Fiber, Heritage Craft, Metal & Heat, Mixed Media, Painting & 2D, and Voice & Page. Workshop instructors are artists from the community of Mineral Point, from around the country, and international artists who return to Shake Rag Alley as a sustained part of their teaching practice. Offerings include immersive retreats, including Jewelry Boot Camp (May 1-3), Mining Our Stories Writing Retreat (May 15-17), Woodlanders Gathering (July 16-18), Art Adventure (Aug. 20-23), and the Rug Hooking Retreat (Sept. 25-27). In addition to the adult workshops, the Youth Program continues to offer classes June-August, including the community-supported Free Arts Camp in July. Youth Program offerings will be shared in the spring.

In addition to fulfilling its mission to provide educational experiences in arts and crafts for adults and children through workshops that range from half a day to up to six days, Shake Rag Alley continues to cultivate the creativity that thrives in rural southwestern Wisconsin with free or low-cost community programs and events. Annual events include Fairy Fun (June 6), Fiber Faire (Sept. 26), Trick’r Treat (Oct. 31), and Santa Day (Dec. 5). Makers & Shakers Art Parties will continue on the third Wednesdays of each month, March through November. Volunteers lead creative projects that are open to everyone age 12 and older (registration required). 

Since 2011 Shake Rag Alley has provided residencies to award-winning Wisconsin writers as part of our Winter Writers Reading Series. 2026 partners include Wisconsin People & Ideas, the Wisconsin Poet Laureate Commission through the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts & Letters, Arts + Literature Laboratory, and the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets. This year’s writers include Elizabeth Hendricks, Alison Thumel, Susanna Daniel, Robert Fromberg, A.M. Goodhart, Nick Gulig, Brenda Cárdenas, Marcia Bjornerud, and Rebecca Jamieson. Writers stay in Shake Rag Alley’s historic lodging, and participate in community outreach activities. Most readings will be held at Republic of Letters Books, 151 High St., Mineral Point. Additional programming will be at the Mineral Point Public Library and Rountree Gallery in Platteville. Full schedule available at https://shakeragalley.org/writers-reading-series/

The Alley Stage Reading Series is now in its sixth year. Playwrights who are current residents of Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, and Minnesota and are invited to share their works-in-progress for a staged reading and talkback at our intimate outdoor amphitheater Alley Stage. Deadline January 31, 2026; Full submission details here: https://shakeragalley.org/alley-stage/ 

For more information and updates throughout the year, see www.ShakeRagAlley.org, call (608) 987-3292, subscribe to twice-monthly e-newsletters and follow Shake Rag Alley on Facebook and Instagram.

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About Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts

A nonprofit school of arts and crafts founded in 2004 by local artists and community members, Shake Rag Alley’s 2.5-acre campus at 18 Shake Rag St. in Mineral Point (population 2,500) is a national destination for participants of adult workshops, a robust summer youth program and a host of annual special events. In addition, Shake Rag offers on-site lodging and custom facility rentals for meetings, events and celebrations. For additional information about Shake Rag Alley’s workshops and events, or to request a catalog and information about facility rentals and volunteer opportunities, see www.ShakeRagAlley.org or call (608) 987-3292.