This is the first Small Things Near Us, a weekly list of creative things happening around Berks, Lancaster and the Lehigh Valley. Markets, classes, open studios, and the occasional festival with someone spinning wool in the corner.
Part of why we're doing it is that we want to know. The good stuff around here is scattered across Facebook events, church websites and ticket pages, and half of it you only hear about the week after. Some of the people on this list do things pretty close to what we do, and that's fine by us. When we start running our own workshops, they'll go on this list right next to everyone else's.
We checked everything below on the host's own page this week. Things still change, so click through before you drive anywhere.
Berks County
Bowl Turning: Session B at GoggleWorks
Thursday, October 15, 6 to 9pm. GoggleWorks Center for the Arts, 201 Washington St, Reading. $85 ($72.25 for members), plus a $20 supply fee.
A one-night woodturning class, all levels, ages 16 and up. Only a couple of spots were left when we checked.
Fall Makers Market on the Mountain
Saturday, October 17, 9am to 1pm (rain date October 24). Laurel Mountain Ministries, 27 Chapel Lane, Boyertown.
Local makers selling pottery, textiles, jewelry, woodcrafts and books by local authors, plus food vendors and free hayrides for kids.
Fall Craft Show to benefit United Way of Berks County
Saturday, October 17, 9am to 2pm. Kutztown Area Middle School, Kutztown. Free admission.
Local crafters and vendors, a basket raffle and food. Kids in costume can trick-or-treat with the vendors. Hosted by Cougars for a Cause.
PA Traditional Crafts & Folk Art Show
Saturday, October 17, 10am to 3pm. Alleghenyville Evangelical Lutheran Church, 1327 Alleghenyville Rd, Mohnton. Free admission.
A small, curated show of traditional crafts and folk art, now in its 58th year, with the artisans there to talk about their work.
Illustrating on Toned Paper at GoggleWorks
Saturday, October 17, noon to 3pm. GoggleWorks Center for the Arts, Reading. $60 ($51 for members).
Colored pencils and paint pens on toned paper with Geri Nonnewitz, working up to a small finished illustration. All levels.
Pasta Workshop: Gnocchi with Ciccio's Olives
Saturday, October 17, 3:30 to 5:30pm. Ciccio's Olives, 12B S 5th Ave, West Reading.
Potato gnocchi made by hand, starting with an olive oil tasting and antipasti. You take home your gnocchi, the sauce ingredients and a recipe card. No experience needed, and it's bring your own wine.
Heritage Day Fall Festival at the Daniel Boone Homestead
Sunday, October 18, noon to 4pm. 400 Daniel Boone Road, Birdsboro. Adults $12, seniors $10, ages 6 to 17 $5, 5 and under free.
Colonial craft demonstrations all afternoon: spinning, tape weaving, wood carving, tinsmithing and leatherworking, with candle dipping and quill writing to try yourself.
Spooky Scroll Saw at GoggleWorks
Tuesday, October 20, 6 to 9pm. GoggleWorks Center for the Arts, Reading. $85 ($72.25 for members), plus a $10 supply fee.
Cut your own skulls, bats and spirits for Halloween or Día de Muertos with Paola Mateo. All levels, ages 16 and up, taught in English and Spanish. Wear closed-toe shoes.
Figure Drawing at GoggleWorks
Tuesday, October 20, 6:30 to 8:30pm. Studio 318, GoggleWorks Center for the Arts, Reading. $15, and you need to register ahead.
An open session drawing from a live model, no instruction, so bring your own paper and pencils. The regular Tuesday sessions are 18 and up, but this one has a costumed model, so younger artists can come too.
IX Art Show 2026 opening night at GoggleWorks
Wednesday, October 21, 6 to 9pm, then Thursday through Sunday, October 22 to 25, 10am to 5pm. GoggleWorks Center for the Arts, Reading. Tickets through imaginativerealism.com.
The yearly show of imaginative realism, with original paintings, drawings and sculpture across three floors.
Lancaster County
Little Terrarium of Terrors: A Happy Hour Workshop at Gallery Grow Plant Bar
Thursday, October 15, 5:30 to 6:30pm. Gallery Grow, 320 N Queen St, Lancaster. Bring your own drink. The price is on the ticket page.
A spooky terrarium of carnivorous plants, and everyone takes home a handmade figurine by local artist Maggie Mowery.
Art & Treats at Heart Gallery & Market (@friendship_community)
Friday, October 16, 5 to 7pm. Heart Gallery & Market, 118 N. Water St., Lancaster.
A Halloween evening at the gallery with treats, the art, and the artists there to meet.
Fall ArtWalk Weekend from the Lancaster City Art Collective
Saturday, October 17, 10am to 5pm, and Sunday, October 18, noon to 4pm (most venues; a few keep their own hours). Downtown Lancaster. Free.
A self-guided weekend of galleries, studios and pop-ups across the city, with an artisan market at the Lancaster Art Vault on Saturday from 11 to 3 and a scavenger hunt. If you go Saturday, curio. Gallery & Creative Supply (111 N. Prince St.) has a free live drawing demonstration with Candace Greenberg-Thompson from 2 to 4. Makers, a new building of artist studios and workshop space at 171 N Queen St, opens its doors for ArtWalk with a collage mural everyone can add to all weekend.
Redware Sgraffito Plate at the PA Guild of Craftsmen
Saturday, October 17, 10am to 4pm. 335 N Queen St, Lancaster. $113 for a 7" plate, $125 for a 10" (members pay less).
A beginner class with Denise Wilz in sgraffito, the Pennsylvania German technique of scratching a design through slip on a redware plate.
(Mini) Enviro-Zine Making 101 at PCA&D, for grades 7 to 10
Saturday, October 17, 10am to noon. Pennsylvania College of Art & Design, Lancaster. Register through the form on their page; spaces are limited.
A small-zine workshop with Laurence Jacoby, part of PCA&D's RegenAll Youth Climate Art Exhibition.
Visual Poetry Workshop at PCA&D, for grades 10 to 12
Saturday, October 17, 12:30 to 2:30pm. Pennsylvania College of Art & Design, Lancaster. Register through the form on their page; spaces are limited.
Poet and professor Caitlin Downs, for the same youth exhibition.
Nantucket Trinket Baskets at the PA Guild of Craftsmen
Sunday, October 18, 9am to 4pm. 335 N Queen St, Lancaster. $150 ($135 for members), materials included.
A full day weaving a small Nantucket basket with Bob Antonishak. Some basket experience helps but isn't required. Registration closes the night before.
Colorful Tin with Polymer Clay at the PA Guild of Craftsmen
Sunday, October 18, 1 to 4pm. 335 N Queen St, Lancaster. $40 ($36 for members), plus a $30 materials fee paid to the instructor.
A beginner class with Ellen Silberlicht covering a tin in polymer clay.
Watercolor Workshop with Mariah Blank at the Lancaster Art Vault
Tuesday, October 20, 10am to noon (it meets again October 27). 100 N Queen St, Lancaster. $25 per class, materials provided.
Beginner to advanced, ages 13 and up.
Flower Collage at the Horst Arts Center
Tuesday, October 20, 6:30pm, about two hours. 17 N Main St, Manheim.
An evening collage class. The price isn't on their site yet, so check the ticket link or call them at 717-682-2403.
Lehigh Valley
Maker's Retreat Artisan Class Weekend with Historic Bethlehem
Friday, October 16 to Sunday, October 18. Colonial Industrial Quarter, Bethlehem. $200 for a single day, $400 for the full weekend (which includes the Friday welcome and tour).
Small-group classes, six people at most, in crafts like pottery, natural dyeing, printmaking, blacksmithing and bookbinding. Ages 18 and up. This is the splurge on the list, and the one I'd most like to sneak off to.
Needle Felting: Candy Corn with ArtsQuest
Saturday, October 17, 1 to 4pm. Bethlehem Area Public Library, Laros Room, 11 W Church St, Bethlehem. $63.50 to $70.
An afternoon of wool and a felting needle with Katrina Heebner.
Monotype Printing Workshop with ArtsQuest
Tuesday, October 20, 6 to 9pm. Artist Garages at 520 Hamilton, Bay 1, Allentown. $45.50 to $50.
A one-night printmaking class.
Art Hive for 50+ with ArtsQuest
Wednesday, October 21, 10 to 11am. Bethlehem Visitor Center at SteelStacks, 711 E. First Street, Bethlehem. Free, no registration.
A drop-in art-making hour for adults 50 and older.
Handbuilt Ceramic Mug Workshop with ArtsQuest
Wednesday, October 21, 5:30 to 8:30pm. ArtsQuest Creative Factory, 25 W 3rd St, Bethlehem. $72.50 to $80.
Build your own mug by hand with Gabriella Gentile, in one evening.
Still on
Shows you can catch any week: How People Make Things at the Reading Public Museum, which traces familiar childhood objects back to how they're made, through January 10 (museum admission, $14 for adults). PETS! at Studio B Art Gallery in Boyertown, local artists' takes on pets, through November 1 (free, and check their hours before you go). Hands Before Mine, Hands Beside Mine, Emily Baker's cast-iron work at the Butz Gallery in the ArtsQuest Center, Bethlehem, through February 7 (free). And Ben Zamora's site-specific installation at Kutztown University's Miller Gallery, through December 12.
Tell us what we missed
This is the first one, so we're still working out what belongs on it. A felting class at the library, yes. A band night, probably not. A gnocchi class landed on the list after a short debate, and I'm still not totally sure where the line is.
If you know about something creative happening near you, especially the small stuff that never makes the big calendars, tell us. Comment on our Instagram post or send us a message, and it might make next week's list.
— Kim