Linda Scholly

Over the last few years, Linda has helped Ragdale transform the property into a Halloween extravaganza for the Rags to Witches event. She has always had a love of Halloween since she was a child as the occasion to be creative and creepy has always fascinated her. It’s an opportunity to use one’s imagination to step outside yourself for one night.

A painter by trade, Linda earned her BA in Fine Arts from the Illinois Institute of Art in Chicago and also studied at The School of the Arts in Lacoste France through the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). After graduating, she was an illustrator before she started a mural and design company. For 15 years, Linda and her team decorated walls, floors and furniture with trompe l’ oeil, faux finishes, murals and custom designs. Her work can still be seen at restaurants, corporate businesses and prominent homes throughout Illinois. She currently has a studio space where she paints in oil and is exploring encaustic and other mediums.

For years, she poured her Halloween creativity into her home, creating a haunted house for the neighborhood and her children. She now has the opportunity to collaborate with fellow artists who are as obsessed about Halloween as she is, keeping her love for Halloween alive by being a part of Rags to Witches. Collaborating with a crew of fellow spooky artists is her Halloween heaven.

Dan Schwarzlose

Dan Schwarzlose is a giver, connector, and seeker. A native of Evanston, he is the son of a children’s librarian and journalism ethics professor, brother of a neuroscientist, and Unkie Dan to two young nieces. His wife, Savy, is a virtuoso Cambodian musician. During the day, he works at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Dan studied classical trumpet performance and literature at Northwestern University, and earned his MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts and Media at Columbia College; he is also a proud drop-out of the University of Chicago. A founder and director of Elastic Arts since 1998, Dan’s wide range of artistic interests includes synesthesia, creating edible papers with different flavors, improvising music to films, and providing opportunities for other artists to perform and share their work. Recently, he helped create the Northwestern Medical Orchestra---comprised of medical students, faculty, alumni, and staff---and greatly enjoys playing classical music for patients and other community members. With his remaining free time, he enjoys cooking, practicing yoga, and traveling. For this special event at Ragdale, Dan will show children (and cool adults) how to make spooky and awesome sounds on the theremin, the only instrument in the world that you play without touching. Come visit him to have tons of fun making your own sounds!

Todd Summar

Todd Summar writes fiction and essays, and serves as an editor for publishers and individuals. He draws inspiration from dreams, experiences, absurd humor, and anything that mixes these elements in a literary context. His work has appeared in Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet, Literary Hub, and PANK, among others. He is the founding editor of Goreyesque and has an MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia College Chicago. You can learn more about him on toddsummar.com or ToddSummar.