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Allerton Park & Retreat Center

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Storytelling

in The Farms: An Allerton Folk School

Woodland Folklore & Papier Mache

$70

with Orrin Taylor

Calendar Oct 20, 2025 at 5 pm

Experience Level: Beginner 

Use woodland legends as inspiration to make masks at Woodland Folklore & Papier Mâché Masks on Monday through Thursday, Oct. 20-23 from 5 to 9 p.m. in The Shop

Instructor and underground artist Orrin Taylor will assist students in creating masks based on the various characters and creatures featured in woodland folklore. While learning the art of papier mâché in this mixed-media course, students will also hear about various folklore legends found throughout the world  

$70/person. Registration will close Oct. 13 or when capacity is reached. All sales are final. 

If you will need disability-related accommodations to participate, please email Olivia Bunting at owarren@illinois.edu. 

By attending, you consent to your image being used in Allerton marketing, social media and publications. Please alert the photographer or videographer if you do not want your image taken. 

About the instructor 

Orrin Taylor is a self-taught outsider artist from central Illinois. Working primarily in painting and illustration, most of his artwork is based on dreams and random mental spasms. He currently resides on a farm in the middle of nowhere with his wife and two dogs. 

Besoms: A Witch's Broom Workshop

$70

with Delight Flower Farm

Calendar Oct 30, 2025 at 6 pm

Experience Level: Beginner

Craft a traditional witch’s brooms using locally grown dried flowers and foraged materials at Besoms: A Witch’s Broom Workshop on Thursday, Oct. 30 from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Greenhouse Auditorium.

Just in time for Halloween, instructor Remington Rock of Delight Flower Farm will also share the history of besoms (brooms) in the world of the occult and witchcraft. Students will take home their own handmade besom made from natural materials!

$70/person. Registration will close Oct. 23 or when capacity is reached. All sales are final.

Learn more about the space where your course will take place here. If you will need disability-related accommodations to participate, please email owarren@illinois.edu.

By attending, you consent to your image being used in Allerton marketing, social media and publications. Please alert the photographer or videographer if you do not want your image taken.

About the instructor

Remington Rock is not only the manager of the woman-owned, sustainable Delight Flower Farm, she is also a DIYer, avid crafter and has never met a artistic medium she didn’t like.

Intro to Tarot Cards

$60

with Charlie Rainbow Wolf

Calendar Nov 1, 2025 at 6 pm

Experience Level: Both beginner and those experienced with tarot decks are welcome

Learn about tarot cards and readings at Intro to the Tarot on Saturday, Nov. 1 from 6 to 8 p.m.  in the Mansion.

Instructor Charlie Rainbow Wolf will guide students through the history of tarot, what it does and doesn’t do, and how to detangle myth from method when learning to read the cards. Students will then use the cards to determine how to intuitively interpret tarot for their own purposes and learn how to start reading for others.

Tarot cards are included in registration.

$60/person. Registration will close Oct. 25 or when capacity is reached. All sales are final.

If you will need disability-related accommodations to participate, please email owarren@illinois.edu.

By attending, you consent to your image being used in Allerton marketing, social media and publications. Please alert the photographer or videographer if you do not want your image taken.

About the instructor

Charlie Rainbow Wolf describes herself as an “old hippie” who has studied the “weird ways of the world for nearly 50 years.” She is happiest with her hands in the mud, either making pottery in an ‘artbox’ or tending things in her ‘yarden’ (yard + garden).

Astrology, tarot and herbs are Charlie’s greatest interests, but she has also dabbled in metaphysical topics in the last five decades — because life always has something new to offer.

She is a contributing author for Llewellyn Worldwide, is a ghostwriter for renowned psychic celebrities, and makes a wicked batch of fudge! Charlie lives in central Illinois with her very patient husband and special needs Great Danes.

Making Cordage

$90

with Heidi Leuszler

Calendar Nov 15, 2025 at 1 pm

Experience Level: Beginner

Learn to make and use cords for fiber artwork at Making Cordage on Saturday, Nov. 15 from 1 to 4 p.m. in the Greenhouse Auditorium.

Instructors Heidi Leuszler and Ann Coddington will begin by discussing the ancient methods of making rope, then lead the class on a walk to gather dried materials. After looking at fibers through a microscope, students will learn how to make cordage out of different materials and how to weave a basic structure.

$90/person. Registration will close Nov. 6 or when capacity is reached. All sales are final.

If you will need disability-related accommodations to participate, please email owarren@illinois.edu.

By attending, you consent to your image being used in Allerton marketing, social media and publications. Please alert the photographer or videographer if you do not want your image taken.

About the instructors

Heidi Leuszler grew up harvesting and foraging wherever she lived: mangos in Florida, morels and mustang grapes from the back acre in Missouri, wild strawberries and holly grapes in the Colorado mountains and chokecherries in North Dakota. Those passions remained as she added culinary skills in addition to becoming a professor of environmental science, ecology and botany at Parkland College. She started Berries and Flour in Champaign as the synergy of several passions: culinary, ecology, growing of plants, foraging and teaching people about the plentiful Midwest land.

Ann Coddington utilizes a variety of ancient fiber techniques including twining, looping, and netting in her sculptural forms. Her work has been shown across the United States and internationally with recent exhibitions, including currently at the McLean County Arts Center in Bloomington as well as recent shows at Gallery Jennings Kerr in New South Wales and Basketry Now at Textile Center in Minneapolis. Ann is a Professor of Art and Graduate Coordinator Emeritus from Eastern Illinois University. She received her MFA from the University of Illinois Sculpture Department, and her BFA from the Colorado State University Fibers Department. She is active teaching sculptural twining workshops around the world, recently at the Fibre Arts Australia and Fibre Arts New Zealand and this fall at the Penland School of Arts and Crafts. Coddington is an active member of the National Basketry Organization.

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