Writing and Art Nature Retreat

Content Detail

Set aside time to disconnect from the day-to-day and give your creative side an opportunity to flourish. Through guided explorations with professional writers and artists, this retreat at The Morton Arboretum will provide a fun, interactive, natural setting to release your inner creativity, connect with nature, and find community.

Participants may sign up for one or two days. The workshops on Friday will focus on art, and those on Saturday will focus on writing. Instructors will provide means to see and experience the natural world in novel ways that will inspire you to think differently. Use pen, paper, and a variety of art materials to play and explore new ideas. Morning refreshments and lunch will be provided.

Take in the sights and sounds of The Morton Arboretum, and explore nature with fellow creatives. Appropriate for all levels, this retreat will help you strengthen your connection to nature through writing and art, no matter your starting point.

Friday Art Workshops

Morning
Roots and Branches: Crafting Your Personal Tree of Life

Join artist Cheryl Rausch for an enriching, hands-on workshop to create a stylized tree of life that symbolizes your personal journey.

Through guided reflection and creative exploration, participants will delve into the deeper parts of themselves, exploring the powerful connection between their inner strength and the way they express themselves by crafting a personal tree of life. The tree of life will reflect not only the qualities that root the individual—such as resilience, courage, and wisdom—but also the outward branches of confidence, kindness, and the gifts they offer to others. This process will help students connect with their inner self while celebrating the beauty of what they share with the world.

All supplies will be provided. Simply bring an open heart, a curious mind, and a willingness to explore your inner world through the transformative power of nature and creativity. Let your tree of life grow!

Afternoon
Sculptural Actions

Artist Richard ​​Serra famously said, “drawing is a verb.” In this workshop, participants will reference Serra’s “Verb List”, in which he compiled a series of “actions to relate to oneself, material, place, and process,” to create a sculpture. Based on the principle of reuse, participants will collect and transform found objects into art, using provided fasteners and a verb of their choosing.

This workshop will help participants think about common objects in new ways, sparking creativity and adding fresh perspectives in their approach to art. When choosing material to work with, participants are encouraged to think outside the box by asking:

  • Where do I see an excess of material in my daily life?
  • How can objects considered to be trash have second lives outside their intended use?
  • How could I use my networks and community to accumulate enough material to make it useful in a new way and help transcend our immediate understanding of the object?

See What to Know for required supplies.

Saturday Writing Workshops

Adventures in Wordplay 

Listen to the timeless words of celebrated nature writers and enjoy dedicated time outdoors in nature with writing prompts to hone your observational skills. In this session led by nature writer Cindy Crosby, participants will experiment with different literary forms to express their thoughts, feelings, and impressions about the natural world in new ways. Come with inspiration and an open mind, leave feeling energized to write!

Writing W.I.L.D.: Reflective Journaling for Wellness

Winter reminds us that we can grow in stillness. It invites us to notice magic in the mundane and to recall the parts of us that lie buried, awaiting the right moment to awaken. In this session, participants are guided through a series of invitations to write W.I.L.D.—with wonder, intuition, love, and daring—and invite the winter landscape into our creative expression. We pause to visit with writers past and present, engage in guided writing prompts, and reflect on the places where inner and outer winter wildscapes meet. All workshop sessions meet in person at the Arboretum.

Instructors: Katie Vota, art professor, School of the Art Institute of Chicago; Cheryl Rausch, illustrator and photographer; Cindy Crosby, author and naturalist; Kristy A. Belton, certified forest therapy guide, Prairie Pathways

Age: 16 and older

Course number: A096-A

Instructors

Kristy A. Belton, certified forest therapy guide, Prairie Pathways

Kristy A. Belton is a certified forest therapy guide through the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy, a native plants enthusiast, and an Illinois master naturalist. She loves engaging in earth-centered practices, whether through gardening, volunteering for the DuPage County Forest Preserve, or guiding people in forest therapy and outdoor yoga practices. She is the founder of Prairie Pathways, an organization that offers rewilding practices to reconnect people to the land they live upon. Belton holds a PhD in political science and has more than twenty years’ experience in higher education, serving in diverse roles.

Cindy Crosby, author and naturalist

Cindy Crosby is the author, compiler, or contributor to more than 20 books, including The Tallgrass Prairie: An Introduction, co-author of Tallgrass Conversations: In Search of the Prairie Spirit and author of Chasing Dragonflies: A Natural and Cultural History (Northwestern University Press, 2020). She is a prairie steward at the Schulenberg Prairie of The Morton Arboretum and Nachusa Grasslands; she coordinates dragonfly monitoring programs at both sites. She earned a master’s degree in natural resources at University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point. She blogs each week at Tuesdays in the Tallgrass. She teaches natural history and trains naturalists in the Chicago region. Find out more on her website.

Cheryl Rausch, illustrator and photographer, Cheryl Rausch Art, LLC

Cheryl Rausch is a professional illustrator and photographer with a creative career that spans over 30 years. Rausch has honed her skills in myriad techniques and created artworks for both private and business clients across the country. She also works to inspire and influence aspiring artists of all ages, sharing her knowledge and expertise through a variety of art classes and workshops. Her dedication to creating the beauty she sees in this world continues, expressed through her visual storytelling in both illustration and photography.

Katie Vota, art professor, School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Katie Vota is a Chicago-based artist using traditional textile techniques to create sculptural and woven dreamscapes that engage viewers in ideas of touch, pleasure, and the roles we play in shaping the world around us. By collecting cast-off objects and scavenging colors from nature, she transforms materials to create wholes from smaller parts, finding softness in many forms, textures, colors, and patterns based in cloth and in living. Vota received her BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art (2010, magna cum laude) and a studio MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2015). She was awarded a US Student Fulbright Grant (2011–2012) to study traditions of Andean back-strap weaving and natural dyeing in Cusco, Peru, with the Center for Traditional Textiles of Cusco. Vota has exhibited in numerous solo and juried exhibitions. Her newest work focuses on the sea, juxtaposing the idealization of these images with the reality of our polluted water systems.

What to Know

Workshops are held mostly indoors, though some short visits into the winter landscape may be a part of each day. Please dress for the weather and wear sturdy shoes for the outdoor portions.

Lunch is included in the cost of the program. A lunch form will be emailed to you before the event.

Bring a journal or sketchpad and something to write with. Bring water.

For “Sculptural Actions” Workshop

Bring a small grocery bag full of multiples of the same item to incorporate into your work. Using materials found at home or in nature is highly encouraged. For example, you could bring a bag full of cardboard paper towel tubes. If you bring multiples of small items, such as tabs from canned drinks, please bring at least 100.

Program Schedule

This program meets during these times; choose your sessions. Pricing is per session.

Friday Art Workshops

Friday, February 7, 2025, 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Thornhill Education Center (Parking Lot 21), West Side

Saturday Writing Workshops

Saturday, February 8, 2025, 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Thornhill Education Center (Parking Lot 21), West Side

Your support is vital to the Arboretum, where the power of trees makes a positive impact on people’s lives.